This 1954 silent home movie shows the wedding of Adrienne Sandra Ehrlich and Charles “Chuck” Stern at the Blackstone Hotel, Chicago, Illinois on the 10th of January 1954. The film was shot by Sidney C. Goltz, a professional director and producer most well known for a TV show about pro bowling. The film was shot in gorgeous Kodachrome color and is of extraordinarily high quality for a home movie from this era. This film shows the traditional Jewish wedding ceremony, the couple and their family and guests in the receiving line, as well as the catering. We don’t know much about Charles “Chuck” Stern or his bride, except that Chuck served as President of the Bobby Blechman Chapter of the City of Hope, and his wife worked as an interior designer and was member at large national board directors City of Hope Medical Center. The couple remained married for 66 years. We’ve been trying to contact members of the family to let them know we have this film — if you know them, please get in touch.
0:10 Title card: “We present the Marriage of Adrienne Sandra Ehrlich to Charles Stern at the Blackstone Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, Jan. 10 1954”, 0:35 the bridesmaids being walked down the aisle, 1:23 an older couple walks down the aisle, 1:42 a man walks down the aisle, 1:58 the groom Charles Stern walks down the aisle. He wears a traditional kippah (also known as a yarmulke, skullcap, or koppel) in keeping with Jewish tradition (1:53). 2:11 the flower girl walks down the aisle, 2:24 the bride Adrienne Ehrlich appears and begins walking down the aisle, 3:15 groom and bride smash a glass, another Jewish wedding tradition, and kiss. (The breaking of the glass holds multiple meanings. Some say it represents the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Others say it demonstrates that marriage holds sorrow as well as joy and is a representation of the commitment to stand by one another even in hard times) 3:22 huge kiss for the movie camera 3:36 the new husband and wife walk down the aisle followed by the parents, 4:57 guests giving their congratulations to the couple and the parents in the receiving line, 7:17 overview of the different food items at the buffet, including a cornucopia centerpiece 8:28 different shots of the couple and the family members, 10:46 a man is reading out a toast, exclaims L’Chaim, which means “To life!” and the couple drink wine and have another kiss.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
