TCMFF IS BACK! Here’s what we know so far as TCM 2022 gets underway.

It has been two years since in the TCM Film Festival has graced Hollywood Boulevard and the fans are restless indeed. The theme of the festival captures this fervor well: “All Together Now: Back to the Big Screen”, which is exactly what long-time devotees have been waiting for. Let’s get back to work!

It is still uncertain how the festival plans to manage the spread of COVID-19 on the ground. Movie theaters, lines, hotel lobbies and conference rooms – these are all places where the virus, and nervousness, thrive. I myself can’t help but be skeptical of the hyper-indoor environment I’m about to walk into. Especially since they have lost some venues due to closures, mainly The Egyptian Theater which was bought by Netflix and is currently under construction. Does this mean they will need to consolidate? Or reduce the number of screenings? Unclear. So, hopefully vaccinations will be required and a 75% capacity will be enforced in all theatres (doubtful), but as we all know, the level of uncertainty changes hour by hour. Awkward confrontations will happen and I worry for the exceptional staff who will need to enforce the rules on unruly patrons.

The festival is opening on both good and somber notes (tipping towards the somber). The good being the recent announcement of parent company WarnerMedia of its long-term deal with Comcast in which TCM will be available to Comcast subscribers for many years to come. This will generate enormous sums of money from carriage fees which is how TCM is able to bring us content commercial-free. This is very good news to us who have been nervously tracking the health of the company since the AT&T merger in 2018, thinking it was skating on thin ice as a low-earner.

The somber being the lingering power of the pandemic and the long list of classic film stars who died clustered around the start of the year. Sidney Poitier, Peter Bogdanovich, Betty White, Yvette Mimieaux and now Monica Vitti represent portals to the past for many classic film fans and their deaths are a sad reminder that this world almost no longer exists in reality, but only on screen. To be clear- there is no way these deaths will dampen the spirits of these festival goers. The two-year hiatus has fans champing at the bit to return to Hollywood for a four-day hysteria. I’m sure few will touch the ground in that time.

TCM certainly hasn’t been sitting on its hands the past two years. They have gone through a major brand overhaul and launched a successful podcast, The Plot Thickens. It’s possible the podcast existed before COVID, but it has improved so much the past two seasons. *Note to readers – if you haven’t listed to the latest season, YOU MUST. It describes the life and work of Lucille Ball and it is a proverbial page turner. I learned so much and it really humanizes her and separates her from the personality she played on screen. Very good indeed.

They also have crafted a very promising festival. While the full program is being rolled out in batches, the films so far are looking good; several from the 1930s (though no salacious pre-codes as of yet) and crowd pleasers from the 1980s. Of the 25 or so films announced so far, I’m particularly excited about Portrait of Jennie (1948), Lilies of the Field (1963) and Polyester (1981), some personal favorites of mine. The opening night film is E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial with special guest appearances by Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, which will be a lot of fun. Lily Tomlin will be honored with a hand-and-foot ceremony at Grauman’s Chinese Theater and beloved film critic and festival attendee Leonard Maltin will be receiving the Robert Osborne Award for achievement. Given the very real risks, I doubt there will be many more celebrities making an appearance. But, it is Hollywood – anything can happen!

I’ll be posting more in the coming weeks as details come to light and April 21-24 during the festival.

An escape into Pre-Code with a summer screening of EX-LADY

Well, it sure has been a while since posting. Obviously much has changed in the world, and quite frankly, my motivation for writing has just not been there. Though it can at times be an escape, writing is also just another job that needs doing and sometimes falls by the wayside. In January, I started a new job and two months later, COVID took over just about everything else. I’m sure many of you have felt like focusing on the essentials, and little else.

Now, almost 6 months later, cases are still rising and we continue to cope with the devastation caused by this outbreak. I hope everyone reading this is continuing to exercise caution and consider the welfare and safety of others.

As you all know, organizations have been scrambling to find alternatives to in-person events, all of which have been cancelled indefinitely. The Art Deco Society of California is one such organization of which I am a proud member and who’s Gatsby picnic each September generates a huge amount of funds for the organization. Without it, they are certainly at a significant loss. To help ease the sting of this pitfall, the ADSC is hosting what they can of virtual, online events to bring our tight-knit community together once again.

I was asked to host a movie night, dealer’s choice, with whatever technology we had at our disposal, which included time for mingling, a quick intro by me and a discussion afterwards. It was great fun, and with all of the research I did to prepare, I thought it was a great excuse to get back in the writer’s chair and share with you here.

We watched EX-LADY from 1933 – a Warner Brothers film directed by Robert Florey, starting Bette Davis and Gene Raymond. It tells the story of a romance between two advertising executives in New York. Davis plays a talented illustrator who doesn’t believe in marriage, so the two live together “in sin” until her beau, played by Raymond, gets tired of hiding and convinces her to make it official. The inevitable pressures of marriage soon disintegrates their relationship, so, to save it, they begin experimenting once again.

It was a remake of the 1931 film ILLICIT, starring Barbara Stanwyck, which came from a play by Robert Riskin who was a highly successful writer would go on to write several of Frank Capra’s films and husband of actress Fay Wray.

Why did I choose this film? Well. This is certainly not the best pre-code film out there nor is it the most scandalous, NOR the most sensational, but it does address the subject of marriage head-on in a very progressive and direct way. It’s a great example of a film that surprises many people who are new to pre-code and the

It portrays a woman whose unconventional lifestyle looks pretty darn great! Unmarried career women were typically shown onscreen as dour, unattractive, matronly – even mean. However, EX-LADY shows a young woman who is unapologetic about how she wants to live her life and the film does not punish her for it later on. She is also shown changing her mind, and that’s okay too!

