TCM Film Festival 2014 Announcements So Far

The 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival is fast approaching which means TCM has been releasing a lot of very exciting news about the different appearances, special events and screenings that will take place during the festival. This year's theme is Family in the Movies: The Ties that Bind and yesterday TCM announced several new guest appearances. I have compiled a list together of everything they've announced so far. If I missed anything, let me know.


2014 TCM Classic Film Festival April 10-13

Opening Night Gala - World Premiere Restoration of Oklahoma! (1955) with guest appearance by Shirley Jones
Vanity Fair Opening Night After-Party

Film Screenings

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) – World Premiere Restoration
City Lights (1931) – with Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra performing a new original score
Double Indemnity (1944) – 70th Anniversary and World Premiere Restoration
Godzilla: The Japanese Original (1954) – World Premiere Restoration
Gone with the Wind (1939)  – Recent Restoration
A Hard Day’s Night (1964) – World Premiere Restoration
Mary Poppins (1964) – 50th Anniversary Presentation with a Special Presentation (maybe at El Capitan theatre? Not confirmed)

The Lodger (1927) – with Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra performing a new original score
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) – World Premiere Restoration
Stormy Weather (1943) – World Premiere Restoration
Touch of Evil (1958)  – World Premiere Restoration
Why Worry? (1923) – with Carl Davis conducting live World Premiere Performance of new original score
The Wizard of Oz (1939) – Special Presentation in IMAX 3D

Special Guest Appearances

Actor Jerry Lewis (Special Tribute)
Hand/Footprint Ceremony in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (AKA TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX)
The Nutty Professor (1963) – On-Stage interview with Illeana Douglas Q andA with audience

Composer & Producer Quincy Jones (Special Tribute)
The Pawnbroker (1964) – 50th Anniversary Screening

Actor Richard Dreyfuss (Special Tribute)
The Goodbye Girl (1977)
Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)

Actress Maureen O’Hara
How Green Was My Valley (1941) – World Premiere Restoration

Actor Mel Brooks
Blazing Saddles (1974)

Actress Margaret O’Brien
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Actress Shirley Jones
Oklahoma! (1955) (see above for more details)

Actress Kim Novak
Bell, Book and Candle (1958)

Actor Ryan O’Neal
Paper Moon (1973)

Director William Friedkin
Sorcerer (1977) – U.S. Premiere Restoration

Documentarian Albert Maysles
Grey Gardens (1975)

Filmmaker Ira Wohl
Best Boy (1979)

Film Editor Thelma Schoonmaker
Club TCM Interview

Which special event or screening are you most excited about? I'm really excited about seeing Margaret O'Brien, Shirley Jones, Maureen O'Hara and Kim Novak. Also, Grey Gardens (1975) has been on my to-be-watched list for such a long time and it would be quite special to see it on the big screen with the director in attendance. Of the single screenings, I'm excited about the Harold Lloyd film Why Worry? (1923) with live music and a new original score by Carl Davis. Plus The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) is on my 10 Classics for 2014 list so to see a screening of the restoration would be an amazing way to watch this film for the first time! I'm not a big fan of IMAX or 3D but George Feltenstein of Warner Archive highly recommends the IMAX 3D presentation of The Wizard of Oz (1939) and said it was very well done.

TCM will be releasing the full schedule of appearances in screenings in the next coming weeks so stay tuned!

Warner Archive Wednesday ~ Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956)

It’s no secret that I’m completely enamored with mid-20th Century Las Vegas. If I could take a time travel vacation, one of my top choices would be a late 1950s or early 1960s Las Vegas. So it was inevitable that I watch Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956) so I could swoon over all the glitz and glamour of a Las Vegas that no longer exists and to be entertained as well.

I won a copy of this movie in a Warner Archive Kumbuya giveaway. Shout out to the lovely Aurora of Once Upon a Screen... who runs the Kumbuya platform for Warner Archive and does a splendid job at that. I do encourage you to sign up and become a part of that community.

