User reviews

A 70's public information film, narrated by a wise old gravel-voiced cowboy who explains that if you're working with heavy machinery and you ignore your personal safety, you're gonna shake hands with danger. A heady mix of unlocked differentials, pressurised hot oil, improper use of gasoline, carelessly discarded Marlboro's and blasé, distracted Village People-looking workmen who lose toes and fingers faster than a blind leper cartwheeling through a mousetrap testing facility. There are some fine stunts, wooden acting, which actually adds to the film's charm (watch out for the 'wasp in the bulldozer cab scene', hilarious, gruesome and sonically a bit John Carpenter), plus a truly outstanding country and western theme song that runs throughout the film - you can't help but smile every time it chimes in; you'll be singing it for the rest of the week!

I did 21 years in the Army and saw this short twice when changing job titles and it's a must when entering in most fields of mechanics.

In the modern internet age, few oddities have taken as much flak as novelty videos or training videos from the 1950's - 1990's. These short, previously hard-to-find, or even classified videos have resurfaced with the creation and subsequent success of Youtube and DailyMotion and reflect upon on a time when these kinds of cheesy instructional videos were used as training videos or part of the orientation process of a job. In order to see many of these current relics, you either had to be hired at the specific job or obtain a VHS tape from a friend or an employer, whereas now, these videos are all but a few clicks away.

Out of all these quirky training videos I've stumbled upon over the years, from the ridiculous videos released through The Found Footage Festival and my own sleuthing, Shake Hands With Danger may be my new personal favorite. This is a straight-forward, unabashedly quirky, but wholly fun training video for the construction company Caterpillar. Our narrator, who chimes in frequently with his rugged, ostensibly tobacco-stained voice, states that he is known as "Three Finger Joe" following an accident on the job and spends twenty-three minutes instructing the viewer on how to remain safe while working on a construction site.

Shake Hands With Danger takes realistic, on-the-job scenarios and uses them for the basis of its short. It remarks about how routine is traditionally the first step when "shaking hands with danger," as you subconsciously assume your impulses will protect you under present conditions and, if something were to go awry, you'll be able to respond fast enough to curb any bad result. The short shows everything from an accidental death on the job in addition to working while distracted and simply skipping steps or taking short cuts whilst working due to time constraints or the desire to appear "macho." All of its scenarios seem pragmatic for the construction site setting and nothing really falls prey to a lack of realism.

The funniest thing in the film is the titular metaphor, which our worn, tough-guy narrator loves to reiterate throughout the entire short in more ways than one. It's an interesting premise nonetheless, and does a fine job at illustrating the complexities when working around a dangerous setting. Shake Hands With Danger may find itself encapsulated in a vaguely corny state, but it's ultimately satisfying as a fun training video that winds up being funny and gravely serious with composure that many feature-length films have a difficult time trying to maintain.

Directed by: Herk Harvey.

Shake Hands With Danger (1970)

** (out of 4)

Director Harvey is best remembered for the now cult-classic CARNIVAL OF SOULS but outside of that film he spent most of his career doing safety films. This one here takes up 23-minutes and explains why those who work on large machines should always be extremely cautious and follow all the safety rules put in place for them. As far as safety films go, this one here is pretty well made and I say this because most people watch these for their cheese and to have a good laugh. For the most part this short plays is very straight so we don't get any of those over-the-top scenes that make us laugh. Some will certainly see this as a negative thing and I'm sure many will be turning this off before the end credits. There are a few bloody parts as accidents are shown where men have their arms and fingers cut off. The strangest thing is that this short has a title song that gets played countless times. There are some pretty funny lines in the song about becoming a "three finger Joe". To my knowledge no CD has been released yet.

It's a safety film for heavy machinery operators. It has a catchy title song with its country western twang and Three Finger Joe. It also has some fun, destructive, fake accidents. It's old timey. It's blue collar. It has fake gore. It's unintentional fun like watching an old building get demolished. Everybody loves that.