To recap, this is a romantic comedy that falls in the category of what we now call “pre-code”, which is a retrospective term coined in the 1980s to describe a group of films that were made specifically between the years 1930 and 1934. The “Code” was a code of conduct agreed to by studio heads after a series of Hollywood scandals called for a “clean up” of Hollywood. But this was merely ceremonial and resulted in loose self-censorship. It wasn’t strictly enforced until 1934 when Joseph Breen reformed the department and cracked down on so-called immoral content.

During this time, each studio had a particular “flavor” or “style” and they each held a reputation for a certain type of film. Warner Brothers was known for their gangster movies under studio head Darryl F. Zanuck. However, I would step beyond that to say that their films were more about the common man/woman and discussed the social realities of the time. While MGM was a “star factory” and RKO was the owner of screwball comedies, Warners championed reality pictures. They lead the pack in pushing the boundaries of the code with highly sexualized content. BABY FACE came out the same year as EX-LADY, which is probably the most famous pre-code because of its completely explicit, unconcealed dealing with the topic of women and sex.

Director Robert Foley was a French-American director who never really obtained a high degree of fame, even though he was quite prolific and had an incredibly long career in Hollywood and then in television. From the research I did on him, he seemed to be, quite simply, a working director who migrated fluidly from studio to studio. He was highly efficient which made him perfect for B-pictures and did not seek the spotlight. All contributing factors to a long, uninterrupted career in the film business.

The set designer for this film was Jack Okey – another working set designer employed continuously by the studio. In 1933 this position was called the “Art Director” – the title “Production designer” was not coined until 1939. Due to Okey’s status as a hard-working, reliable member of the pool, he had a list of over 100 film projects. In the 1930s, he seemed to be doing at least 15 films per year, which is astounding.

Costumes were designed by the ever famous Orry-Kelly. I know many of you already know much about this designer, so I won’t spend too much time on him. Orry George Kelly was born in Kiama, Australia where he studied mural painting and was a tailor’s assistant to earn some money on the side. He moved to New York in 1921 then to Hollywood in 1931 where he started as a set painter. His friend Cary Grant got him work at First National Pictures as a costume designer and within a year he was the head costume designer at Warner Brothers, where he stayed until 1944. I guess it could happen that easily back in those days!

Orry-Kelly had a close relationship with Bette Davis, and she requested him on all of her pictures. Pretty much any famous Bette Davis film you can think of, Orry-Kelly designed her clothes. This film may have been their first collaboration. He had a particular knack for designing clothes to suit the actress’s body – deemphasizing, disguising – a true tailor in that way. He also liked to be unpredictable with his costumes as way to make a statement about the character. He finally started winning Oscars in the 1950s, but by then he had moved to MGM.

This was Bette Davis’ first film where she received top billing. She was 25 years old and had been in Hollywood for about 4 years and had been getting bit parts around town. Finally, George Arliss requested her as his leading-lady in The Man Who Played God and after Davis received positive reviews, Warners signed her to a 5-year contract. Though Ex-Lady fell into a stream of so-so films, she would get her biggest break a year later when she played Mildred in Of Human Bondage at RKO on loan-out. A year later she would win her first Oscar for her role in Dangerous, in 1935, then win again for Jezebel in 1938.

Not surprisingly, Davis is what really holds up this film. There are several moments where another actress could have played the role very differently. For example, there’s a scene where Davis pretends to be asleep when her husband comes home and she confronts him on his philandering. Instead of being hysterical, weepy or raging, she speaks logically and practically – almost like a lawyer would. It’s a great pre-code moment, because it completely broke the feminine stereotype which happens repeatedly in this film. It really speaks to her talent as an actor.

Finally, I love watching her move in this film. She has a way of walking; leading with her hips, creating this effect where her torso goes one way while her hips go the other. It reminds me of when a VHS tape was paused, creating striations on the screen, splitting the image.

You can rent the film on Amazon Prime. Happy viewing, friends. Stay safe.

NOIR CITY 18 takes us to far away places for 10 days of darkness and passion

NOIR CITY is back to the Castro theatre this month with an incredible lineup of film noir from around the world. This is the third international program the Foundation has organized since its beginning in 2003 with each day focused on one country. 10 days, 10 countries. Onstage at the Castro last month for a preview screening, Eddie Muller says he felt the need for us to “escape from America” and experience something refreshingly new and different. I couldn’t agree with him more.

It’s also an opportunity for Muller to once again explain (and show) that noir is not strictly an American genre. One could argue that noir was defined by Hollywood in the early 1940s when studios finally got out from under the Production Code and were able to take the spicy crime novels of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler and put them to screen. But the look, feel and subject matter of the noir genre was first inspired by the German Expressionist Movement brought to America by great directors fleeing early threats of Nazism.

Whatever the argument, noir certainly did not stay in America. Its influence spread far and wide; its gritty, crime based, sex-forward stories captivated audiences from France to Japan, as it still does today. Having attended NOIR CITY numerous times and watched Czar Eddie prophesize about the genre each week on TCM’s Noir Alley, I think that one of Muller’s goals is to move people beyond the narrow tropes that define noir. As opposed to many other art forms that seek to refine, perfect and limit, Muller is pushing and expanding. He wants us to know that these films contain universal themes that we love: obsession, rejection, classism – all themes that continue to be relevant because they indulge our innermost desires and fears.

