The Society for Cinema Studies: A Personal Recollection of the Early Days

I don't remember much about those early meetings, including who attended, but the luncheons were memorable. They were held in a former Rockefeller townhouse in the East Fifties that had been donated to the museum. The surroundings were elegant, the food and drink marvelous, and the service impeccable. But one unanticipated singularity was an indoor pond at the edge of the living room, with stepping-stones we needed to traverse to get to the lavatory. As the cocktails flowed, we had to step with increasing care to avoid mishap. I recall that at one meeting film critic Dwight Macdonald spoke to us. At another, screenwriter, ex-studio head, and playwright Dore Schary was the featured speaker. What they talked about is lost to me, but the impression remains that the former was irascible and opinionated, the latter mild and urbane.