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Saturday, November 15th - 4PM
Following the enthusiastic response to the showing of the motor racing film Rush at the Josiah Smith Tavern in Weston, MA, last winter, our AONE officers decided to host two motor racing films during the late fall and winter of 2014-2015. The dates for this winter's "AONE Pizza and a Movie" events, and the movies to be shown, are:
Both films have romantic love stories intertwined with the auto racing, but that seems a small price to pay for being able to see the cars and drivers of the 1950s and early 1960s in action during the period that most motor racing journalists have called "The Golden Age of Motor Racing." It was a time when European formula one cars were painted in the colors of the country they represented—red for Italy, green for Great Britain, silver for Germany, blue for France, yellow for Belgium, white and blue for the U.S., etc. They were adorned only by a white number and were devoid of all cigarette and motor oil advertising. In the U.S. in the early fifties, sports car race drivers were amateurs who often drove their own cars to the race track, changed plugs, added air to the tires, raced them and then drove the cars home. I've written an article with a purpose to stimulate enthusiasm for attendance at the two AONE Pizza and a Movie events; to refresh attendees' recollections of the cars and drivers of the period; and to provide some information to those attendees who are unfamiliar with the era. The article will be presented in two parts: Part I will cover the period from 1948 through 1959, and the first film, The Racers, will show actual shots of the 1954 Mille Miglia and the start of some formula one races occurring during the 1954 season. Part II will cover the period from 1960 through 1966 and the second film, Grand Prix, will show actual shots of some of the formula one races during the 1966 season. Click here to download Part I of The Golden Age of Racing. [Editor's note: Modesty prevents Phil from saying that he himself owned and vintage raced several "Golden Age" sports cars that we now consider classics back in the 1980s and '90s. He has gone over the top in writing these articles for us—they are a great read as well as being chock full of information. Thank you, Phil!]
And if that's not enough ... pizza! We'll have popcorn available to munch on during the movie, and then bring out a pile of pizzas after the screening and before the special feature video. The club will supply bottled water and soft drinks, but if you prefer an alternative beverage with your movies and pizza, bring your own. A donation of $10 per person at the door will help defray the hall rental and pizza expenses. So that we know how much pizza to get, you must sign up with Peter Walker (anderwalk@earthlink.net or 978-524-8102) by Thursday, November 13th, at the latest. See you at the flicks! Arrive around 4PM — the lights go down at 4:30 sharp! Directions to the Josiah Smith Tavern From the East: Take Route 128 (I-95) to the Weston/Route 20 exit (Exit 26). Follow Route 20 west for 1.2 miles until you reach the first set of lights. Take a right onto School Street, and travel one block to the town center. Take a left, and the tavern is a white clapboard building on the left. From the West: Take Route 20 east. One-half mile past the Weston Police Station, you will reach a set of lights. Take a left onto School Street, and travel one block to the town center. Take a left, and the tavern is a white clapboard building on the left.
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Saturday, November 15, 2014 at 4:00 p.m. The Racers, a 1955 film starring Kirk Douglas, Bella Darvi, Gilbert Roland, Cesar Romero, Lee J. Cobb, and Katy Jurado. This movie is about ninety minutes long and pizza will be brought in at the end of the film for an intermission. During the pizza break some excerpts from my collection of motor racing videos will be shown. This thirty-eight minute special feature will show movies of some 1950s sport car races and some Formula One races in Europe during the fifties. 
Saturday, January 10, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. Grand Prix, a 1966 film starring James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand and Toshiro Mifune—directed by John Frankenheimer. This film is a few minutes short of three hours long with an intermission during the film. Pizza will brought in during that intermission. Following the film a short special will be shown which portrays how James Garner and the other movie stars were taught to drive formula two cars for shots taken after the races, and how the actual races during the 1966 season were filmed by Phil Hill driving a Ford GT40 with a camera mounted on the roof.
But wait, there's more! While The Racers isn't available on DVD, we'll be presenting the tape from Phil's collection on the club's new big-screen, multi-channel audio/video system! So we'll be able to watch this film (and future films and club slide shows) with all the visual and audible glory they deserve.