I’m excited by many of the films on the list. Ingrid Bergman’s Swedish noir from 1943, the Antonioni from Italy on January 27^th, and a whole Saturday devoted to four Mexican noirs. But I may be most intrigued by the films from South Korean and Japan. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one. The release dates of these films may prove that their industries took time to recover following the devastating effects of successive wars. But I suppose most of the films we will see originate from countries ravaged by war during the same time that the film industry in America was thriving and growing. On a similar note, I’ll be looking to see if the technology available to filmmakers in these countries changed the image itself dramatically; it may not be the glossy, high-contrast image that we’re used to from Hollywood noir (with Hollywood money).

One of the reasons to attend NOIR CITY is to take advantage of the opportunity to see these films and to see them as originally intended, on the big screen. Especially since access to them is becoming more and more uncertain. As corporate mergers and acquisitions continue to happen with an alarming level of fluidity, the fate of existing novelty films is on increasingly confusing and it subject to whim of massive media conglomerates. I don’t really understand the politics of studio licensing of archived films, but it seems that film archives are under constant threat of being put under lock and key, depending on whose jurisdiction it is. For example, Disney’s purchase of 20^th Century Fox in 2018 has caused serious roadblocks to groups and individuals looking to license a vintage film for a public screening. Either it’s not a priority for the studios or some financial disincentive exists to devalue these films as a commodity. Hopefully oversight from the Academy will prevent complete blackout.

In a recent quote from a SF Chronicle society column, Muller seemed concerned: “The work we do to save, preserve and archive these films is vitally important to exhibit this valuable cinema history to audiences”. He continued, “Movies are our shared dreams and collective nightmares. And it shouldn’t be up to some corporate entity to decide what survives and what you can see or can’t see.”

To support these efforts by the Film Noir Foundation, check back here for reviews and observations as I make my way through 10 days of murder and mayhem! You can see the full NOIR CITY program here: http://noircity.com/nc18p1.html

Jaunt to Bakersville, CA

During a detour off the I-5 to downtown Bakersfield, my friend and I stumbled across an original Woolworth’s Luncheonette hidden within an antiques mall and apparently the last of its kind in the country. Woolworth’s was the pioneer of five-and-dimes stores in the U.S. at the turn of the century, and they grew into one of the largest retail chains in the world. They started putting lunch counters in their stores in 1923 as an inexpensive dining option for working people. The “Woolworth Diner” in Bakersfield, as it is now called, opened in 1949.

Lunch counters became an extremely successful form of non-violent protest during the Civil Rights Movement. Woolworth counters were segregated, so activists would “sit-in” in a whites-only area and ask to be served. They would sit for hours, often enduring physical abuse and humiliation from white resistors. As a result of a 6-month series of these protests in Greensboro, North Carolina, F.W. Woolworth stores desegregated in July 1960. A section of the Greensboro lunch counter is installed at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

The Woolworth company dissolved in 1997, but a handful of semi-preserved counters can still be found throughout the country.

Hollywood at the Hotel Del Coronado

Behind the soaring towers of the Grand Hyatt on San Diego’s busy marina, where I spent three days cloistered for a work conference, lays Coronado – an island home to the infamous Hotel Del Coronado; an iconic resort that’s been a destination for the rich and famous since it opened its doors in 1888.

But the hotel is known to me, and most other movie buffs, as the filming location for SOME LIKE IT HOT; the wonderful Billy Wilder comedy released in 1959 starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. Though the setting is Miami, there’s little done to disguise the California coastline. So, with an afternoon at my disposal, I took some time to explore the background of a film that still holds the spot as the #1 Best Comedy of all time, according to the American Film Institute.

The Coronado peninsula was purchased in 1885 by three mid-western businessmen Elisha S. Babcock, Jr., Hampton L. Story, and Jacob Gruendike for the sole purpose of building “the grandest hotel on the Pacific coast.” They bought the entire area for only $110,000 and finished building in three years. 

In 1997, a series of Naval facilities took over the northern half of the island, which makes the military presence is very strong as it is in most of San Diego. When I drove over San Diego Bay and through the town of Coronado to reach the west side, it seemed extremely similar to Alameda Island – another area that exists for military use (although man-made). But it’s only on Coronado that you can look one direction and see palm trees and million-dollar bungalows and in the other direction see aircraft carriers being built. An odd dynamic, absolutely.

The trio hired Canadian architect James W. Reid to execute their grand vision. He designed a Late Victorian, Queen Anne style building that required an enormous amount of lumber that the San Diego region lacked. To overcome this, Reid hired Chinese immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area to transport the wood from forests in Eureka, near the Oregon border.

The team spared no expense to make this hotel the best it could possibly be. The original grounds had an Olympic-sized salt water pool, multiple tennis courts, and a yacht club that was designed as a miniature version of the hotel’s rotunda. According to an article in The Journal of San Diego History, “A Japanese tea garden, an ostrich farm, billiards, bowling alleys, hunting expeditions, and deep-sea fishing were some of the many features offered to its guests.”

It’s therefore no surprise that ‘The Del’s’ relationship with Hollywood runs long and deep. Plenty of Hollywood royalty made the hotel their playground, particularly during the Roaring 20’s and Prohibition. It’s near-but-far proximity to Hollywood made it an ideal place to misbehave (or honestly, relax) on the weekends.