Meet Me in Las Vegas was an MGM production directed by Roy Rowland and stars Cyd Charisse as Maria Covier. Maria is a ballerina who’s preparing for her Las Vegas debut. She’s all business. When she’s not rehearsing, she’s resting and when she’s not resting, she’s rehearsing. Her life revolves around her various dancing gigs and the only people who inhabit her world, other than her fellow dancers, are her assistant Sari (Lili Darvas) and her manager Pierre (Paul Henreid). Maria’s world is small and she likes to keep it that way.

Las Vegas doesn’t agree with Maria. She’s annoyed by the noisy casino and the slot machine in the bedroom of her hotel suite. On the flip side, no one loves Las Vegas more than rancher Chuck Rodwell (Dan Dailey). Chuck is known for his bad luck but that doesn't stop him from gambling away his hard-earned profits. He has so much fun at the casinos, gambling, flirting, drinking and signing, he's still hopeful that his bad luck streak will end and he comes back for more. His luck is about to change when he meets Maria. All he needs to do is hold her hand and he’ll win at any game: roulette, black jack, you name it he’ll win it. At first Maria is not amused by Chuck who urgently seeks her out as his good luck charm, but they start to warm up to each other. Maria finds that she’s missed out on a lot of fun and is making up for lost time with Chuck. The two start to fall in love. Will their lucky streak last forever?

This film has plenty glamorous shots of 1950s Las Vegas just waiting to be devoured. Any nostalgic Las Vegas enthusiast will love all the glorious shots of the different casinos, the marquees, the city streets, rows and rows of slot machines, the gambling tables, the pools and the lounges. During the movie, viewers take a short trip to Chuck’s ranch just outside of Las Vegas where we meet his feisty mom Miss Hattie played Agnes Moorehead, a familiar face for fans of the classic TV show Bewitched. And you’ll find plenty more familiar faces in this movie. There are cameo roles performed by Frank Sinatra, Peter Lorre and several others (I won't spoil them all for you because part of the fun is being surprised by a recognizable star). Cyd Charisse's real life husband Tony Martin has a small part as a secret admirer. Fans of West Side Story will recognize George Chakiris who plays a newlywed spending his honeymoon in Las Vegas with his new bride (Betty Lynn). Jim Backus, of Gilligan's Island fame, plays the casino manager who has his hands full with the opinionated Maria. Sammy Davis Jr.’s voice (not body) makes an appearance in a dance number. And there are plenty of dance numbers that showcase Cyd Charisse’s terrific skill as a dancer and her long toned legs. There are musical performances by Lena Horne, Dan Dailey and many more.

I had a lot of fun watching this movie. Meet Me Las Vegas is a feast for the eyes and entertaining to boot. Even though the plot line isn’t all that realistic (if it were many of us would be looking for a lucky hand to hold so we can gamble our way into becoming millionaires) it’s still a lot of fun.

Spoiler Alert! For those of you who have written off the 1950s as a backwards time, check out this film. Classic film fans often find ourselves frustrated by this all too common ending: a successful woman gives up her career to be with the man she loves. Female (1933) anyone? I found it very refreshing that the couple in this story avoids this ending by coming to a compromise. They decide that each of them will work 6 months out of the year, with the other person by their side for support. That way Chuck can continue to be a rancher and Maria can continue to travel as a ballerina but they can still be together. It’s important to note that the screenwriter Isobel Lennart was a career woman herself which I’m sure had something to do with the ending of this film. End Spoiler Alert.

Meet Me In Las Vegas (1956)  is available from the Warner Archive as a DVD-MOD which includes a trailer and two deleted musical numbers: It's Fun to Be in Love and Lena Horne's You Got Looks.

Warner Archive Wednesday - On (random) Wednesdays, I review one title from the Warner Archive Collection. I received Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956) as part of a Warner Archive Kumbuya giveaway.

