Once again, April has come around, and with it the TCM Classic Film Festival. This year's main theme was from legacies, particularly celebrating the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros., with movies ranging from "Rio Bravo" to the remake of "Ocean's Eleven" being exhibited alongside films from other studios. (As usual, just because something is the main theme of the festival doesn't stop the film programmers from putting in whatever they can get their hands on.)
This year was a particularly tough one for me, especially in the lead-up, when I had to make hard decisions about what to see. This is a common issue with the festival, but this year was especially rough, with so many great-sounding films being edged out by others. For instance, in choosing to see the poolside screening of "A Mighty Wind," I had to give up two other slots, one of which was the silent "Hunchback of Notre Dame" that I'd been looking forward to since its announcement; as such, this was my first TCMFF where I didn’t see a silent film. And to add insult to injury, Doug Jones was presenting “Hunchback” with Leonard Maltin. How awesome that would have been.
Day 1
First event, as usual, was Meet TCM. There were questions about the end of TCM Underground (when the programmer behind it was let go, they left the decision of whether it should continue to her, and she opted to end it), rights issues between studios in regards to digital distribution, and one person even asked why they discontinued the booklets they’d give featuring all the programming for the festival (as you can probably imagine, keeping it up to date while meeting the deadline to have it ready for the festival was a nightmare, in addition to the issues it presented with sustainability).
Next was So You Think You Know Movies. This was much more difficult than your average movie quiz, with several multiple choice questions with multiple correct answers (“Which of these titles were directed by the main character of ‘Sullivan’s Travels?’”). It was fun, especially when the answer tied into one of the guests in the audience; for instance, the trick answer of “O Brother Where Art Thou?” led the host to introduce one of the actors from the actual movie “O Brother,” who played Baby Face Nelson (“I hate cows!”).
Starting off the festival proper was “Rio Bravo,” introduced by Ben Mankiewicz, David Zaslav, Steven Spielberg, Paul Thomas Anderson and Angie Dickinson. Ben talked of Warner having the grit to MGM’s glitz and joked about the several “A Star is Born” movies Warner has made, then discussed with the three men the partnership between Warner and the Film Foundation and how the latter has restored 997 films so far, how Alexander Payne still owes Diane Ladd a favor for appearing in “Citizen Ruth,” and that somehow, Scorsese hadn’t seen “Rio Bravo” when it came up in a meeting a year before.
Ben then brought out Angie, mentioning how honest and a little dangerous she is. Together, they discussed how she goes to See’s candy a lot, her screen test with a popular football player (whose name she couldn’t remember) who stood in for John Wayne’s character, how Dean Martin and “Duke” played chess during lighting setups, and how Frank Sinatra was the first choice for Dean’s role. (She also called Sinatra the love of her life and said she plays his music all day long.)
Half baked thoughts: Surprised by the relative lack of action. Thought this was going to be mostly a few guys defending a prison, but instead they talk, drink, fall in love and even sing (befitting a film with Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson in it), only really getting into fights near the end.
After that, I was going to see “That Touch of Mink.” I mean, the Doris Day movies were my favorites of last year’s festival, how could I resist? Well, combine a mild headache with “Rio Bravo” starting later than scheduled, and I ended up feeling like I shouldn’t try to get in a few minutes past its listed start time. In addition, the only other film starting later than that was in the dreaded Multiplex 4, by far the smallest of the venues, so I didn’t even bother to try to get into that one. Alas.
Day 2
First up: “The Old Maid.” Mario Cantone introduced it, calling it a “crazy-ass picture,” discussed how Miriam Hopkins and Bette Davis hated each other, how Hopkins refused to age in the film while Davis did, did imitations of older Davis, and how Ernst Lubitsch was going to direct the movie first. (I can’t help but think the movie would have been substantially different if he had.)
Half-baked thoughts: Definitely a melodramatic “women’s picture.” Also, it was only towards the end, when Bette Davis starts talking about how illegitimate children are perceived by society, that I thought, “Oh yeah, this is based on an Edith Wharton book.”
Next was “East of Eden.” Introduced by Eddie Muller and Mario Cantone (yes, again), they discussed how Eddie’s Film Noir Foundation gets credit for restorations that the Film Foundation has done, how Paul Newman tested with James Dean, how challenging Dean was in his performance, enough that Raymond Massey hated him, and how Elia Kazan encouraged this hatred between the two; and how even more difficult Timothy Carey was, insisting on mumbling his lines because “that’s how a pimp would talk.” (His dialogue ended up being dubbed by another actor.)
