RSVP / THE SOCIAL CITY : Sharing a Night Under the Stars--With a French Twist

It’s Paris in Pasadena this summer for the Metropolitan Associates’ Summer Film Festival. That’s the group whose members throw a blanket on the lawn and bring picnics, sweaters and insect repellent to watch the films roll at sundown.

They’ve gone Paris mad--to view “The Rage of Paris,” “Moulin Rouge,” “Is Paris Burning?” and “An American in Paris.” Chairman Sandy Huntley and his devotees have already picnicked at the home of Anne and Earl Snodgrass. On July 23 they do the lawns of Joan and Jim Caillouette; on Aug. 6, hosts are Kittie and Bill Ballard, and on Aug. 20, Mary Kay and Boyd Hight.

In on the fun are Alice and Joe Coulombe (when he’s not in San Francisco), Carol and Warner Henry, and Peggy and Jim Class. But, it’s fun with a purpose. Profits will pay for buses to carry Pasadena schoolchildren to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion next spring for matinees of “Porgy and Bess.”

*

Olympian for Los Angeles: Lawyer John C. Argue, founding chairman of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, is thrilled he was chosen to receive the Olympic Order. The honor was presented by Juan Antonio Samaranch, president, International Olympic Committee, at the Amateur Athletic Foundation on West Adams. About 300 were invited for the reception hosted by David L. Wolper and Anita L. DeFrantz. Argue’s undaunted determination brought the Olympics to Los Angeles in 1984. His father, Clifford Argue, was a pentathlete in Paris in 1924, the Olympic games depicted in the movie “Chariots of Fire.”

*

Bach on the Beach: Expect shenanigans from First Cut President Lynn Brengel and benefit Co-chairs Carlotta Keely and Louise Korshak, revving up for their “Bach Hits the Beach--the Sequel” Saturday at the Beach Club. The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra will indulge in a cozy family concert after families picnic on the sand. Salomon Brothers Inc. is lending support so that more goes to support the orchestra’s “Meet the Music” program reaching 9,000 middle and senior high school students in greater Los Angeles.

*

Polishing the Senate Floor: Actress and National Endowment for the Arts Chairwoman Jane Alexander was to be keynote speaker at the Humanitas Prize awards luncheon last week, but the Senate funding bill for the NEA caused her to cancel two days before. Father Ellwood E. Kieser, head of the Human Family Educational and Cultural Institute, graciously stepped in at the Sheraton Universal Hotel luncheon, which awards television and film writers with cash totaling $120,000 for “humanizing” achievement in their work.

*

Kudos: To Partners for Healthy Kids, unveiling their pediatrics van at San Pedro Peninsula Hospital.

Elsewhere on the Social Circuit

* Lois Rice presided over the reception/preview of the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum exhibit “The Mask of Zorro: Mexican Americans in Popular Media,” continuing through Sept. 5.

* In celebration of the World Cup, the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena put on “The World of Cups Exhibition” by artists. Rhonda Stone and Ken Wong co-chaired, and Robinsons-May sponsored the event.

* The California Art Club hosted its 85th annual gold medal exhibition at the Los Angeles Arboretum.

* Francine Bardo, managing director, Hermes Beverly Hills, hosted the champagne reception and piano recital to honor Father Eugene Melet, president of the Pro Musicis International Centre in Sache, France.

* Mystery, romance and Western fun honored James Garner, Gene Hackman, James Woods and Jack Lemmon at the Permanent Charities Committee and Westside Children’s Center benefit launch of Encore Media Corporation’s Thematic Multiplex Services. Hosts were John C. Malone and John J. Sie.

* Zebras, chimpanzees, snakes and exotic African wildlife put in appearances at the Tiffany & Co. “The Jewels of Africa” benefit Tuesday on Via Rodeo. Actress Ali MacGraw chaired the night to raise funds to keep the black rhinoceros from disappearing from Tanzania. Tiffany presented exotic and rare gemstones mined in Africa; Paris-based designer Ly Dumas brought in African-inspired couture. Models appeared with live snakes and iguanas with counterpoint from the Senegalese World Beat Band and Nigerian drummer and dancers.

* Pasadena Pops has a new setting for its concerts--Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge. They’ll play picnic concerts under the stars Aug. 6 and Sept. 3.

* More than 500 guests went through the receiving lines when 25 debutantes were introduced by the San Marino chapter of National Charity League at its Debutante Announcement Tea at the Biltmore. Ball chairwoman Charie Laugharn, tea chair Lowry Ewig and league president Caren Cameron were up front. The presentation ball, which culminates six years of community service for the young women volunteers, called Ticktockers, is set for Dec. 22 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire.

* Plaudits to the new leaders: Anthony Coelho, Chad Dreier, Robert Forgnone and Christopher Wrather, new Loyola Marymount University trustees . . . Christine Reeder, president, the Circle of the Huntington Memorial Hospital . . . Howard Mangen and Karin Rinella, new directors of Big Sisters of Los Angeles . . . John Riggan, trustees chairman, National Assn. of Child Advocates . . . Lucille Kerhulas, chairman, Encore (the organization of former presidents of Los Angeles Philharmonic Affiliates).

* Family and friends of the late John Bowles--the El Padrino of Olvera Street, Los Angeles civic leader and former chairman of Rexall--gathered recently at his family’s old farm in Virginia. They had a picnic on a hill overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains, canoed up and down Little River, listened to blue grass music, took wildflower hikes, ground some corn, and held a watermelon seed spitting contest and a pinata-breaking. The farm, chosen by Bowles as a final resting place, recently was donated by his wife Norma and family to Radford University for a nature conservancy that has been named Selu Conservancy.