My day started with an impossible time block. There were so many good events happening at the same time and it was difficult to chose. It came down to one person: Gordon Gebert, the child star of one of my all-time favorite movies of all time, Holiday Affair (1949). It was imperative that I see him in person! And he was going to be at the special screening of The Flame and the Arrow (1950).
This swashbuckler starring Burt Lancaster, Virginia Mayo, Nick Cravat, Norman Lloyd and of course Gordon Gebert, was being screened at the Hollywood Legion Theatre. Ahead of the film there was a special presentation by visual effects artist Craig Barron and sound designer Ben Burtt in which they discussed the film's use of color, forced perspective and painted backgrounds and the various sound effects. They also shared the story of Lancaster and Cravat's working relationship as acrobats turned actors and their lifelong friendship and we were treated to some rare home video clips of the two palling around.
The presentation was followed by an interview with Gordon Gebert who delighted us with all sorts of stories about being a child actor working for Warner Bros. and RKO, being on set of The Flame and the Arrow, his stunts in the film and learning archery and ballet for certain key scenes. After the presentation and interview we were treated with a 1960s Technicolor print of the film. It was a fun movie made better by the amazing cast and Jacques Tourneur's direction.
The French Way (1940)
The next block was a difficult one too. I had to choose between several amazing options, including seeing The Hustler (1961) with Piper Laurie in attendance. But I opted for the Josephine Baker film The French Way which was made in 1940 but released in 1945 due to the war. Film historian Donald Bogle gave a presentation which included lots of background information about Josephine Baker herself. We were also treated with an archival interview of Baker on a cruise ship and a beautiful restoration of the film by Jeff Joseph of SabuCat Productions. International films are few and far between at the festival and I'm always delighted to catch at least one during my festival experience.
Donald Bogle |
The French Way was a beautiful little film. Baker shines despite the fact she's given limited screen time and no love interest. Micheline Presle is also in the film playing a young French woman debating whether to elope with her beau. Filmed during the French occupation, the story includes the characters preparing for air raids including a scene where Josephine Baker of hobo Leon (Lucien Baroux) to help tape up her windows and several scenes in bomb shelters.
Blue Hawaii (1961)
My goal at this year's festival was to attend all three of the poolside screenings, even if I didn't stay for the whole movie. The third and final screening was the Elvis movie Blue Hawaii (1961) which is quite perfect for the poolside setting. Attendees dressed up Hawaiian shirts, wore leis and sipped on Blue Hawaiian cocktails. I was planning on leaving early to attend to attend the special screening of Drunken Master II (1994) but alas after having a few of those cocktails I was quite literally too drunk to go see the other film. After a couple of really tough years, this was just the sort of evening I needed.
Stay tuned for more TCMFF coverage!