Anybody and everybody who's ever worked a job knows how important that safety is, and you know just how fast, unexpected and quick that accidents can happen. Within a blink of an eye. And this documentary rightfully titled "Shake Hands with Danger"(by the way the film plays a wonderful and catch like theme song!)shows examples of men getting hurt on the job each scene shows the wrong way they performed a job duty causing harm to them and others around them. Portrayed is the crew of a heavy machine parts company. Still on any type of job injuries and accidents happen. It gives tips some include never do a task without knowing how, and don't have other things on your mind, injuries and accidents occur also when workers try shortcuts and try to be like a hero it will simply burn you! As the film points out too never rush on the job and when performing a task do exactly what the job duty calls for. True this film is old and the message is an old repeat still it's a watch for anyone who works as it's just a simple reminder safety is first on the job it can save lives and prevent injury always stop and think. This short is a good educational safety tool if you can find it in some film vault watch it!

Being at work can be a chore, especially if you're involved with the construction business. I knew that construction sites can be really dangerous, due to the numerous hazards that can be present at one, and this short from the early 80s shows traumatic events and how easily you can die if you don't pay attention to what you're doing. Because there's no actual storyline to speak of, the film is basically just a bunch of clips strung together, each one showing why emulating the behavior of the workers shown isn't a good idea. Some of these include a worker washing some small metal device in gasoline, and the narrator says that construction workers often think of gasoline as an ideal cleaning substance, so long as you remember to get rid of it when you're done. A large excavation vehicle pulls up, and the driver absentmindedly lights a cigarette, and then throws the match right into the area the other guy was cleaning in. A large area instantly becomes an inferno, and they even show a worker burning horribly to death. Another clip shows how even old and experienced workers can suffer lifechanging injuries, such as when a guy is using a mechanical wheel that spins at extremely high speeds to shorten a piece of metal. He makes a small mistake and doesn't account for the length of the piece he is grinding down properly, meaning his finger comes into contact with the wheel. As a result, he loses that finger. Probably the most egregious one is shown at around 15 minutes in. This clip involves a worker trying to change the frontal blade on a bulldozer, which is something he's done so many times that he decides to disregard safety and get careless. The dozer has a mechanical assembly on the front called an "arm", which has metal slots with holes in it. The bulldozer blade has matching holes, and in order to attach the blade to the vehicle, a metal pin needs to be slid in to connect them together when the holes are aligned. However, the pin is too dry and won't slide in. The worker decides to do something extremely risky and grease the hole himself by putting his entire arm through it. Concurrently, the operator of the dozer (who hasn't shut the engine off) tries to swat at an insect inside the vehicle's cabin. This leads to him accidentally bumping the control lever, which proceeds to make the arm move backwards while the guy's arm is still in the hole. Because of this, the moving machinery slices off his arm like a guillotine. It doesn't help that right after they show this, there's a creepy, low synthesizer note in the background. Throughout the rest of the horrible accidents depicted, they play a guitar riff which doesn't fit what's happening and actually makes them feel not that morbid. As strange as it is to say, it's actually not really a good thing that we don't have safety films this graphic anymore, since this film has the audacity to show horrible injuries in order to scare the audience into being safe. In other words, you're not going to learn anything if they coddle you. To summarize, this film is quite disturbing even to this day, and I felt pretty squeamish watching it. The fact that it looks much older than 1980 also gives it an eerie and grainy atmosphere, and this compliments the macabre clips a little too well. Then again, this was directed by the same person who did Carnival of Souls, so I can't say I'm surprised.

Educational film focusing on accidents which can occur if you are careless operating machinery. A countrified "Shake Hands with Danger" theme song is included. When worried or hung-over, you are advised to be twice as cautious. This seems like it was made for those specialized in construction machinery, but it works for everyone. Very quickly, you are watching for the next staged accident, but the film makes an impression. The accidents are violent and include fatalities. Be prepared to learn how "Three Fingered Joe" got his nickname. The most realistically gruesome highlight involves two men and a wasp...

***** Shake Hands with Danger (6/3/80) Herk Harvey ~ Charles Oldfather