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AONE Movie Night Wins Another OSCA! On November 20th, AONE held its second "Pizza and a Movie" night at the Josiah Smith Tavern in Weston. It was another well-attended affair — the movie night idea seems to have really struck a chord! People started gathering around 4PM (except for a certain Alfista who intended to come but thought it started at 6!). We milled about for a bit and poured ourselves some beverages, and batches of popcorn were passed around to get us in the spirit. At 4:30, right on schedule, Phil Bostwick gave us a few words of introduction to the movie we were about to watch: The Racers, a 1955 film starring Kirk Douglas, Bella Darvi, Cesar Romero, and others. Phil, who's a self-described movie buff, gave us some insight into how the film was made, including Kirk learning to drive a race car from Phil Hill, who was an advisor to the film.
When the lights came up, the pizza came out, and everyone attacked them with relish too (well, not literally). There were barely a couple of slices left over! We had salad as well, and the club provided soft drinks and coffee plus our BYO beverages to accompany. After the pizza ran out, we went back to our seats for the "second feature": excerpts from Phil's collection of motor racing videos that included movies of some 1950s sport car races and some Formula One races in Europe during the fifties. Fun stuff — and the real thing. Thanks, Phil! Finally, we packed up and headed home, already looking forward to the next AONE Movie Night on January 10th. This one will feature Grand Prix, a 1966 film starring James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand and others. We'll also show a short special that 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. Grand Prix is on BluRay (The Racers had to be converted from a VHS tape), so look forward to a great hi-def, surround-sound experience! Thanks go to Phil Bostwick, who provided us with the main feature plus the featurette films, as well as the knowledge about them that he shared with us. (If you haven't already, be sure to read Part I of his wonderful article, The Golden Age of Racing, which describes much of what went on back in the era.) Thanks also to Peter Walker, who made all the arrangements for the Tavern and handled the "ticket sales", and Tom Lesko, who brought along and set up the coffee and soft drinks. Oh, and to me for schlepping the AV equipment! [Comment by Phil Bostwick (at his insistence | |||
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(Click on the thumbnails below for a larger view, and then
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See the original event announcement
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Then we dimmed the lights and rolled The Racers, which everyone enjoyed with relish. In addition to the parallel racing and romantic plots (we told you Bella was a babe), the film showed actual shots of the 1954 Mille Miglia and the start of some Formula One races during the 1954 season.
): Special thanks go to Dave Pratt for using his technical wizardry to convert portions of my motor racing videos into a DVD usable on the club's equipment, and for editing it correctly to give us a chronological record of some motor racing in the fifties. Thanks also go to Peter Walker for suggesting that I write up something to go with the movies based on some information I had sent him in the past by e-mail. He thought that some of it might be of interest to other members in the club. Molto Grazie, Dave and Peter.]