 

Another notable guest who is slightly (but not far) removed from the Hollywood crowd was the children’s book author L. Frank Baum who made the hotel his home for the winter months. It was here that he wrote parts of the Wizard of Oz series and would often read to the children after Sunday brunch for guests in the famous Crown Room.

This brings us to 1958 in which the hotel became the backdrop for SOME LIKE IT HOT – an audacious film for the time conceptualized by writer I.A.L. Diamond and Billy Wilder who pulled it out of his great love for jazz. This is an excellent film that has only improved with age. It is largely considered Marilyn Monroe’s greatest performance and won her the Golden Globe for Best Actress the following year. She sparkles as Sugar Kane Kowalczyk and is supported beautifully by Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and other brilliant cast members like Joe E. Brown and the members of the Sweet Sue orchestra.

When looking for a location to shoot the 1920’s Florida setting, Wilder said: “We looked far and wide, but this was the only place we could find that hadn’t changed in thirty years. People who have never seen this beautiful hotel will never believe we didn’t make these scenes on a movie lot. It’s like the past come to life.” (site)

For ten days, Wilder and a contingent of 200 cast and crew descended upon the hotel to shoot the exterior beach scenes for the film. A million stories exist as to what was happening in Marilyn’s life at the time, and none of it rosy. She was struggling in her marriage to Arthur Miller and was reportedly experiencing another in a string of pregnancies during the time of shooting. Her weight gain exacerbated her insecurity onscreen which manifested by hiding in her dressing room for hours, delaying production.

 

Despite this, the three costars got along famously, and in later years, Jack Lemmon acknowledged Monroe’s issues but praised her performance wholeheartedly.

While wandering the grounds, I was surprised that the hotel didn’t do a better job of honoring its Hollywood past. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but all that exists are some SLIH chatchkies in the gift shop, where the film also plays on a loop, and a small canvas photo gallery in a 1st floor passageway. Quite disappointing, considering they have Wilder film is what has attracted thousands of tourists over the years.

However, I got a swell tour of the place by Robert, who has worked as a bellman at the hotel for 32 years. He recounted some entertaining stories of Clinton, Regan and Bush visiting the hotel and was also lucky to be present for the 50th anniversary celebration of SOME LIKE IT HOT in 2009. Apparently Tony Curtis showed up flanked by two 6-ft tall blondes pushing his wheelchair 😉 I mean, why not….

Here are some more shots of the interior rooms of The Del….

 

A Celebration to Remember: TCM Turns 25

If you ask any classic movie fan, The TCM Film Festival is an oasis for all who attend – a tiny, cozy bubble of cinematic nostalgia where movie nerds can quote, converse, question and rail with each other in complete safety. An event that is anticipated the whole year long by a group as thick as thieves. The atmosphere was ripe with enthusiasm among movie goers who, this year, paid $1,500 or more to escape daily life for a time to celebrate two important milestones; the 10^th festival and the 25^th anniversary of the Turner Classic Movie channel, respectively. But nothing happens in a vacuum, including this annual convention of amateur film historians & critics.

Beyond the edges of this bubble was a landscape of complete corporate upheaval. In June 2018, Time Warner was acquired by AT&T in one of the largest corporate mergers in history. Though the acquisition was announced in 2016, a series of high-profile lawsuits delayed its completion; lawsuits that were filed by the Trump Administration in what was the first time in several decades that the Justice Department interfered in a corporate merger.

This interference was clearly politically motivated and ultimately deemed inappropriate by multiple courts. Though I despise everything the Trump Administration does and represents, I have to agree that the marriage of two corporate titans into one massive conglomerate is suspicious and concerning. One of the world’s largest telecommunications companies combined with one of the world’s largest entertainment companies will undoubtedly monopolize the field and harm competition.

The results of this merger have yet to be fully understood or felt, but TCM is existing on shaky ground. During mergers of this scale, alarm bells sound in all directions as the parent company typically conducts an internal slash-and-burn operation to cut any “unnecessary waste” where no employee or department is safe. There were some immediate layoffs at Warner Bros., but nothing shocking. Still, there is an underlying anxiety as to the security of a channel that is a mere cog in an enormous wheel getting larger and faster by the day. A slash to the gut would be no surprise – could TCM be next?

Of course, at the annual “Meet TCM” panel that kicks-off each festival, TV executives did everything they could to subdue all doubts or fears floating in the dark corners (or theaters) all around them. The TCM Film Festival has always been a financial loss, so it is an easy target, however, they did announce that a festival would happen next year, much to everyone’s relief. To their credit, these executives had a lot to do: they had to celebrate two major milestones, explain a massive corporate restructure and prove, for the record, how they remain relevant and popular – as if they themselves were being recorded on a direct phone line to the high echelons of AT&T.

