This could have easily been a TV comedy show.
My in-laws, Sara & Harry Pachter, had a cottage on Lake Simcoe at 4 Mile Point just south of Orillia. We spent many weekends up there in the Summer and Winter. The cottage was about 15 feet above the lake so there were steps provided to make it safe and easy to get down to the little beach and the dock where a small boat was kept.
One Summer Sunday around 1972 my mother-in-law, Sara, invited movie impresarios Tony Richardson and Oscar Lewenstein up for the day. Tony Richardson was the director of the hit movies in the 60’s, Tom Jones & A Taste of Honey and the husband of Vanessa Redgrave. Oscar Lewenstein was one of the producers of the movies. They were in Toronto scouting places to shoot Margaret Atwood’s book “The Edible Woman”. Margaret or Peggy, as she was known to us, had met Tony Richardson when the two of them lived next door to each other in the South of France. Peggy and my brother-in-law Charles were best friends since their days at Camp White Pine in Haliburton, Ontario. So it was that Charles was escorting the movie pair around Toronto. That’s how the pair met Sara and Sara being Sara invited them up to the cottage for the day.
Sara & Harry had many friends, but they had 4 couples with whom they shared most of their time. The five couples had known each other since childhood. Some of them were members of Holy Blossom Temple and were in the Temple Players. They also had created a fictional choir known as the Mafuffsky Choir. At the drop of a hat and if they were all together, they could be persuaded to give us a tune or two. They were all quite comical often quoting old Jewish comedians and of course they had their “in jokes”. When they got together they could be hysterical. Sara told her friends about Tony & Oscar’s pending visit and invited them for an “impromptu” visit around the cocktail hour. They were cautioned to be on their best behaviour and not act like their normal selves and definitely no theatrics.
Tony & Oscar arrived with Charles around midday and during the day were given the tour of the property including a trip down to the beach. On the return from the beach, as Tony was climbing the steps, he lost his footing and without thinking, Sara, who was directly behind him, put her hand on his bum to steady him. “Oish, Tony”, she said, “so glad you didn’t kill yourself”. We were behind her and started laughing as Sara realized what she had just done.
We got back to the cottage and drinks were served. I remember Oscar sitting on the couch stuck in one corner, drink in hand, pretty much speechless. He was a small, slightly built man about 55 years old and Tony was 44 years old, tall and also slim. Both had a drink in their hands.
We were all just sitting there when Charles announced that Karen could do a very good impression of Ethel Merman and wondered if the guests would like to hear it. Tony and Oscar couldn’t very well say no and so Karen launched into her impression of Ethel Merman singing “I get a kick out of youhoo!”. I’d heard it a dozen times before, but it was still amusing, as Karen hit the high notes just like Ethel. The two guests just sat there expressionless. At the end of the song I remember Tony saying, in his British voice and with much eloquence, “How extraordinary”. We took it as a positive sign of approval. Meanwhile Oscar, on his third scotch, was sliding into a coma.
A few minutes later the cottage door opened and in tumbled the “Mafuffsky Choir” stumbling into each other like vaudeville comedians. Each had a drink in their hand as they sang “Hello Dolly” at the tops of their voices, as if it were an audition. I still smile when I think about it. By this time Oscar, who had almost disappeared into the couch, suddenly bolted upright and Tony’s jaw dropped with surprise at what was happening in front of them. The “Mafuffsky Choir” made friends with the guests letting it be known that they too were actors; not quite asking for a part in the movie. As if…
The rest of the evening was a blur and then as suddenly as they came, the Mafuffsky Choir left.
The movie was never made and Tony and Oscar, the producers, returned to England. It never occurred to me until I wrote this anecdote that the two show business impresarios had the first names, Tony & Oscar. How extraordinary.
