As Seen on TV (or Not) – Turner Classic Movies Live!

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 20 April 2010 13:20

Written by Lynne Shannon

For the first time, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is presenting their TCM Classic Film Festival live in Hollywood, California, from April 22 through 25, 2010, at four premiere film venues in downtown Hollywood:  The Egyptian Theater, Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Mann’s Chinese 6 cineplex and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

This unique occasion by the channel that is all about the film history of classic Hollywood is a golden opportunity to watch great movies the way our forebears saw them (i.e., as they were meant to be seen), introduced by the people (or their relatives) who made them, listen to behind-the-scenes stories, enjoy newly restored films, and share enthusiasm for classic cinema with other devotees.  

The official host of the festival, of course, is TCM’s own Robert Osborne, along with film historian Leonard Maltin and other hosts.

Events slated for the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel include a book signing and display of original art by Tony Curtis; a special screening of Joan Crawford’s home movies, hosted by her grandson, Casey LaLonde; a presentation by special effects artist Douglas Trumbull; and numerous scheduled conversations with festival guests.

Special individual screenings are being featured, including several beautifully restored films, rare gems and celebrity introductions.

The Opening Night film is George Cukor’s A Star is Born (1954), digitally restored by scanning original negatives, resulting in much better picture quality with deeper and richer color than ever before.

Two of the oldest living Oscar® winners of Best Actor and Best Actress will be introducing their best restored films:

Luise Rainer (who turned 100 in January) introduces The Good Earth, directed by Sidney Franklin (1937). This film won Rainer her second Oscar® for her portrayal of a hard-scrabble Chinese peasant.

Ernest Borgnine introduces Jubal, directed by Delmer Daves (1956). Borgnine starred with Glenn Ford and Rod Steiger in this quasi-noir Western that retooled Shakespeare’s Othello for the Old West. “Extraordinary scenery and an intense, intelligent script highlight this underrated drama.” This screening is the North American premiere of the restored print, with “a new 35mm digitally corrected negative which  reproduces the original Cinemascope aspect ratio for the first time since the movie’s initial release. The original stereo soundtrack has also been restored.” A Q&A with Ernest Borgnine follows.

Other classics being dusted off and newly improved include:

Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (1960), the 50th anniversary screening and North American premiere of the newly restored print, introduced by Jean-Paul Belmondo

Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) TCM’s screening of the North American premiere of the new restoration, which includes lost footage. 

Dirigible (1931) Newly restored print introduced by Tom Capra (son) and Frank Capra III (grandson) of director Frank Capra.

The Day of the Triffids (1963), directed by Steve Sekely, the world-premiere midnight screening of the restored print. Restoration expert Michael Hyatt worked directly on the negative rather than a digital copy. He painstakingly removed more than 20,000 specks of dirt, using his own techniques, and adjusted the color timing on the film.

The Story of Temple Drake, directed by Stephen Roberts (1933), starring Miriam Hopkins. Based on the William Faulkner novel Sanctuary, this rarely screened Pre-Code film is a “steamy tale of a society girl brutalized by an impotent, murderous gangster."  The film “triggered an uproar, inspiring church boycotts of the movies and leading to stricter Production Code enforcement starting in 1934. One of the first things the new Hays Office demanded was that The Story of Temple Drake be pulled from release, [after which] it was kept off the screen by censors for decades.” This print is a restoration work-in-progress by MOMA (funded in part by Turner Classic Movies).

Other screenings include:

Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959), introduced by Eva Marie Saint and Martin Landau

Martin Scorsese’s foray into comedy, The King of Comedy (1983), starring Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis, followed by a Q&A with Jerry Lewis

Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), featuring a discussion with visual effects artist Douglas Trumbull

Other tracks include:

Panels discussions

• “Casting Secrets: The Knack of Finding the Right Actor”
• “A Remake to Remember: Hollywood’s Love Affair with Updating Movie Classics”
• “The Greatest Movies Ever Sold: Classic Movie Marketing Campaigns”

Vanity Fair’s Tales of Hollywood – TCM is partnering with Vanity Fair magazine, creator of the Penguin book, Vanity Fair’s Tales of Hollywood, edited by Graydon Carter. Vanity Fair’s Sam Kashner, Peter Biskind and David Kamp, each of whom has essays included in the Vanity Fair book, will conduct the discussions.

Hollywood on Hollywood –  stories about Hollywood by Hollywood, which include such perennial fare as Singing in the Rain

Special Programs

"Festival Shorts"  –  presented by Leonard Maltin, who curates a special program of notable shorts.

"Removed from Circulation: A Cartoon Collection" – Donald Bogle, author of Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: A History of Black Hollywood, presents cartoons that have been kept from the public eye because of negative racial or cultural stereotypes.

"Fragments" – a compilation of surviving pieces from lost films from two of the world’s top film archives, the Academy Film Archive and the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Titles  to be announced.

The Film Foundation, celebrating its 20th year of preserving and restoring classic films, was founded by Martin Scorsese and a distinguished group of fellow filmmakers. The organization is dedicated to protecting motion pictures and the rights of the artists who create them, educating the public about the importance of film preservation, and raising the necessary funds to save the endangered cinematic treasures.

For more details and information, see www.tcm.com/festival/. 

TCM Classic Film Festival
April 22-25, 2010

In Downtown Hollywood:

Egyptian Theatre
6712 Hollywood Blvd.

Mann's Chinese 6
6801 Hollywood Blvd.

Grauman's Chinese Theatre
6925 Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
7000 Hollywood Blvd.

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