Success in black and white

The Hippodrome Festival of Silent Film runs until March 22 Photo: Amber Wilkinson

The fifth Hippodrome Festival of Silent Film, which kicked off on Wednesday, enjoyed a gala evening to remember in Bo'ness, West Lothian, last night.

With a drinks reception and many cinemagoers taking up the invitation to wear "flapper glamour" for the evening, the atmosphere was perfect for the screening of comedy romp Synthetic Sin - a flapper film starring the sparkling Colleen Moore as an innocent determined to "suffer and sin right now!" in order to become a better actress. Audiences for the festival seem to grow year on year, with people who had come from as far afield as London and the US mixing with an enthusiastic crowd of locals. Adding to the atmosphere was live music from Gladstone Bag.

Colleen Moore in Synthetic Sin.

The evening was introduced by the chair of the Falkirk Trust Ian Scott and festival director Alison Strauss. There is no getting away from the fact that a lengthy contribution from Creative Scotland's Janet Archer was a bit of a rambling misfire that seemed more intent on being an advert for the funding body than anything else. However, the energy of the room was soon restored by a peppy and informative introduction from journalist and Silent London editor Pamela Hutchinson. She set Synthetic Sin neatly in context and gave us all fair warning of the unfortunate racist 'blackface' that crops up in an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable film.

The short that ran before it - a segment from Edinburgh-made film Construction Of The Ritz by James S Nairn, from the same year as Synthetic Sin - was also full of humour and life. Both that and the main feature benefited hugely from excellent live piano playing from, first Forrester Pyke on the short and then Neil Brand.

The festival continues until tomorrow night (March 22), for more details of films and events, visit the official site.