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Milton College weekend to feature tour of history through old films

MILTON — Think history is dry and boring?

Ken Regez probably can change your mind in a few hours this weekend.

The Milton College Preservation Society will host Regez, the owner of Silver Screens vintage films, during its annual Milton College Weekend.

Regez has collected 16 mm film prints since he was in high school and made his hobby into a career.

"I love history, and (these films) open it up for me," Regez said. "These are documents that move and talk and laugh and sing and dance. They help put flesh on those historic bones."

Stars and civilians alike are the focus of Regez's collections. He plans to feature one embargoed government film "Women in Defense" written by Eleanor Roosevelt and narrated by Katharine Hepburn.

The film was released two weeks after Pearl Harbor and tried to convince Americans that women could handle work traditionally done by men.

"You have to think this film was sitting on the shelf just waiting," Regez said. "It seems too slick and well produced to be rushed out."

Saturday's presentation "Winning the war with movies" focuses on military and Hollywood films made during World War II. Sunday's show "Musical shadows" focuses on musical performances filmed between 1923 and 1944.

Sunday's presentation includes clips from a feature "Singing with the Stars" shown only to members of the military. Regez plans to show "Brazilian bombshell" Carmen Miranda's appearance in the series.

Fair warning: the film is a sing-along and audience members are expected to join in.

Judy Scheehle, curator of the preservation society, said Regez's presentations fit perfectly with the tone of the event.

"He's so enthusiastic about the old films and preserving them," she said. "You get a lot of other information from him besides just watching the films."

Regez said questions and comments usually come up during the screenings, and he's happy to discuss the films with audience members.

The screenings will be held in the college's air-conditioned Main Hall, built in 1855.

"This building has seen every piece of history there's been—Civil War trainees, World War I trainees, roaring 20s campus antics," Scheehle said.

Milton College opened in 1844 as Milton Academy and was chartered in 1867 as Milton College. It closed in 1982, succumbing to large debt and low enrollment.

This year's event honors the alumni classes of 1949 and 1959. One member of the 1959 class is traveling from Seattle, Wash., to be in Milton.

A golf tournament and luncheon are also part of the event, but registration closed last week. The film screenings are open to the public at no charge.