Well, if anything helped TCM appear to be shouting from the rooftops proving their relevance and as an (attempted) money maker, it was films that were chosen to show. The presence of popular crowd pleasers dominated the lineup: GONE WITH THE WIND (1939), THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965), STAR WARS (1977) continued by a tribute to Nora Ephron’s films STEEL MAGNOLIAS (1989) and WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (1989) amongst others. In fact, when STAR WARS was announced in the lineup earlier this year, the festival tickets sold out. Not a bad fact to bring to the boss! Though GONE WITH THE WIND can be excused because it was the first film ever to show on the channel in 1994 in a nod to the milestone, I can’t help but think that choosing these films was a strategic move by TCM executives to save itself – as if a neon sign was blinking: “THIS IS BETTER THAN NETFLIX”. As generations age, a Warner or AT&T exec is more likely to recognize and appreciate a screening of STAR WARS than an Erich von Stroheim silent…

Though big films satisfy the bottom line, it’s the small films that gain the most attention by cinephiles. The final day of the festival, Sunday, reserves a handful of slots for “TBD’s” which are announced on Saturday afternoon. These TBD’s are spaces saved for films that sell out the previous days of the fest, and on Sunday you get a second chance to see them. Without fail, it’s the little-known pre-codes or 80 min silent films that sell out. Why? Because this is the very thing people come to a film festival for; what other opportunity does one have to see these films in the way they were originally intended to be seen?

I realize that I’m painting a rather dark picture, so let me adjust. Against this ominous backdrop, spirits were high among festival goers, as they always are. Friends reunited, celebrations ensued and schedules were immediately compared and just as quickly, crossed out and reworked. It is a jubilant atmosphere of people who really know their stuff. Even though this was my second year, I was intimidated from the beginning, and I’m not exactly stupid. The wealth and breadth of knowledge these people possess is truly shocking and a wonderful thing to behold. Standing in line under the hot sun, I came to understand that for the people standing all around me, classic film is their bread and water – their everything. Who am I? I should just give up now!

I saw 10 films this year and loved every single one of them. To highlight a few: A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS (1928) with a live studio orchestra was unforgettable, HOLIDAY (1938) couldn’t have been more enchanting on the big screen to a sold-out audience, and THE OPPOSITE SEX (1956) by the pool at The Roosevelt was nothing short of a riot. Even a movie I thought I’d hate, I loved; WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (1951) made it to my docket only for the thrill of seeing Barbara Rush in-person to introduce it. I’ll be writing a separate post detailing another wonderful event I enjoyed: the screening of SLEEPING BEAUTY with a post-screening discussion with two of the original animators.

Though one can always nitpick at the lineup of films presented at this fest, few walk away dissatisfied. There is always something to see and enjoy, proving that the films themselves are the heart of this entire operation. However, the real magic of film festivals is everything else inserted into the program that surrounds the screenings. The opportunity to attend lectures, panel discussions and interviews of people in the trade is what makes film festivals so unique and special. These types of events helps with the “full immersion” that any film fan is seeking when they attend. For most other festivals of course, it’s not all fun and games. Filmmakers, distributors and financiers show up for the purpose of getting noticed, brokering a deal and/or finding talent. Though TCM is not exactly built or intended as a setting for such business dealings, the model should still be upheld.

In this regard, I think TCM could do much better. If I were crafting this program, I would structure the festival in two distinct parts:  1. Here’s the Art, 2. Here’s Why it Matters. A perfect example of this occurred on the final day, when they paired GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) with a fascinating discussion at Club TCM preceding the screening titled “The Complicated History of Gone with the Wind” hosted by Donald Bogle with (my favorite) critic Mollie Haskell as a panelist. This was an absolutely TERRIFIC (and sold-out) conversation about a film that continues to morph and shift in the public consciousness as time passes, and was a wonderful opportunity to discuss the film’s history and how it relates to modern audiences.

Another example of a non-screening event that had all the right components was the FASHION IN FILM of TCMFF 2019 lecture by Kimberly Truhler at the Women’s Club of Hollywood. This is a huge hit among festival goers, and many arrive to Los Angeles early in order to attend. Yet surprisingly, this event is actually unaffiliated with the TCM Film Festival, officially. It has unofficially, however, become a signature event in the festival program and contains exactly the kind of substance and intelligent, educational material that fans are looking for. The presentation selects certain movies from the TCM lineup and highlights the element of costume design and a film’s individual contribution to style in the broader context of Hollywood and its history. Kimberly’s lecture is a devotee’s dream, soaking us in film history, juicy personal stories of stars we love, and primes our minds for what we will witness in the days ahead. As an added bonus, the event featured a display of original Joseff of Hollywood jewelry worn by the stars in very films were would be seeing later in the week: Katharine Hepburn in Holiday, Irene Dunne in Love Affair, Grace Kelly in High Society, and Ava Gardner in Mogambo.

These two events emblematize exactly what I, and many others, are hungry for. We’ve all seen these films a million times and will see them a million more. What I want is a chance to see these films I love with fresh eyes – to experience them with new information given to me by experts who know it. THIS is how you celebrate cinema. By understanding HOW and WHY it continues to matter. I implore TCM to invest more in panels, lectures and interviews – it is a model that works.

This leads me to my next (and final, I promise) criticism. Each film had an in-person introduction, either a single presenter or as an interview with two on stage. Many were very good, most notably Cari Beauchamp and Eddie Muller, drowning us all with their fountains of knowledge. But others were, quite simply – ghastly. I won’t name names, but many of introductions were done by celebrities who just didn’t know what they were talking about and it showed. The pairings of person –> film didn’t make any sense. They are fans who also just happen to be famous. I don’t mean to be discouraging – yes, you can be famous and you can be a classic movie fan, but for the love of god, please PREPARE before you fling yourself onstage to talk about a film that you’ve maybe seen twice. Many introductions descended into an awkward and irritating cacophony of voices giggling “hahaha, you’re amazing, this movie is amazing, the end”.

