Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1953)

68 SILVER FOR CHICAGO New games, old photographs enliven 25 th Anniversary party of the Chicago Cinema Club, ACL PETER S. BEZEK, ACL, Anniversary Committee Chairman WOULD your best friends recognize you in that picture — you know, the one on the bear rug, or in the three-cornered pants? As part of our twenty fifth anniversary celebration, members of the Chicago Cinema Club asked this question of each other in pictures taken at least 25 years ago; and in the process they created one of the more popular entertainment features in the club's history. Late last fall, the Chicago Cinema Club, oldest incorporated amateur movie club in the United States, celebrated its Silver Anniversary at the Carleton Hotel in Oak Park. When the committee started to plan for this affair they found, of course, that there simply were no established precedents for cinema club silver anniversaries. They had to start from scratch. And, since the party was such a success, our program ideas may be helpful to other clubs looking forward to an important anniversary. At 6:30 in the evening, as the anniversary program began, each lady received a corsage and all guests were given a sheet of paper on which to play a get-acquainted game called Autograph Bingo. This sheet was ruled off in the familiar Bingo pattern, and at the bottom there was a space for the guest to sign his name. This part was torn off immediately and deposited in a sealed box from which names were drawn later for the play-off game. Then each player had to get a signature for each of the squares until the sheet was filled. While the guests were getting these signatures, one of the members, Charles Lonk, was filming them in Ansco Color. The films were then dispatched immediately to the Ansco laboratory, which the management had kindly kept open for us. There they were processed and returned to us by 9:30 p.m. for projec tion later in the program. Obviously, this feature was a big hit; for, like the proverbial sailor who goes boating on his day off, even movie makers like to have their pictures taken at a party. The films were also of great value to us for our historical records. After an excellent dinner, planned under the direction of dinner committee member Charlotte Rus, the guests were welcomed by Alice Koch, club president, and Charlie Bass, speaker of the evening, was introduced. As a charter member of the club, and a man whose name is synonymous with photography, Mr. Bass spoke appropriately to the spirit of the evening on Four Decades of Cine Memories. At 8:30 the tables and chairs were cleared for the entertainment part of the evening. The first feature, made up of amateur talent developed under the direction of Esther Meshboum, indicated the amount of normally-hidden talent club members may possess. I believe that every club has members whose talents are just waiting for such an opportunity. After this variety half hour, another committee member conducted the play-off of Autograph Bingo, the stunt described earlier. A prize was awarded to the winner. Then, according to many, came the big hit of the evening — the Who Am I? contest, originated and developed by Albert Rus. Several weeks before the contest, club members were asked to submit photographs of themselves taken in their childhood. The prints, forty two in all, were then photographed, mounted as 35mm. slides, and numbered as to order of projection. On a sheet given to each guest, opposite to corresponding numbers, were the names of four persons each picture might be. You checked your choice. Song hits of 25 years ago were se CHARLES BASS, left, president of Bass Camera Co., addresses anniversary dinner as (I. to r.) Keith Nowell, Peter Bezek, ACL, Mrs. Bezek and Clarence Koch, ACL, are listening. lected for popular appeal and, where possible, were cued to the identity of the subject. For example, I'm Sitting on Top of the World was coupled to the photograph of a member who liked to climb mountains, The Sheik of Araby to that of a popular bachelor. Fifteen to seventeen seconds gave just the right amount of time for the audience to make its guess identifications. But even with this help, few in the audience had a score even 50 percent right. Nevertheless, prizes were awarded to the best guessers. These song clues, played by Mary Bezek and recorded by Clarence Koch on his tape recorder, along with some unusually appropriate title slides made by Carl Buck ("Ladies, please remove your hats!") , gave us a complete professional feature reminiscent of a stage presentation of the 1920s. The package is being saved by the club for use on some other occasion. At eleven, the Ansco Color movies taken before dinner were projected, and the stage was now set for cutting the huge anniversary cake. When retiring president Alice Koch completed this, the newly elected president, Arthur Kadow, was introduced. There then followed the installation of the entire slate of officers for 1953, a ceremony which also was filmed in Ansco Color for the club's historical records. As a memento of our happy occasion, guests could take with them the twelve-page anniversary program, with a front cover designed by Arthur Josephson and Carl Buck. A few copies of this program are left over and available on request from other clubs. In fact, if further details on any phase of our anniversary are desired, they may be obtained by writing to ACL or to the Chicago Cinema Club, 20 North Wacker Drive, in Chicago, Illinois. Photographs by Felix Pollak ALICE KOCH, retiring CCC president, cuts silver anniversary cake, as Arthur Kadow, the new president-elect, awaits turn.