Lemonade, Popcorn and the Stars on a Martha's Vineyard Evening

Grange Hall, West Tisbury

by Paula Eisenberg

(July 24, 2003) It doesn't get much better than this: a soft summer night on a magical resort island, a town so quaint it makes your teeth hurt, an old Bette Davis movie, and $1 popcorn.

It's the Martha's Vineyard Silver Screen Society's Movie Museum, and it happens summer Thursday nights at West Tisbury's Grange Hall. The movies start around 8 pm, following an entertaining and short introduction full of film history and trivia.

When was the last time you saw an early Hollywood film in the old 16mm format? If you're younger than 50, probably never. One woman attending a screening of 1941's The Man Who Came to Dinner whispered to her companion, "Isn't this fun? It's so nostalgic!" A teenager, used to today's digital special effects movies, was awestruck at the ancient film technology. "Wow!" he said to his dad, "You can hear the frames go by!"

Families, couples of all ages, and a few singles showed up one July Thursday night, many carrying seat cushions or beach towels to soften the hard seats of the folding chairs set up in the second story auditorium of the old Grange Hall. There's no air conditioning, but large windows let in the summer evening breeze, and ceiling fans churn lazily away. Nobody seems to mind the old-fashioned setting; in fact, that's the reason they come.

The all-volunteer Silver Screen Society was founded in 1998 by Richard Paradise (photo, at left), a film buff who had recently moved to Martha's Vineyard. His job as an independent advertising rep pays the family's bills, but old movies are his passion. "We resurrected an idea from the 1970's--the Movie Musuem," he told the Gazette. "We did our first screenings in the summer of 1999, and they were a success from the beginning."

The island's celebrity residents have helped out, Paradise said. "Patricia Neal appeared at one of our early benefits, while she was still recovering from her stroke. We screened one of her more obscure films, A Face in the Crowd, from the late 1950's." In 2002, William Styron helped introduce the film version of his novel Sophie's Choice.

At $5/ticket ($3.50 for seniors and students), this is barely a break-even proposition, Paradise said. "It costs between $150-$600 for a one-night movie rental, and then there's the rent," he sighed. "But we're not trying to make money here, just pay the bills." The group is applying for IRS non-profit status and gets some support from private members and local organizations, but it's mainly a labor of love for Paradise and his small band of volunteers. "We just love movies," he said with a smile.

In August, filmgoers can see an eclectic collection of films from several genres, including Hitchcock's 1956 The Man Who Knew Too Much, Kiss Me Kate (1953), The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, and Fury. The Society's website has a full schedule of films, into September.

"This is just such a special setting," Paradise said. "One time, Patricia Neal arrived late for Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, so we put a chair for her in the center of the aisle, at the back. She was telling people about her friend, Farley Granger, who was in the film. That was a really wonderful moment."

Paradise is excited about a new venture this summer, the Sci-Fi Drive-In. Classic sci-fi movies from the 1950s are shown outside under the stars, at the Featherstone Center for the Arts on Barnes Road in Oak Bluffs. The next and last showing of the season will be Wednesday, July 30 at dusk: When Worlds Collide,   a 1951 doomsday film known for its special effects and pacing. Earlier offerings in the series included Forbidden Planet and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Next week's Movie Museum film on July 31 at the Grange Hall will be The Asphalt Jungle, a 1950 movie starring Sterling Hayden and Marilyn Monroe. Coming up on August 30 is a special showing of On the Waterfront, on the waterfront. It's a benefit screening in support of the Silver Screen Society, held at a waterfront home in Vineyard Haven, $25 per person.

MV Film Society website

Movie Museum
Thursday nights at 8 pm
Doors open at 7:30 pm
$5 general admission - $3.50 seniors/students
Popcorn and lemonade - $1 each
Grange Hall, West Tisbury Center