I understand the excitement of hosting a celebrity, rather than an unknown academic, to introduce a notable film. Having their name associated with a small, niche festival carries much more weight than for flashier venues. This is fine – BUT there must be strict expectations attached to this agreement. A SCRIPT, for example, containing carefully curated questions and answers would have been nice. I know this is an “in a perfect world” request, but isn’t this what actors are used to?! Sigh…

With all of my snobbish critique aside, this is still an unforgettable four days that are cherished and dreamed about by fans all year long. Despite the surges of capitalist tides, our tiny bubble of precious joy lives on – our Oz endures.

TCM Classic Film Festival Turns 10! April 11-14 in Hollywood

I am so happy to share that I will be returning to the TCM Film Festival in Hollywood armed with press credentials! This year will be a treat – TCM is celebrating 10 years of the festival and the 25^th anniversary of the channel itself. I’ve been told that lots of surprises are in store for us!

Now that the full schedule has been released, all attendees are suffering from the same frustration of choosing which films to attend and which to sacrifice. Six venues hosting simultaneous screenings makes for very hard decisions, and ultimately, one can never be completely satisfied. I’ve poured over the film schedule all week, and after each review, my lineup looks entirely different. So many films, so little time.

Though this is entirely subject to drastic change, here is my current itinerary for the Festival:

Time	Film	Location
THURSDAY APRIL 11
1:00-2:00p	Meet TCM – Party	Club TCM
3:00-4:00p	So You Think You Know Movies?	Club TCM
5:00p-7:00p	Welcome Party	Club TCM
6:30-8:30p	DARK PASSAGE (1947)	CMP 1
FRIDAY APRIL 10
9:00-10:30a	MERRILY WE GO TO HELL (1932)	CMP 1
12:00-1:30p	SLEEPING BEAUTY (1959)	EGYPTIAN
3:00-5:00p	SUNRISE (1928)	CMP 1
5:00-6:00p	A Conversation with Juliet Taylor	Club TCM
7:30-8:45p	OPEN SECRET (1947)	CMP 6
9:30-11:15P	ROAD HOUSE (1948)	EGYPTIAN
SATURDAY APRIL 11
9:15-10:45a	WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (1951)	CMP 1
11:54-1:45p	KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (1949)	CMP 1
5:00-6:00p	Hollywood Home Movies	Club TCM
6:30-8:30p	The Robert Osbourne Award/ IT HAPPENED HERE (1961)	Egyptian
8:00–10:30p	THE BAD SEED (1956)	Club TCM
9:15-11:00p	INDISCREET (1958)	The Legion
SUNDAY APRIL 12
9:15-11:00p	HOLIDAY (1938)	CMP 1
2:30-3:30p	The Complicated History of Gone with the Wind	Club TCM
5:15-7:00p	A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS (1928)	Egyptian
9:00p-12:00p	Closing Night Party	Club TCM

Saying I feel more “prepared” than I did before last year’s festival may be slightly overstating things a bit, however, I am no longer the “blank slate” I was this time last year. Upon reflection, there are definitely things I plan on doing differently as a member of the press. I need to take more advantage of the opportunities that a festival has to offer rather than just go where the crowd takes me. I want to target events with special guests speaking about their work and join the poolside discussions by experts. Most of all, I intend to take opportunities to learn about a new topic or genre that I would have not otherwise been exposed to. For example, on Saturday I plan to attend a screening of SLEEPING BEAUTY (1959) because they are featuring one of the original illustrators at Disney who worked on the project (and a woman!). Though I’m not a huge fan of animation, I think it will be the perfect chance to learn something new and from the source itself.

I’m also really excited about the Robert Osbourne Award be given to Kevin Brownlow for his work on film preservation, particularly silent film. I’m not privy to the bulk of his other work (which includes doc films editing, etc.), but I’m excited to learn more about the process of film preservation; a topic that interests me greatly. He received an honorary Oscar from the Academy in 2010 for film preservation – the first (and only, so far) ever given for such work.

Another interesting event will be on Sunday afternoon when the festival is nearing its end. As a pre-reception to the screening of GONE WITH THE WIND later that day, critic and film historian Molly Haskell will lead a discussion with other historians on the complicated history of Gone with the Wind and its problematic messages imbued in the story. I’m vaguely aware of much of these issues, so I’ll be thrilled to hear an in-depth conversation about the film’s past and production. Molly Haskell is one of my favorite critics – she’s an outspoken feminist writer and always manages to critique films from the female lense. It will be a treat to see and listen to her in person.

Overall, I appreciate how diverse this year’s lineup is even though Pre-Codes seem to have been ignored this year 😉 But not to worry – there is plenty to keep me occupied. Check back here for more updates and coverage of the TCM Classic Film Festival 2019!

 

 

A Transformative Decade – Noir City 17 leads a cinematic tour through the 1950’s

Rarely does one have the opportunity to see an entire decade flash before you in the span of ten days. But San Francisco’s Noir City 17 did precisely that. Following the model of last year’s festival which focused on the 1940’s, the Film Noir Foundation screened a film from each year of the 1950’s, ending in 1961. It wasn’t until this festival did I grasp how effective it is to show these films both chronologically and back-to-back; I saw the full arc of the decade through the medium of cinema. There was a distinct contrast in the films at either end of the decade – the whole ethos, aesthetic and creativity of these films had completely shifted and proved to me that the 1950s was truly a transformative decade. At this time, the studio system was just beginning to crumble, and in its place, independent and experimental filmmakers thrived and manifested their creativity free from the grasp of oppressive studios. What resulted were riskier, edgier films that confronted social issues head-on in a style that was less refined and more direct – even fearless.