Half-baked thoughts: The restoration I saw here was gorgeous… except during the fades between scenes (of which there are many), when it would get fuzzy. I imagine it’s much harder if not impossible to restore those to the crystal clarity of the rest of the movie.
Later, I saw “Cool Hand Luke.” It was Introduced by Jacqueline Stewart, who told of how it confirmed Paul Newman as one of the coolest actors around, how director Stewart Rosenberg initially brought it to Jack Lemmon for him to star, how Newman was such a fan of the book that he committed to the film without seeing the script, and how the Jo Van Fleet role was offered to Bette Davis.
Half-formed thoughts: (spoiler) So the message I got is that if you try anything anti-conformist, the system will crush you like a bug. Sounds about right.
Up next was a world premiere restoration of “Penny Serenade.” Introducing was George Stevens Jr. and Alexander Payne, who discussed how Stevens Sr. made the film before leaving for WWII, and how Stevens wanted to make “Paths of Glory;” Payne discussed meeting Stevens Jr at a book signing, having never seen “Penny Serenade” or much of Stevens Sr.’s work at the time; he discussed how some directors insist you look at them and others insist you look at story and characters. Payne also discussed how he got Jack Nicholson to play an unusual character for his work in “About Schmidt” because Nicholson wanted to do something unusual for himself, and that directors trained in comedy can be adept at drama and pathos. Stevens Jr. said that both “Giant” and “Serenade” could be called “Scenes from a Marriage;” and how this was the last time Cary Grant was second billed, but was still paid more than Irene Dunne.
Half-baked thoughts: (spoilers) Lovely film, though I do question the wisdom of saying, “Let’s have the couple who’s lost two children get another at the end,” like children are just another house appliance.
Finally, “House of Wax” presented in 3D. It was introduced by William Joyce, who discussed how it was the first successful studio 3D film, how the director could use only one eye, how it features Charles Bronson in an early role (where he plays a mute, typical of his laconic demeanor), how it was Vincent Price’s first horror role, showcased several actors of the Raised Eyebrows school of acting (complete with photoshopped GIFs of them raising an eyebrow), and read contemporary reviews of the film, such as one saying it only set films back 49 years because that was as far back as it could go.
Half-baked thoughts: Any mystery there was in “Mystery of the Wax Museum” is dissipated here by having the killer stalking women in the open early on. The 3D was enjoyable, especially the paddleball man.
Day 3
First was “The Muppets Take Manhattan.” Introducing was Brian Henson, who was 19 or 20 when he helped make the movie, working on mechanical puppetry for the film, “almost exclusively the rats.” This was Frank Oz’s first solo directed Muppet movie; Brian said he was careful and precise compared to Jim Henson’s more loose directing style. The elder Henson paid attention to two sequences as 2nd unit director, the rats cooking in the kitchen and the Muppet Babies scene.
Half-baked thoughts: It’s the Muppets. They’re mostly bring reproach when it comes to criticism (besides the ill-fated TV series); there’s just too much nostalgia baked into them for my generation.
Next was “When Worlds Collide,” presented by Ben Burtt and Craig Barron. They discussed how DeMille was interested in making the film in the pre-Code 1930s, how George Pal bought the rights to the property after “Destination Moon,” discussed the technical crew and showed concept art on the film, as well as talking about the scientific accuracy of rogue stars. They also talked about the sound men going to Lockheed Martin to record the sound of a rocket that at the time was so secret, the Men recording the sound were kept behind a curtain; finally, they discussed how George Pal wished to make a sequel (which was done as a book), and how we would get to feel the sound through Sensurround, or “Bensurround,” as they called it to “avoid” a lawsuit from Universal.
Half-formed thoughts: I know there’s a trope for when a villain is making an actual good point, but is there one for when the hero is making a good point even though we’re not supposed to agree with it? Because the pilot’s rationale for not getting on the spaceship ark were so compelling that I agreed with them 100%.
After that was “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.” It was introduced by Alicia Malone and Danny Huston, who discussed John Huston attempting to meet the mysterious author B. Traven, and waking up one night to see a “translator” for Traven at the foot of his bed; John writing a good role for his dad, who was annoyed he had to take out his dentures for the role; how Bogart didn’t want to be in Mexico for the five months it took to shoot, and complained enough that John Huston eventually grabbed and twisted Bogart’s nose, after which he stopped complaining; how Bogart believed there was a vulgarity to accolades, but was “inordinately proud” to win an Oscar for “The African Queen.” Finally, Danny told of how TCM organized a visit for him to the Warner props room, and how he got to hold a mold of the Maltese Falcon and Walter Huston’s vest from “Sierra Madre;” and lauded the audience and TCM for celebrating film rather than just selling it.
