Hollywood Days -- The Turner Classic Film Festival 2016

Attending only my 2nd TCM Classic Film Festival for 4+ days at the end of April, I felt equal parts film student, party girl, and star groupie.  The 'star groupie' in me could not resist seeking out and photographing the stars on the 'Hollywood Walk of Fame' or certain handprints and footprints and signatures in cement in the courtyard of Grauman's Chinese Theater.  The film student in me relished the opportunity to see new-to-me films, on the big screen, in the presence of celebrities and scholars sharing their personal stories with appreciative audiences.  The 'party girl' in me enjoyed meeting other classic film fans and bloggers who all embraced one another in the joy of indulging at the epicenter of our favorite passion.  It's an experience highly recommended for anyone enamored of film and film history.

A collage of some of the video graphics playing on the big screens prior to each screening.  I love how TCM does this, emphasizing the films and themes of the festival while allowing a feast for the eyes in anticipation of the film.

View on Hollywood Blvd of the
Festival environs

THE FILMS
First, I'll admit that I didn't completely fulfill the expectations of my schedule as planned and documented in a previous post. Of that list, because of either getting in line too late, or simply needing some down time, I missed DOUBLE HARNESS, LOS TALLOS AMARGOS, PRIVATE PROPERTY, "90th Anniversary of Vitaphone (shorts)", DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID, and THE BAND WAGON.  Other than that, I pretty much stuck to my plan and watched a total of 14 films.  Besides THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC, which I wrote about here, the films I enjoyed the most were:

A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN (Thursday evening) -- This was my first film of the festival and despite the fire alarm evacuation five minutes before the end of the film, it was a great start.  I hadn't ever seen this film, and was interested to see more of Dorothy McGuire, who I didn't care for in THE ENCHANTED COTTAGE, and who was OK in FRIENDLY PERSUASION -- those being the only other films of hers I've seen.  Here she was magnificent playing the steely Irish immigrant mother in turn of the century NYC lower east side trying to hold her family together.  Ted Donaldson, who as a child actor portrayed her son 'Neeley', introduced the film and, among other stories, told about how infatuated he was with Joan Blondell, here as McGuire's scandal-ridden but beautiful and kind-hearted sister.  The film was well-paced, moving, and yet felt true-to-life.

HE RAN ALL THE WAY--In my preview post I wrote that this was in a dead heat with DOUBLE HARNESS for a Friday afternoon viewing -- it needn't have been, as very few people got into the latter, and most of those rushed to the Egyptian to see this, John Garfield's last film.  It was a stunning noir, written by Dalton Trumbo, and underscored everything good about John Garfield.  Here he played a tough baddie, who nonetheless projected enough raw sexuality as well as vulnerability to make you forget to root against him.  I marveled at the talent we lost at a young age.  Shelley Winters was effective as his love interest/kidnap victim, and an older Wallace Ford was perfect as her middle-aged doughy father.  The film maintained tension until the inevitably regretful end.  RIP Mr. Garfield, and thank you.

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (Friday evening).  Two words: Angela Lansbury.  It was worth it to "run all the way" from the Egyptian Theatre down Hollywood Blvd back to the 'TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX' to catch this screening.  I got in the back of the line seemingly two nautical miles from the cinema entrance, didn't even collect a queue number, but managed to get in and meet my friend who was early and was guarding a seat for me with her life (thank you, L.!). While it was a thrill to see Lansbury live, and cheer her on as one of the most inspirational great ladies of the cinema and stage working today, her performance in the film was the true highlight (I had recently seen Lansbury live and in a smaller venue at the Harvard Film Archive in 2014). This was a chilling cold-war mystery/black comedy that went in all kinds of unexpected directions.  Nightmares figure prominently here, and the film itself was nightmare-inducing, yet fascinating and highly recommended.  I was wide awake until the film ended at about midnight, and considering the sleep deprivation I had endured, this is saying something.

Sr. Rose Pacatte interviewed by
Ileana Douglas

THE SONG OF BERNADETTE (Saturday evening)-- Of all the films, this one was the worst attended, perhaps about a third of the smallish Chinese Multiplex Theater 6 was full.  Well, it didn't have a major film star or family member present; it isn't a little-known precode or highly-anticipated restoration; it was up against blockbusters THE LONG GOODBYE and THE KING AND I; and it celebrates faith in our largely secular society.  That said, for me it represented an opportunity to see a film I'd never seen, one that made Jennifer Jones a star and won her an Oscar, and suitably fit in with the festival theme of 'moving pictures'. I was a bit worried it might be too saccharine, but it really wasn't.  There were a couple scenes that bordered on it, but altogether it was quite moving and genuine.  The supporting cast of Vincent Price, Anne Revere, Charles Bickford (rapidly becoming a fave), and Gladys Cooper was uniformly excellent, and their parts were well-written and nuanced.  The digital presentation of the black-and-white photography was luminous, and the story was compelling.  This was a highlight, and I was glad to see the fascinating and inspiring Sr. Rose Pacatte (film critic for National Catholic Reporter) introduce the film.