Also fearless was the written welcome to the festival by our beloved host, Eddie Muller, in the introductory pages of the program. In his normal Sam Spade-style voice of a cynic, Eddie is weary from another year on the front lines fighting to preserve a world that is quickly dying. I can tell he is still getting used to his new TV stardom – it’s the mental shift that happens when someone who fights so long for attention finally has it.

Naming names, Eddie points to John Stankey (how apt…), and the larger corporate behemoth behind him, as the reason for the demise of FilmStruck; an online streaming service that was cancelled late last year when AT&T merged with Time Warner Inc. Now that he’s seated at the table, Mr. Muller has been reassured that the people who don’t care about the movies are in control of their fate. This is of course his written call-to-action to his public to support the Foundation with dollars, but it also reveals that Eddie is in a position now to peer inside the machine, and clearly does not like what he sees.

Now! Back to the movies….

TRAPPED (1949) was the chosen restoration for this year’s festival, premiering on the first night. Directed by Richard Fleischer, it is a strange combination of documentary and drama – quite literally. The film begins quizzically – a male voice narrates an extensive introduction of news footage describing how the Feds are cracking down on the crisis of counterfeit cash flowing through the Treasury. This goes on for quite a while, and I began to wonder if this is in fact a full-blown documentary. But then we are introduced to Lloyd Bridges, our anti-hero, as he’s serving time in jail. He’s a hard-headed, wise-cracking thug with a look in his eye of having a perilous trick up his sleeve. Sure enough, when the cops approach him to help bust a new counterfeit ring, he agrees, then jumps the accompanying officer the night he’s let out. He quickly meets up with his moll, played well by Barbara Payton, and uses her to get back in to this new criminal ring, hoping for another big payout. But the Feds are on to both of them, and are never far behind.

It is undeniably a “B” favorite, since it contains most of the tropes that have since defined the Noir genre, so you have to take the cringeworthy with the good. The print looked beautiful, and even when a film doesn’t grab me as others do, I am always captivated by the clarity and vibrancy of images that were captured 70 years earlier – highlighting the significance of film restoration.

 

Noir fans will be frustrated to hear that this was my first time seeing PICK-UP ON SOUTH STREET (1953), a staple of the genre that is easily in the top charts of best Noir films ever made. It’s directed by Samuel Fuller and, in my opinion, a near-perfect movie. It has terrific dialogue and characters that have an ideal balance of sweetness and sourness. Thelma Ritter is always worth watching, but this was next level – even for her. This performance would give her her fourth out of six Oscar nominations throughout her career, with, tragically, not a single win.

Jean Peters smolders as Candy, an unlucky (and clumsy) apprentice to a criminal blackmailer, and had some of the best lines in the script. She played her SO well – using her whole body to portray this character. She is totally restless – I don’t think she stops moving for a single moment; fussing, twitching and rushing from one assignment to the next all while chewing a fat wad of gum. But man, was she sexy! Her 22″ midriff and dark, pouty lips were hard to look away from. Shortly after this film was released, Jean Peters, frustrated by only being cast in these bombshell roles, actively pushed back on the studios, which never fully capitulated to her demands, and her career suffered irreparably.

At some point I’d like to post separately about Samuel Fuller – he has created so many icons, I would really like to know more about him as a filmmaker.

The biggest surprise of the festival was a small little film that packed the biggest punch. THE WELL (1953) was unknown to me and most others, but by mid-way through the film, you could hear a pin drop in the theatre – everyone was completely captivated. It is based on a true story of a little girl who falls into a well and goes missing for several days, becoming a sensational story in the national news. The screenwriters, Clarence Greene and Russell Rouse, decided to turn the young character into an African-American, and the resulting story describes how a small town erupts into violent race riots when a white man is accused of killing her.

Made on a small budget in Yuba City, CA, the production used non-professional actors for many of the roles, which gave it a very real, “in your backyard” feeling, which added even more power to the already charged narrative. It could be a town anywhere in America – your neighbors, your children and your problem. The film holds up extremely well, unfortunately, due to its highly relevant racial disparities that manifest in violence and baseless hatred.

I really don’t want to give too much away, but, the lengthy rescue scene was tense and suspenseful and handled with care and precision. Though directed by Leo C. Popkin, I have the sense it was a collaborative effort between writers and director. It was quite decidedly my favorite of the festival and many others I talked to days after the screening found it hard to forget. Surprisingly, I discovered that it was in fact nominated for two Academy Awards – for Best Screenplay and for Editing. The circumstances of the person currently holding the license to this film prevents it from being re-released to the public, but at least it will be forever recorded in the Academy archives and not be completely forgotten…

To conclude, I was delighted to hear that this festival broke box office records, both in ticket sales and in the number of Passport holders (which grants, up front, access to all 24 films). I’m not sure why – perhaps the 1950s is a more approachable decade? Whereas the 1940s seems like ancient history? Or perhaps this installment contained more recognizable titles like BREATHLESS (1960) and PSYCHO (1960) which they showed back-to-back, selling-out the entire 1,400 seat theatre, understandably. Or maybe it’s just what G. Allen Johnson from the SF Chronicle says in his review, that the 1950’s were an “ambitious decade” – a time when filmmakers could spread their wings and make real art that still resonates with people today.

Who knows. But what is true is that though Muller anguishes about the future of these captured moments of history, he’s crafted a cinematic experience that leaves you wanting more – something that corporate behemoths like AT&T and Turner cannot resist.

