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
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