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS The film, for me, was average, but what made this screening special was the presentation in advance of the film by visual effects artist Craig Barron and sound designer Ben Burtt, who did extensive detective research to uncover the probable methods that Paramount's artists used to create the effects of the martian warships and alien creatures as they attempt to take over planet Earth.  This is a great example of why you attend a festival like this.  While I didn't learn enough to try these effects at home (!), it was fun to watch the effects in the film with the new knowledge of the technical wizardry, which, for the mid-1950s, was pretty effective. Here are some photos taken from their presentation.

THE STARS -- I'm going to let the photos (mostly taken by me, and therefore pretty amateur) speak for themselves.  I felt I was doing these long-gone stars homage for the joy and fun they had brought me over the past years.  I couldn't find some of my favorite stars' "stars", and didn't have time to search for very long, so I will add to my photo collage with new "stars" each year.

Reaching through time 

THE FUN

TCM Staff greet festival-goers
on Thursday

Getting in to town a few days before the festival started led to a tour of the Forest Lawn Cemetery and the Getty Museum.  When the festival opened on Thursday, it was a blast getting to meet fellow fans, TCM-Party regulars and bloggers, especially when you crossed paths later in the festival and breathlessly compared notes on the films and guests.  My regret was the festival flew by so quickly there wasn't enough time to attend all the events, social and educational.  All in all, it was an enthralling experience which I plan to repeat next year.  Here's to Hollywood!

Getty Museum environs on a sunny day in L.A.

One Week, Two Coasts, Two Extraordinary Silent Film Experiences

I don't know what I did to deserve such good fortune. In the course of one week--over one long weekend, to be exact--I was in the audience for two spectacular screenings of brilliant silent films, accompanied by live orchestral music composed recently, with the composers in attendance. One was on the west coast in Los Angeles at the Turner Classic Film Festival, Friday April 29, and the other on the east coast, here in Brookline, MA, at the Coolidge Corner Cinema, on Monday, May 2nd. The liberal use of superlatives in this post must be excused, as they are completely warranted; anyone in either audience will attest.

The TCM Film Festival screening: THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (1928), Fri. April 29th I'll be publishing another post shortly about some of my experiences at the festival, but this film was a highlight.  The film was made in Germany, directed by Carl Dreyer, and considered one of the masterpieces of the silent cinema, if not all cinema.  Its iconic star is French-born Maria Falconetti,

who is little known outside this film, but who gave one of the most stunning performances of all time.  This was my first ever viewing of the film, and it was unlike anything I'd seen. A dramatization of the final trial of St. Joan before her famous burning at the stake, it was not unlike one imagines the biblical Christ on trial by Pilate, with hypocritical judges manipulating the saintly Joan, both physically and psychologically, slowly toward her doom. The camera style was beyond expressionistic, mostly in either projecting disjointed close-ups of Joan and her accusers in a parade of faces, or capturing the environment with odd angles. Purportedly the actors used no makeup, leading to a raw, emotion-packed drama of personality, wits, and will.  It was somewhat of a miracle that the film survived, as it had been lost for many years until an original print was found in 1981 in a Norwegian insane asylum (!)
Enhancing the drama with astounding beauty was the live musical accompaniment -- festival attendees were witnessing a live performance of the 1994 score, the oratorio "Voices of Light" composed by Richard Einhorn.  Einhorn composed the piece at least in part, for the film, appropriately using medieval texts from mostly female mystics such as St. Hildegard of Bingen.  The soloists and U.C. Berkeley alumni chorus added a medieval other-worldliness to the proceedings.  Einhorn was present at the screening, and was interviewed beforehand by film critic Leonard Maltin, and shared how the film inspired him.  In a move unusual for film screenings, attendees were given a program for the performance with detailed notes and text of the oratorio.  Imagines of the cover and  inside pages of the program are here:

The audience held its collective breath until the final credits, when the chorus, who had been seated stealthily in black in the first several rows of the theater, stood up, turned and faced the audience, and delivered the Epilogue "Letter from Joan of Arc" --  So God King of Heaven, wills it; and so it has been revealed by the Maid".

The orchestra warming up before the screening

I hope to revisit the film soon, as I was so caught up in the emotion and thrill of the performances, both cinematic and musical, that I'm sure I missed so much detail of the drama taking place.  Many thanks to TCM for adding this event to the 2016 festival schedule.

For those interested, the complete oratorio can be heard on YouTube:

The film itself can also be found on YouTube.