Half-baked thoughts: I’ve actually seen this one before as a young kid, which is kind of funny given what a dark movie this is. It’s been so long, though, that I’d completely forgotten what happens to Fred C. Dobbs, so I feel comfortable saying this is pretty much a new watch rather than a rewatch.
Finally, “A Mighty Wind.” It was introduced by Michael McKean and Annette O’Toole, who discussed how the idea for the film started as a joke during a Spinal Tap photoshoot, how she “wrote” songs for her kids, and how she came up with a melody for “Potato’s in the Paddy Wagon” on a car ride. They even sang a bit of their Oscar-nominated song for us.
Half-baked thoughts: Kind of wish it didn’t end on a “ha ha, this character is trans!” joke. That didn’t age well.
Day 4
Started off with “Heaven Can Wait,” the Lubitsch version. (They showed the Warren Beatty one last year.) Introducing was Leonard Maltin, who discussed talking with Billy Wilder about how you could be Lubitsch-like, but there’s only one Lubitsch; discussed Lubitsch’s career and how he had carte blanche at Fox; discussed how Lubitsch didn’t initially want Don Ameche but did a screen test and was surprised and a little agonized to find that he was good. Finally, Leonard wondered how younger filmgoers not used to wit in film would respond to it.
Half-baked thoughts: It was about here that my irregular sleep schedule started to catch up with me… well, it really started with “Sierra Madre,” but here it was really noticeable for me. I can barely remember much of the last third of the film. Luckily, it’s a good movie, so if I decide to see it again someday it won’t be too much of a bother.
Next was “Six Degrees of Separation.” Introducing was not Kevin Bacon (thanks to Souse Chef for that joke), but Alicia Malone and production designer Patrizia von Brandenstein, who discussed the role of a production designer, how she enjoys working on film adaptations of plays, the intimidating art she had to make for the film and the help of the Guggenheim and artists, in particular the important double-sided painting in the plot, which caused insurance and rights problems and had to be destroyed afterwards (though it spent some time in an art executive’s office). She also discussed the challenge of recreating the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling from a $1,000 book (which was less expensive than sending a crew to Rome), securing the apartments for shooting on 84th street by helping to renovate the complex’s lobby, the challenge of shooting a six-foot actor like Donald Sutherland in an eight-foot-tall room, and the deep red colors of the movie and their richness (both in color and in cost).
Half-baked thoughts: Really enjoyed this one. I especially enjoyed the dialogue about a movie version of “Cats,” which I’m sure was funny back when this was released and has only gotten funnier since.
After that was a conversation with Patrizia von Brandenstein, hosted by Dave Karger. They discussed her long name and how she’s also known as PvB, how she tries to keep production design in service to the story and script, her stint as a costume designer for Saturday Night Fever and how it was a great rung on the ladder to becoming a production designer, the difference between a production designer and an art director (the art director is on the frontlines, the production designer is to get a sense of what the director wants in a film), how actors and audience both need production design to immerse them in a world, her use of books and her past at a theater that put on operas to begin work on Amadeus, how she didn’t put too much thought on being the first female production designer to win an Oscar, how she nearly missed the party for her Oscar win on the set of the Money Pit because she was too focused on work, her marriage to another production designer and how their house is full of things, and the hallmark of her work to know it’s her work: Lots of colors and reflective surfaces.
(Yes, this is for “Amadeus,” which I didn’t see, but it’s all TCM posted.)
My final movie of the fest was “One Way Passage,” which was in a TBA spot. (Thank heavens, since its previous spot was during “Rio Bravo.”) It was introduced by Jeremy Arnold, who started by complimenting our taste, discussed the pairing of William Powell and Kay Francis, how unusual their films were for their studios (gritty at glitzy Paramount, glitzy at gritty Warner Bros), how “Trouble in Paradise” and this film skyrocketed Kay to superstardom, and how her career declined soon thereafter; how director Tay Garnett injected comedy and lightness into the film, working from 8 to noon on a treatment while on a cruise from LA to NY then finished it on a train ride the other way, only for his annoyed wife to destroy what he’d written, forcing him to rewrite it quickly; and finally, he shared diary entries from Kay Francis and Aline McMahon about the making of the film and how drunk their director was.
Half-baked thoughts: Arguably less fun than “Jewel Robbery,” but still a good movie.
Ranking
- Six Degrees of Separation
- East of Eden
- Penny Serenade
- The Muppets Take Manhattan
- Heaven Can Wait
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
- When Worlds Collide
- House of Wax
- A Mighty Wind
- One Way Passage
- Rio Bravo
- The Old Maid
- Cool Hand Luke
No comments:
Post a Comment