Metadata
WORK ID: NEFA 22510 (Master Record)
Title | Year | Date |
THUMBS UP | 1972 | 1972-01-01 |
Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Colour Sound: Sound Duration: 6 mins 51 secs Credits: Forfar Cine Club Genre: Comedy Subject: Travel |
Summary An amateur Forfar Cine Club comedy about a hitchhiker's good and bad luck on the road. |
Description
An amateur Forfar Cine Club comedy about a hitchhiker's good and bad luck on the road.
Title: Forfar Cine Club presents
Title: Thumbs Up!
A cartoon drawing of a hitchhiking thumbs up sign appears on screen. This cuts to a man standing on a roadside pavement thumbing a lift as cars pass by. He stands with his backpack at his feet while he perseveres in trying to get drivers’ attention.
A Ford Anglia estate car [Reg. No 794 EUM] comes to a halt nearby. The man picks up his pack and...
An amateur Forfar Cine Club comedy about a hitchhiker's good and bad luck on the road.
Title: Forfar Cine Club presents
Title: Thumbs Up!
A cartoon drawing of a hitchhiking thumbs up sign appears on screen. This cuts to a man standing on a roadside pavement thumbing a lift as cars pass by. He stands with his backpack at his feet while he perseveres in trying to get drivers’ attention.
A Ford Anglia estate car [Reg. No 794 EUM] comes to a halt nearby. The man picks up his pack and runs to the passenger door and gets into the car.
An elderly woman in heavy make up is driving the car and starts chatting him up. They drive past a billboard where a man is putting the finishing touches to a new poster advertising a concert by the Scottish folk duo the Corries in Dundee.
The woman talks to him incessantly and doesn't keep her eye on the road. The car approaches a set of ladders, and drives into them dislodging the man who was working at the top. The hiker in the car puts a hand over his eyes, but the driver seems unaware of the incident and keeps on going. The hiker looks around to see if he can see anything through the rear window. The man on the ladder is sitting dazed among the pieces of a poster he was trying to put up.
The woman driver keeps on talking; the hiker looks exasperated. A road worker is then knocked into a hole he's digging at the side of a road. The hiker in the car covers his eyes. Water splashes from the hole, and the hiker looks over his shoulder to see what damage they may have done. The car speeds off into the distance. The workman appears from the manhole soaked from head to foot.
The woman driver is still talking non-stop. The hiker looks ahead in horror as a road junction with a give way sign comes into view at speed. The car goes straight across the junction without stopping. The driver carries on talking. The car drives towards a Land Rover head on, as the car is now positioned on the wrong side of the road. The Land Rover mounts the grass verge and the car narrowly misses colliding with it and carries on, on the right side of the road. The driver of the Land Rover gets out, looks towards the car as it speeds away and throws his hat on the ground in disgust.
The hiker looks more terrified than ever. The driver carries on talking. She finally pulls over next to grass verge and the passenger gets out. The car pulls away somewhat erratically, does a u-turn and speeds off.
The hiker pulls a small hip flask out of his jacket and takes a drink to calm his nerves, and promptly gets splashed by a lorry, then he’s splashed again as a car does the same thing. The hiker dries his face with his hat, then throws it on the ground in a temper.
The driver thinks his luck is in as a Triumph sports car [Reg. No. RSR 530H] driven by two fashionable young women pulls up. This time he has to clamber into the rather small rear passenger seat. But as soon as the car pulls speedily away, he falls backwards onto the road. The driver doesn’t see him fall and speeds away. The hiker sits on the road and looks fed up.
Meanwhile, the hiker walks along a country road thumbing a lift as he goes, hoping to catch a lift. A car pulls up next to him and he gets in. The driver signals to him to remove his woolen hat. Puzzled, the hiker complies with the request. The driver offers him a black top hat to wear instead. The hiker puts it on, but gives the driver a puzzled look. The driver points to the rear of the car, where a coffin is placed, as the car turns out to be a hearse.
The hiker's back on the road thumbing a lift. A Rover saloon car pulls over [Reg. No. 0SR 524H]. He gets into the passenger seat next to the young woman driver. They put the hiker’s kit bag on the rear seat. The young woman looks towards him as they drive along. She then puts her hand suggestively on his leg, and the man looks startled. She starts stroking his leg with meaningful looks. He gets increasingly uncomfortable. She then pulls a lever on the side of his seat which makes the back of the seat move into a horizontal position and the hiker falls backwards. The car pulls off up a side road at speed. The next view shows the man running back down the side road towards the main road, with the young woman in pursuit. The woman looks down the road in exasperation.
The hiker next gets a lift in a limousine. The chauffer opens the rear passenger door for him as he gets in. He takes the back pack from the hiker. The other passenger in the car looks important and has a glass in his hand, and beckons the hiker to get in. The VIP takes a drink from his glass. From a bottle of Teacher’s whisky another drink is poured into a glass. The VIP and his passenger drink a toast together. More drink is poured, the car makes its way along country roads. More whisky is poured into glasses. The hiker takes a drink from his glass, and together the two men drink each other’s health and probably more besides. The car pulls off the main road towards the grand entrance of a house. The chauffer opens the passenger door. The hiker clambers out finishes off his most recent drink, hands back the glass to the VIP, while the chauffer hands his backpack to him. The hiker, looking somewhat inebriated, waves a goodbye to his generous travelling companion as the limousine vanishes down the driveway.
Travelling shot down a narrow country lane approaching the hiker at speed. He steps into the path of the car. The car tries to stop in time but fails. The film cuts to an ambulance [Reg No. JGG 295D], as the ambulance man closes the rear door. The ambulance driver gives a thumbs up to his partner. The film cuts to a drawing of a thumbs up sign.
Title: The End
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