Flashes of scenes from the box office hit of the 80’s “National Lampoon Vacations”kept coming to mind as I entered the lavish and swanky Audi showroom on Park Avenue on Tuesday night and saw the very tall actor Chevy Chase mingling with the upscale & beautiful NY crowd. It was a private & special book release party for “The Godfather Family Album”a incredible pictorial book compiled by famed photographer Steve Schapiro and his years of photographing the fictionalized characters. Schapiro’s friends, associates and well wishers came to the very classy party produced by publisher Taschen Books and Men’s Vogue magazine. I have been to a ton of book launch parties before but never to one at a fancy car showroom so it was indeed the kind of party that you talk about days after it’s over.

Actor Chevy Chase in discussion with world famous photographer Steve Schapiro at book party

But first about the book. I was impressed. The Godfather Family Album based on Francis Ford Coppola’s legendary film ‘The Godfathers” is simply more then just a collectors item. It’s a piece of treasure (with a $700 price tag) that anyone who ever loved the epic film and their characters must have. Black and white classic images of  iconic actors such as Marlon Brando, James Caan, Robert De Niro and Al Picino are all part of Schapiro’s collection. I mean please, who can forget the famous image of actor Marlon Brando holding that cat with that mysterious and captivating grin. Oye!

The book includes over 400 never before images from the films. It is available through www.taschen.com with only a limited edition of 1000.

Ok, back to the party. The last time I saw Chevy Chase, he was at a  red carpet movie premiere in LA just being himself and having fun and that’s pretty much what he was doing at the party. Dressed in a blazer with jeans and loafers, Chase was chatting up a storm with old friends and devoted fans. Chase and Schapiro mingled with the beautiful folks of NYC to speak about the book and the collection of photos.

Chase and Schapiro admire the latest Audi cars at the Park Avenue NY showroom.

NY businessmen who dressed as Vogue representatives, chatted up beautiful models who lingered around the posh Audi cars as they glimpsed at Chase and tried to get a picture with him. People were friendly, courteous and very much impressed by the talent of Schapiro’s work.

“Seeing Chase brings back memories of high school” commented a guest gorgeous enough to be on the cover of the next Vogue.

Memories indeed. Chase’s character Clark Griswold from the four “National Lampoon Vacation ” films did indeed put him on the map as a star and really have been a strong reminder of his claim to fame in addtion to being the first cast member of “Saturday Night Live”.

Despite being an outspoken liberal, Chase’s popularity hasn’t been effected as you could tell from the 200 plus people that came to the event. It was indeed good to see Chase doing what he does best- being funny.

Ravi