NOIR CITY 2019 Lineup Announced!

On this New Year’s Day, I’m excited to report on the newly released lineup of the Noir City 17 Film Festival, screening January 25 – February 3, which makes it the longest running Noir-specific film festival in the world. As a teaser for this momentous event, the Film Noir Foundation sponsors an additional screening event at the holidays called Noir City Xmas, in which the host, Eddie Muller, formally unveils the full lineup and poster for for the following month’s extravaganza.

They teased us with THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955) – the first and only film directed by renowned British actor Charles Laughton. This film is a true masterpiece – one that fuses noir with a Hans Christian Andersen-esque fairytale story arc. It was not a great success in 1955 and, with the benefit of hindsight, we now know that it was completely ahead of its time and therefore misunderstood in its day. What Laughton had created was a beautiful interpretation of German Expressionism, where the audience spirals into the nightmare unfolding within a magical world of exaggerated reality. Definitely an “essential” film to see.

*As a sidebar – the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley is currently holding a retrospective on Fritz Lang’s German Expressionist films. It runs through February 23, 2019. Check out that lineup here!

Back to Noir City…

This year’s program is going to be a continuation of last year’s format of showing two films each night that work their way chronologically through the 1950’s, into the 1960’s. Like last year, they are programming the “A” pictures to premier first, and the “B” films showing second, with the idea that the A films are the “classier” of the two, with the B’s being “trashier”. However, I really don’t see that dynamic as clearly as I did with the films chosen in the 1940’s. The early 50’s films on the “B” slate are still big studio pieces — DETECTIVE STORY (1951) was directed by William Wyler and ANGEL FACE (1953) by Otto Preminger, joined by ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW from 1959 directed by Robert Wise –all of which can hardly be considered “trashy” films!

While of course there are many in line that I’ve seen before, there are a few I’m excited to see for the first time: THE WELL (1951) deals with the racial dynamics of contemporary black and white America, PRIVATE HELL (1954) was a screenplay co-written and produced by Ida Lupino (within her own production company), KILLER’S KISS (1955) was the first widely-distributed film by a young Stanley Kubrick, and THE SCARLET HOUR (1956) was a later film directed by Michael Curtiz (of Casablanca fame). Also excited to see Kim Novak in PUSHOVER (1956), Marie Windsor in THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS (1953) and Alexis Smith in THE TURNING POINT (1952) – I could gaze at her face all day!

I am also looking forward to seeing BREATHLESS (1960) again on the big screen. The first time I saw this Godard film, I really didn’t take to it. I can certainly appreciate its contribution to the history of film, as it solidified the French New Wave into global consciousness, but I really didn’t like it too much when I first saw it. I’m hoping this second screening will change my mind! Not to sound too arrogant, but I am much more a fan of Truffaut’s work – a contemporary of Godard and also apart of the New Wave during the 60s. THE 400 BLOWS (1959) and THE BRIDE WORE BLACK (1968) are two favorites of mine. It also helps that Truffaut was also an enormous Hitchcock fan, and I’ve poured over the transcripts of his interviews with the director from the 1970s.

Ironically, I’ve discovered that the original treatment of BREATHLESS was written by Truffaut from a newspaper article he read in 1952. So, clearly I’m missing something!

Below please find the full lineup of the festival and join me as I make my way through 24 films in 10 days!

Friday, Jan 25

TRAPPED  (1949)
THE FILE ON THELMA JORDON  (1950)

Saturday, Jan 26, Matinée

THE WELL  (1951)
DETECTIVE STORY  (1951)

Saturday, Jan 26, Evening

THE TURNING POINT  (1952)
ANGEL FACE  (1953)

Sunday, Jan 27

PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET
CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS

Monday, Jan 28

PUSHOVER
PRIVATE HELL 36

Tuesday, Jan 29

KISS ME DEADLY
KILLER’S KISS

Wednesday, Jan 30

THE SCARLET HOUR
A KISS BEFORE DYING

Thursday, January 31

NIGHTFALL
THE BURGLAR

Friday, Feb 1

TOUCH OF EVIL
MURDER BY CONTRACT

Saturday, Feb 2, Matinée

THE CRIMSON KIMONO
ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW

Saturday, Feb 2, Evening

BREATHLESS/À BOUT DE SOUFFLE
PSYCHO

Sunday, Feb 3

UNDERWORLD USA
BLAST OF SILENCE

Louis Armstrong museum to open in Queens

With the start of a new year approaching, I am naturally finding ways to reinvent important parts of my life. Particularly this blog, which I am constantly thinking about and trying to find time in my life to focus on. One way I might do this is simply use this platform as a dumping ground for things I find in the world that are interesting. I won’t pressure myself to write an essay about it – if I do, as has happened in the past, the item goes unacknowledged and is quickly forgotten. If I use this as a way to capture things, this could turn out to be quite interactive. I read the news, listen to the radio – and I frequently find things that make me stop and listen. I’d like to bottle up those moments by listing them here.

First up, I am catching up on some New Yorker articles and the Dec. 3 issue featured a great Talk of the Town piece explaining a new Louis Armstrong museum that is set to open at his long-time home in Queens. SO COOL! I’m an enormous fan of his (as we all are, I know), and I am just thrilled to hear that his life and legacy will be captured within the next year. Read more below!

The Louis Armstrong House, the City’s Most Intimate Museum