THE TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL - A SLICE OF THE 2012 FESTIVAL

The 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival has been the biggest and best of the three annual festivals held thus far. It's a classic movie lover's paradise, filled with silver screen images of the beautiful, the poignant, the tragic, and the spectacular movie moments that so endear us to this art medium. And more, many of the individuals involved in those productions were there to talk about them. The Festival is managed by Genevieve McGillicuddy, the managing director. She and TCM and the rest of their staff should be commended for bringing these wonderful films and stars out for the enjoyment of so many classic film fans. It was great fun to be there. I viewed a "cross-section" of the films and presentations offered, and give my thoughts below on this wonderful occasion.

The Grauman's Chinese Theater. Photo by Christian Esquevin

The TCM Festival's theme was "Style in the Movies" although many of the individual films shown were deemed "essentials" and "discoveries," and did not necessarily relate to the theme.  But most of the films were presented into several themed tracks, consisting of costume design (emphasizing Travis Banton), and art direction with "Deco Design" or "Architecture in Film," or  "Film Noir Style." Other mini-themes included the films of Stanley Donen and Universal's horror classics. 

Liza Minnelli with Robert Osborne at the TCM Opening screening of Cabaret. Photo by Edward M. Pio Roda.

I also really enjoy the speaker and panel presentations on various topics. Of course I couldn't miss costume designer, author, and professor of the UCLA Copley Center for Costume Design, Deborah Nadoolman Landis's excellent  talk and visual presentation on "The Good, The Bad, and The Beautiful," a mini-history of costume design in film. Deborah showed us that not only is a Jean Harlow silk glamour gown a film costume, but so is Sylvestor Stallone's sweat-suit in Rocky.

Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant with Eva Marie Saint at the premiere.Photo by Edward M. Pio Roda.

My film viewing choices were eclectic and somewhat opportunistic. Several movies that you would just love to see were being shown simultaneously. Others were "sold-out" if you arrived late to the line. I did get to see the two most spectacular epics being offered, the three-hour The Longest Day, and the equally long How the West Was Won, the latter shown in the Cinerama format at the original Cinerama movie dome. Having seen both of the films on television only, I was unprepared for how spectacular they truly were. The Longest Day had a stellar all-star cast that included Robert Mitchum, John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Richard Burton, Red Buttons, and Sean Connery, among many others. It was amazing how the film captured the whole sweep of the  WWII Normandy invasion, showing Allied war-rooms, anxious troops and sailors at play or in terror, busy Resistance fighters, ships fanned out across the horizon, parachute-packing workers, and the German counterpart to all of this war effort. It was shot in black and white, with each separate scene of the events played by English, French and German actors speaking their own language, and often shot on location, giving a verisimilitude to all of the scenes. The invasion day itself provided spectacular panoramic action shots that were accomplished without CGI special effects. And of course seeing all of this on a big screen without commercial interruptions provided an uniquely-felt experience.

Debbie Reynolds with Robert Osborne at the screening of How the West was Won.Photo by Christian Esquevin.

How the West Was Won was the other epic, a sprawling film capturing the adventurous, and danger-bound, settlement of the west by three generations of an American family. It was another of those all-star-cast productions intended to bolster movie-going in the studios' competition with TV. The Cinerama filming technology was one of the short-lived tools to help in that battle. It used three cameras to simultaneously film the scenery and action, taking in wider shots and more action. The actors included Jimmy Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, John Wayne, Robert Preston, Henry Fonda, George Peppard, and Richard Widmark. And three directors worked on different segments: George Marshall; John Ford; and Henry Hathaway. Two scenes were absolutely spine-tingling: a disastrous white-water ride for the pioneer Prescott family, and a later buffalo stampede through a railroad-camp and settler stop-off. Two other scenes of a wagon train attack by Native Americans and an attempted Railroad hold-up were just as exciting. Showing the film in the original Cinerama format required three projectors and five personnel. How the West Was Won premiered at the very same theater 50 years earlier. It was the last epic that MGM was ever to produce. It was also costume designer Walter Plunkett's last film at MGM. His contract had expired and was not being renewed, a similar fate awaited veteran designer Helen Rose.

Line around the block at the Cinerama Theater for How the West was Won.

Actor Richard Widmark gave a tour de force performance as Harry Fabian in the film noir classic, Night and the City. The film was directed by Jules Dassin, and is set in London, but it is otherwise full of noir essence, a film of broken dreams and broken schemes that Widmark makes incredibly palpable. Four years before Marlon Brando starred in On the Waterfront,  I think Widmark gave an equally compelling, piercing, and desperate performance in this movie. It was introduced by Film Noir Foundation founder Eddie Muller.

Richard Widmark and Gene Tierney in Night and the City.

Grauman's Chinese was also the site for the screening of the bewitching Vertigo. And if this screening was not its own reward, Kim Novak was there and being interviewed by Robert Osborne about her appraisal of the movie and her role. The next day Ms. Novak got her hand and foot-prints set  in concrete for the Grauman's Chinese forecourt.

The Festival included screenings of some of the Universal horror classics. The seminal Frankenstein was shown at the Egyptian Theater, which was also a Grauman's Theater when it opened in 1922. The classic 1931 Frankenstein was introduced by director John Carpenter. It's amazing how compact a thriller the movie is, still powerful after all these decades. It was an iconic movie, made so by director James Whale and the incredible acting of Boris Karloff.

The Egyptian Theater forecourt.

 

The TCM red carpet. Photo by Mark Harris.

Debbie Reynolds also provided a direct and vital connection to the newly restored, 60th Anniversary premiere of the beloved Singing in the Rain. It was shown at the Grauman's Chinese Theater, where it had first premiered 60 years earlier and where the film's opening scene was filmed. Debbie was interviewed by Robert Osborne, and following the film, Patricia Ward Kelly, Gene Kelly's widow, provided personal stories from the late Gene Kelly's writings and recollections. She could have entertained us for hours, though time had run out, much too soon. The restored Singing in the Rain provided outstanding color - a marvel of fun and theatrical good times.

 

I attended another of the terrific panel presentations, this one on Designing Iconic Film Imagery. At right above is production designer Terence Marsh, whose credits include Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and The Shawshank Redemption, among many others.  On the left is Jim Bissel, whose art direction credits go from E.T. to Good Night and Good Luck. Seated in the center is set decorator Jan Pascale, who has worked on 25 films and is a founding member of the Set Decorators Society of America.

I can't imagine what TCM will do next year to top this. But with all classic films all the time, it can't get any better.