 

10 Classics for 2014

Hey there, did you miss me? I spent most of December stressed out and on the verge of an anxiety attack so I took some time off from blogging (and from other things) to recuperate. However, my blogging break did not keep from working on a blog project. I've been watching as many Fritz Lang movies as I can in an effort to do more deep viewing and expand my knowledge of film history. I hope to do similar projects with directors and actors/actresses in the future. So far I've watched 14 Fritz Lang films, including all of the silents I could find on DVD, Netflix Instant or on YouTube. I won't be reviewing each film but I'll be doing two posts on the project. Stay tuned.

Another project I want to work on is inspired by Laura of Laura's Miscellaneous Musings. For the past couple of years she's been doing a 10 Classics project in which she picks 10 major classics that she has yet to see and commits herself to watching them and reviewing them on her blog before the year end. Check out her list for 2014. I was impressed by her commitment to broaden her film viewing horizons and decided to jump on the bandwagon. I came up with my own list of 10 major classics to watch in 2014. My list is a combination of American, British and Foreign films. I almost made two lists (one American and one Foreign) but decided to keep it just to 10 for now.

The 39 Steps (1935) 

Norman Lloyd told me to watch this film. Well not me directly but to the audience at the TCM Film Festival last year. Leonard Maltin was interviewing Lloyd about another early Hitchcock masterpiece The Lady Vanishes (1938), which we were about to see, and Lloyd waxed enthusiastically about The 39 Steps. He said, "if you want to know how to shoot a film, watch The 39 Steps. Every shot, every camera set, every movement is perfection." (Here is my transcript from his interview) He recommends The 39 Steps to every film student he meets. I own a Criterion Blu-Ray edition so there is no excuse for me not to watch it.

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

My husband purchased the Blu-Ray of this some time ago and while we usually keep our DVDs and Blu-Rays separate, I put this one in my collection and have been eying it ever since. It's time for me to watch this classic! It's also time for me to stop calling it The Bridge OVER the River Kwai.

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

 I adore Sidney Poitier and he's my top choice for my next "deep viewing" movie project. It's embarrassing that I haven't seen this one yet and now I will finally get why everyone loves to repeat the famous quote "They call me Mr. Tibbs".

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

I've watched the first 20 minutes of this film on TCM once but haven't gotten around to watching the whole thing. Which is a shame because this is a much beloved classic. Jill of Sittin' on a Backyard Fence adores this film and I often see her tweeting about it whenever its on TCM. Her enthusiasm for the film makes this a top candidate for me!

Touch of Evil (1958)
The other day my husband asked me if Touch of Evil was a good film and I replied that I hadn't seen it yet. My husband was quite shocked. I took his response as a gauntlet thrown and the challenge was accepted.

Tokyo Story (1953)

A shout out to one of my readers Greg who recommended this film to me a long time ago. He emailed me after I had reviewed the film Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) which inspired Tokyo Story. My very emotional reaction (i.e. sobbing uncontrollably) to Make Way for Tomorrow made me put off Tokyo Story because I wasn't sure if I could handle it. But this year I want to watch it once and for all.

Gun Crazy (1950)
A classic, gritty film noir. I've seen parts of it but I need to sit my butt down and watch the whole thing. I have owned a copy for years so I have no excuse.

Journey to Italy (1954)

This was sort of a blind add. I saw it on the Sight and Sound list of best films and it's a film I missed at the last TCM Film Festival. Plus its got George Sanders so why wouldn't I want to watch it?

Nosferatu (1922)

It's the film Fritz Lang was supposed to direct but didn't so in a way this would fit into my Lang project. I'm really loving German silents and Nosferatu has been screened with live musical accompaniment numerous times in my area and I have managed to miss every single one of those events. If it happens again come Halloween, I'm committing myself to going! If it doesn't, I'll just rent it on DVD.

The Wild Bunch (1969)
This film has three of my favorite actors: Edmond O'Brien, Ernest Borgnine and Robert Ryan. And I'm gradually warming to Westerns thanks to Robert Mitchum and the plot of this one sounds right up my alley.

What do you think about my choices? Do you think I'll like them? What would you pick as your 10 classics for 2014?