Columbia Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary
(Above: the cake was wampled by director Frank Capra as, from left, George Segal, Janet Blair, Carl Reiner and Barbra Streisand yum-yummed.)
The Burbank Studios was the scene of gala festivities Sunday evening, April 27, 1975 as Columbia Pictures celebrated its 50th anniversary with scores of celebrities, entertainment industry figures and stars of Columbia films present for the event.
The celebration for the stars and filmmakers associated with Columbia's motion pictures during the half-century was hosted by David Begelman, president of Columbia Pictures, who was joined by Leo Jaffe, chairman of the board of Columbia Pictures Industries. Frank Capra and the late Harry Cohn were given special tributes by Jaffe, who praised Capra, present for the occasion, as the man “whose pictures put Columbia in the big leagues.”
Below: Streisand seated next to Begelman.
Jaffe acknowledged to the 750 guests that the last three years had been difficult ones for Columbia. “With the company going into a rather low ebb,” he said, “there was a mandate for change.”
Begelman also spoke briefly, paying his own tribute to Jaffe‘s 45-year tenure at Columbia, and supervised the cutting of cake marking the golden anniversary.
Among the stars and celebrities at the cocktail party and dinner, highlighted by preview showing of “The Columbia Pictures 50th Anniversary Special,” which was aired Thursday (1) on ABC-TV, were: Jack Nicholson, Charlton Heston, Barbra Streisand, George Segal, Charles Bronson, Jill lreland, Ryan O'Neal, Mae West, Groucho Marx, Karen Black, Carole Wells, Brenda Vaccaro, Rita Hayworth, Karl Maiden, lda Lupino, Katharine Ross, Sidney Poitier, Jan-Michael Vincent, Lloyd and Jeff Bridges, Estelle Parsons, Tony Bill, David Janssen, Stockard Channing, James Daly, Carl Reiner, Sam Wanamaker, Alex D'Arcy, William Demarest, Janet Blair, Frank Capra, George Sidney, William Wyler, Ray Stark, William Castle, Charles Schneer, John Green, Abby Mann, Jackie Cooper and others.
Dinner dancing to the music of Bernie Richards and his orchestra followed the preview screening.
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