The Coolidge Corner/Berklee Screening: VARIETÉ (1925) Mon., May 2  Readers of this blog know I previewed this theatrical event in my post here last month.  The experience did not disappoint.  The digitally restored film, directed by E.A. Dupont, and starring Emil Jannings, was an operatic melodrama of the highest order, with stunning visuals by cinematographer Karl Freund.  Accompanying it was a world premiere score, as written by Berklee College of Music film scoring students, conducted by the student composers, and performed by the Berklee Silent Film Orchestra.  The music did, as film scoring Professor Sheldon Mirowitz said, enhance the drama.  It was clearly a modern piece but with tunes that evoked early 20th century culture.  What struck me the most was the brilliant acting of Emil Jannings.  Using only his face, he could convince you that he was a mild-mannered man in love, or an angry, menacing murderer. The confrontation scene between Janning's character and antagonist 'Artinelli' is one of the most beautifully choreographed and chilling scenes I've witnessed.

The contrasting faces of Emil Jannings:

I've now seen Jannings in five films, and my opinion of him as an actor has grown in each.  This performance may be his finest, although I loved him in THE LAST COMMAND, a role for which he won the first best actor Oscar even given.

The gorgeous art deco Coolidge cinema

The audience at the screening, similar to that for THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC, gave the performers, both from 1925 and today, a standing ovation.  The deserving six student composers are Mateo Rodo (Argentina), Larry Hong (USA), Austin Matthews (USA), Hyunju Yun (Korea), Kanako Hashiyama (Japan), and Nathan Drube (USA). The audiences in Martha's Vineyard, San Francisco, and Beverly, MA, who will have the opportunity to catch the encore performances in the next couple of months, will be no doubt tremendously moved and satisfied, as will audiences who purchase the upcoming release of the film and score by Kino Lorber later this year.

A thorough and scholarly review and appreciation of the score to the film is provided here, in the Boston Music Intelligencer.

Decisions, Decisions! 2016 Turner Classic Film Festival 2016 picks -- first cut

I'm excited to be attending my second Turner Classic Film Festival in Hollywood CA Apr 28-May 1, where in gorgeous sunny CA the game is to see how many films in dark theaters you can possibly cram in periods of approximately 16 hours at a clip.  Forget eating and sleeping.  Seriously, it's gonna be a blast.  The schedule, of course, induces angina in most classic film fans trying to choose among treasures.  And it's not just the films, but very special guests that will be on hand to introduce or discuss the films.   Everyone has very individual reasons for choosing the particular films they do.  Here are my picks and my reasons:

Thursday Evening  -- opening night early film
In 2013 my friend and I walked the red carpet and then bailed on that movie, FUNNY GIRL, to watch SOUTH PACIFIC instead by the pool at the Roosevelt Hotel. (I can admit that now). This year, the poolside movie is Harold Lloyd's THE FRESHMAN, which is intriguing. But I'm planning to see A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN.  I've never seen it and it's a bona fide classic.  The other choices during the slot are: ALL THE PRESIDENTS MEN (good flick; but too recent, and yup, seen it), DARK VICTORY (wonderful Bette Davis but seen that recently) and ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO, which is considered a "Discovery," but I feel like starting with something a bit more conventional.

Thursday Evening -- late night slot: 
Assuming my jet lag isn't too bad I'll be up for another film and my choice is LOS TALLOS AMARGOS -- an Argentinian noir that the folks at TCM consider a "discovery".  Having received my film noir certificate last summer (!) I'm still eager to explore more in the genre.  Opposite this one is GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (good film, but seen it, and also seen a stage version fairly recently), and BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1945 British film that sounds wonderful) Tough choice!

Friday Morning slots
The early slot has some wonderful films, including SHANGHAI EXPRESS and THE MORE THE MERRIER, but I've seen both recently, and I'm inclined to check out Ida Lupino's first film as a director, 9:30 NEVER FEAR in a restored version, a film new to me.  It also has the advantage of starting just wee bit later than some of the others (sleep is at a premium).

Ann Harding & William
Powell in DOUBLE HARNESS

For the late morning hour I truly can't decide between one of my favorite films, the Ann Harding/William Powell pre-code melodrama DOUBLE HARNESS, and HE RAN ALL THE WAY, a noir, and legend John Garfield's last film, which I've never seen.  Both films will have special guests with connections to the films to delight us with their stories.  I guess I will just have to wait to see what moves me more that morning.

Friday Afternoon slots

At 2:15 it absolutely has to be THE CONVERSATION with special guest director Francis Ford Coppola on hand.  As I love Gene Hackman, this will be the second most recently-made film I'll see at the festival--one which I've not had the pleasure of seeing yet.

