Home Movie Day Chicago 2006 was relatively slow as far as home movie submissions, but come show time, the room filled up. Although I thought that we may have not gotten the word out well enough, there was a healthy audience (70-75) for the show who came without films. We started out with an EBE 16mm film called “The City,” an early 1960s film that showcased Chicago by following a white guy with a deep voice as he sped around the city in his convertible. Always the profile shot of the guy with a strong jawline whipping along Lake Shore Drive. From there we went into all home movies. Someone submitted some travel New Orleans and New York footage circa 1950s? Jeffrey Martin came in with footage of an intimate party of geriatrics in someone’s living room, complete with cocktails and explicit sexual groping. There was a baby with a cigarette in another home movie, but the highlight of the evening was the Vietnam footage that one Chicagoan vet had brought to the archive at an earlier date. He was never in combat, but was able to capture the R&R climate. Very reminiscent of MASH actually. BarBQs, beautiful native women, and there was a sequence almost in real time of the donor and several of his buddies plowing through a large Ritz Cracker tin of marijuana. We slowly saw the deterioration of the party go from winks and grins to a couple of the vets wrestling each other in this small room where there are maybe 6 guys slowly getting fried out of their minds. Tim, the donor, gave a dry and hilarious commentary throughout the film.Bingo as always was a success and the music that was played along with the movies was a crowd pleaser. What I took away this year is that this is a concept that is beginning to resonate among the Chicago group that came. There were many repeaters from last year and everyone was genuinely thankful that we put on the event.
Our volunteer crew that ran it are for the most part repeaters as well and totally make the event rock.
Signing off from Chicago
Nancy Watrous
Chicago Film Archives