Speedy

On Monday, February 19th, the silent movie, Speedy, was shown at the Senator Theatre, making this movie one of the last films shown at the Senator before it would be put on auction two days later. This movie was a Year of the City event; and it really portrayed what YOTC is all about—bringing Loyola into Baltimore, and Baltimore into Loyola, creating community. Within the first 15 minutes of seating, the Senator was packed with people, young and old, students and Baltimore locals, to come together to experience a Senator Theatre film for the last night. Or so we thought. The community was able, through donations, to come up with enough money so that the Senator did not have to close.

This is a true sense of community, where in two short days, the residents of Baltimore were able to come up with enough money to save a landmark. People say to experience a film in the Senator is like no other. And they were right. I never enjoyed a movie as I had when watching this movie.

The plot revolves around Speedy’s mission to save his girlfriend’s grandfather’s horse-drawn trolley, the last one in New York City. The film contrasts the speed of life in contemporary New York City with the pace of yesteryear, represented by this non-motorized mode of transportation. The horse-drawn trolley symbolizes customs and traditions from the past, while the new railroad, the new technology, etc., symbolize today—the fast pace, always-trying-to-be-new-and-improved society. It just goes to prove the point that, no matter how much of society will improve and upgrade, there are people still willing to hold onto the past. No matter what society dictates to us, our traditions are our traditions, and that will never change because they are part of who we are. This movie invites you to celebrate the new, but also remember the old.

Speedy, along with the help of some older friends of the grandfather were able to save the trolley from the railroad magnates, who were trying to destroy it. Again, we get this sense of old and new coexisting simultaneously. In another part of the movie, Speedy takes his girlfriend to Coney Island. This also supports the idea of community—the fact that in a fast pace city of millions, people are still able to congregate together in a fun and carefree atmosphere.

The movie encompassed my whole experience at the Senator. I sat with my friend, next to two elderly women who were friends as well—old and new coexisting together. As a whole, we were able to save the Senator, and save our past traditions, as a community.