At 5:15 will be the 1960 noir PRIVATE PROPERTY, in a restored version, a "discovery".  I hate to miss the classic IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, but that one's not a fave and I prefer to watch it during the holiday season when I do watch it.




Friday Evening  slots
After a popcorn dinner I'll be ready to watch my first silent film of the festival, THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC, another lauded film that I haven't yet seen.  I am a fan of silent films on the big screen with live music -- such a terrific way to spend a couple of hours.  This one features accompaniment with orchestra & chorus!  Tempting is a poolside screening of BATMAN: THE MOVIE with Adam West -- talk about two very different cinema experiences!


Jumping ahead several decades, without at doubt the late movie has to be THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, to which I'll bring my molto grande coffee.  The great Angela Lansbury will be there, who I was thrilled to see at the Harvard Film Archive last year.  Here's an "essential" film that I need to see, and what an opportunity.

Saturday Morning slots
In the early morning I'll be seen at the  "90th anniversary of Vitaphone" presentation of seven vintage shorts from the early talking period of films.  They are newly restored, on 35mm.  I'll be missing out on BAMBI, ONE MAN'S JOURNEY (with Lionel Barrymore and Joel McCrea, which I saw recently) and FIELD OF DREAMS.

After a quick bite I'll be heading to DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID -- a spoof of film noir with Steve Martin that I've never seen, and it'll be especially fun to look out for cameos in the film by Humphrey Bogart and Alan Ladd, among others.  Made in 1982, this will be the most recent film I'll see.  I'll be sorry to miss A HOUSE DIVIDED, one of William Wyler's first films.

Saturday Afternoon

At 3:45 it's tempting to head to the pool for wine courtesy of the TCM wine club, as I may be vitamin D depleted by this point in the weekend.  But instead, I'm looking to go with the science fiction
choice, THE WAR OF THE WORLDS from 1953.  There'll be a discussion with Oscar winners associated with the film as well.  I'll be missing out on two classics from 1946, THE YEARLING, and THE BIG SLEEP.


Saturday Evening Slots  THE SONG OF BERNADETTE was one of the first films advertised by TCM to emphasize the film festival theme of 'Moving Pictures'.  It's one I've never seen, and I'm intrigued by it, and the performance of its star, Jennifer Jones, who won the Oscar that year.  It might be a bit treacly, but I'm willing to give it a shot.  Sister Rose Pacatte, who recently was a guest presenter on the network in March for the "Condemned" series, will be on hand to discuss this film.  I'll be foregoing THE LONG GOODBYE (I loved this one, but saw it at the Harvard Film Archive recently), and THE KING AND I (I may regret that, although musicals aren't my favorite).

The late film for me will be Jean-Luc Godard's  BAND OF OUTSIDERS, my second foreign film of the festival.  Claimed to be a dream like riff on American gangster pictures, it is said to have been a major influence on Quentin Tarantino.  I'll pass on ROCKY and FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN.  The midnight show is GOG, from 1954 and includes Herbert Marshall in a supporting role, and if it were any time other than a midnight show, I would so be there.  I know my limits!

Sunday Morning
The early show on Sunday morning presents another unresolved dilemma -- for me it's either MASH or THE FALLEN IDOL.  The former is another classic that has eluded me, and will include star Elliott Gould in person.  THE FALLEN IDOL is a British film from Carol Reed, starring Ralph Richardson, based on a Graham Greene short story.  What's not to love?  We'll see what I choose.

Sunday Afternoon Slots

My second silent film of the festival will be Charlie Chaplin's newly restored classic, THE KID.  I just can't resist this one.  This competes with one of the 'TBD' slots in which a popular film from earlier is screened in a repeat performance.  Next, I can hang around the same screen for HORSE FEATHERS, which is probably my favorite Marx Brothers film.  This one features Groucho's musical number "I'm against it", and Chico entertaining lovely fiesty Thelma Todd with his unique piano talents.  I just don't think I'm up for OLD YELLER, which broke my heart as a kid.

Sunday Evening
SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON might be my last film of the festival.  It suitably ends the festival for me as it's a John Ford western starring luminaries John Wayne, Harry Carey, Jr., Victor McLaglen, Ben Johnson, and George O'Brien.  (I'd been binging on westerns lately, with Alan Ladd and Van Heflin figuring prominently).  Keith Carradine, son of John, will be making in person remarks to accompany this film.  And with that, the festival concludes for me.  There is some chance I'll make it to part of THE BAND WAGON, with Rita Moreno in person, but alas I need to catch a redeye flight back to Boston so we'll see how it goes.  I'm so excited to be heading back to the festival this year, and I'm looking forward to meeting several classic film enthusiasts and bloggers that I've only "met" online.   Safe travels to all heading to Hollywood!