John Colaresi
Film Buff Extraordinaire and club member
"Reinhold Schunzel: A German Filmmaker who Defied the Nazis"
April 14, 2026

Film buff and club member John Colaresi, backed by the video editing expertise of club member Bob Newcomb, presented a program chock full of videos to 31 attending Y’s Men of Meriden on April 14 regarding the tumultuous life of German filmmaker and actor Reinhold Schunzel, who adroitly created controversial films while living in Nazi Germany. Despite the challenging regime of the Nazis, he succeeded in intertwining the subject of homosexuality (illegal in Nazi Germany) in his film making, largely because Hitler enjoyed what he produced

Born in 1888,  Schunzel first became an actor and after WWI one of Germany’s most famous.  He became a film director in 1920. During Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, Schunzel created “Victor and Victoria”, a film embracing homosexuality, which became one of Germany’s greatest hits and was enjoyed by Hitler (indeed he received a copy of the film on his 50^th birthday), but which was despised by Joseph Goebbels (Minister of Propaganda until his suicide in 1945) and the Nazi regime. 

But with the winds of war deepening during the late 1930s, Schunzel (after directing other hit films such as “Amphitryon”) found it necessary to flee Germany with his family, passing through Austria and settling in Hollywood in 1937. The movie “Victor and Victoria” was remade in 1982 starring Julie Andrews. Schunzel himself, initially shunned by Hollywood because of his Nazi background, became increasingly successful and eventually reverted to acting, both in America and in post-war Germany (1949). Married four times, he directed 54 films and acted in about 200 others.

Reinhold Schünzel

1933's VIKTOR UND VIKTORIA

1935's AMPHYTRION

With Ingrid Bergman in Hitchcock's NOTORIOUS (1946)

Scott Gray
Coordinator of the Wallingford Trail and Works Group
"Local Hiking Opportunities in Wallingford"
April 7, 2026

Scott Gray, who wears many hats, on April 7 spoke to 31 attending Y’s Men of Meriden, and provided a PowerPoint presentation about maintaining the hiking trail complex in Wallingford. With numerous hikers in attendance, he was inundated by questions following this program.

Gray, Coordinator of the Wallingford Trail and Works Group, displayed numerous images of trail projects in progress and successful completion of these projects. Much of his, and volunteer co-workers, activity is focused on the Tyler Mill Preserve trail system. Working with the town (sometimes a lengthy process), they are able to create and repair hiking, biking, and bridle paths.

Gray described in detail “cribbing” projects, with which dead rot-resistant cedar trees remaining from old abandoned Wallingford farms are harvested and used to provide trail edge reinforcements (stringers)  and planks, especially over boggy areas. He also described the repair of bridges over streams damaged by storms, neglect, or human abuse. Other tasks in his “job” agenda include the creation of attractive map board kiosks at certain trail intersections, correction of any blaze errors, chainsaw removal of obstructing fallen trees, and use of gas powered mowers to reopen overgrown trails across fields (perhaps three times yearly).

During the first weekend in June, Wallingford is now sponsoring a “Trails Day” (part of a nation-wide event), complete with guided hikes and motor bike treks. Several of Gray’s photos displayed many of the participants actively joining in the activities.

Finishing a cribbing project

Scott at the newly completed Bog-bridge in Ferguson Woods

2025 Trails Day at Tyler Mill

Sherwin Borsuk
Retired Radiologist and Y's Men member
"The Greatest of the Silent Clowns - Buster Keaton"
March 31, 2026

Filling in at the very last minute for the scheduled speaker (who was suddenly ill), Y’s Men member Sherwin Borsuk presented a program, complete with PowerPoint visuals and a 23-minute video, to 25 attending Y’s Men of Meriden members on March 31. His topic: The Greatest of the Silent Clowns - Buster Keaton.

Born in Kansas during 1895, he started in comedy at age 4 with his parents as a member of the comedy group “The Three Keatons”. Known for his deadpan face in slapstick routines, he struck out on his own at age 16 and was featured in numerous silent movies during the 1920s. In addition to his comedy, Keaton was loved for his acrobatic maneuvers and choreography. Keaton acted in many scenes featuring athletic stunts such as leaping through windows, scurrying away from the cops, and escaping pursuing officers during daring chase scenes.

Keaton is well-known as part of the top three comedians from the silent film era, along with Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin. But his career went into decline during the late 1920s, perhaps related to a divorce from his first wife, alcoholism, loss of personal control over his acting material and eventual bankruptcy. He successfully mounted a partial comeback in later years, peaking at the 1965 Venice Film Festival. Keaton died in 1966 from lung cancer and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery.

Borsuk than played a 23-minute video (one of many) that were made called “the Goat”, which cobbled together several of Keaton’s best comedy routines. You may view this by clicking on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6kE2JfkJ1c

Buster Keaton

Phil Callan
Retired radio announcer and Ysmen member
"Interviews with Hollywood Celebrities"
March 24, 2026

An early morning phone call from the scheduled Y’s Men speaker on Tues. March 24 revealed that he had suddenly become ill and could not give a presentation that day, and so he needed to reschedule. In his place, club member Phil Callan was able to provide two interviews of well-known married couples on projected DVDs by Edward R. Murrow, the first of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, and the second of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh.

Newman and Woodward had been married just one year at this time and were now living in New York City. The couple had just co-starred in the 1958 film “Rally Round the Flag, Boys”. Woodward was pregnant at this interview time. Newman described how, while in college, he had been dropped by the football team and then began his studies to become an actor.

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward

Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh