 |
| TCL Chinese Theater |
The first full day of the TCM Classic Film Festival started with one of my favorite events: a hand and footprint ceremony at Grauman’s Chinese Theater (now the TCL). This time around the honoree was legendary director Francis Ford Coppola. This is the fourth imprint ceremony I’ve been to and the third I’ve covered as a member of the media. These ceremonies are always a fun opportunity to celebrate an important person’s contribution to the entertainment industry. There are several of these events held every year and some of the selections are questionable. The imprint ceremonies hosted by the TCM always feature someone classic film fans will appreciate.
 |
| Set-up for Coppola's imprint ceremony |
This year we got a much better spot for photography. Some of the
bloggers covering this event with me included
Paula,
Jessica,
KC,
Anne Marie and
Carrie. Carlos got in line early and managed to get a decent
spot in the general viewing area. He’s gone to all four imprint
ceremonies with me and was the most excited about this one. He was
hoping to spot some special guests (basically he really wants to see Al
Pacino in person) but there weren’t many of them there.
 |
| Carlos hanging out beneath the I Love Sugar sign trying to get a better view |
I’ll have a full
report of the event soon.
 |
| KC, Raquel and Jessica and the Coppola ceremony |
 |
| Francis Ford Coppola after imprinting his hands in cement |
Afterwards,
Carlos and I headed over to 25 Degrees, the restaurant in the Roosevelt
Hotel, for a quick meal. During lunch we spotted Salvatore Cascio, the
child star of Cinema Paradiso, having a drink at the bar. I love the
intimacy of the festival. You see familiar faces everywhere.
 |
| Mankiewicz, Vanderbilt, Mapes, Bradlee Jr. and Singer |
We attended the Club TCM panel From Headlines to Ticket Lines:
Journalism on the Big Screen. It was moderated by TCM host Ben
Mankiewicz and included James Vanderbilt, the director of Truth (2015),
Mary Mapes, portrayed by Cate Blanchett in Truth, Josh Singer,
screenwriter of Spotlight (2015) and Ben Bradlee Jr., formerly of the
Boston Globe and portrayed by John Slattery in Spotlight. Carlos and I
had seen both films recently and were excited to check out this panel.
Most of the discussion revolved around the portrayal of journalism on
film, the state of the business today and what films like Network (1976)
and All the President’s Men (1976) represent in the overall narrative
of the business. I was particularly interested in what Mapes and Bradlee
had to say about the actors who portrayed them. Mapes said meeting Cate
Blanchett was a bit unnerving because she gave Mapes an “emotional
MRI”. Blanchett observed Mapes carefully in order to mimic her
mannerisms and gestures on screen. I’d be unnerved too if someone gave
me an emotional MRI! Bradlee Jr. is a big fan of Mad Men so he seemed
pretty happy with John Slattery. Or he could have been being nice. I
thought Slattery’s performance was ok, more like a serious version of
Roger Sterling.
 |
| Signage for Mark A. Vieira's book signing |
I left the panel early to get in line for author Mark A. Vieira’s book
signing in the Roosevelt Hotel lobby. There were no lobby interviews
this year and this made room for a lot more book signings, all of which
were run by Larry Edmunds bookshop. It was nice to see TCM support a
local independent bookstore instead of selling the books themselves. I
purchased Vieira’s newest book Into The Dark: The Hidden World of Film
Noir, 1941-1950. I’ll be reviewing it on my blog in the near future. I
told Vieira how much I enjoyed his Cecil B. DeMille book and he seemed
to appreciate that. I was suffering from “festival brain” (forgetfulness
enduced by heightened emotion) and neglected to bring my copy of Harlow
in Hollywood for him to sign. Oh well! I did ask him if he was working
on any new projects and he said he’s shopping around possible books on
Norma Shearer and Mae West.
 |
| Mark A. Vieira signing his book Into the Dark |
I made my over to the Chinese Multiplex for a special screening of
Tea and Sympathy (1956). It’s not a film I wanted to see but I couldn’t
pass up the opportunity to hear Leonard Maltin’s interview with actor
Darryl Hickman. On this viewing I appreciated the movie in a way I
wasn’t able to before. It was an important film in Hickman’s career and
the discussion was fantastic. I’ll have a full report about this
screening on the blog soon.
 |
| Leonard Maltin and Darryl Hickman |
Pre-Codes were really popular at the festival this year as anyone who
got shut out of Double Harness (1933) will tell you! I was happy to make
it into the sold out Pleasure Cruise (1933), a wacky pre-code starring a
bunch of popular character actors and introduced by historian Cari
Beauchamp. The highlight for me was watching Una O’Connor as the
“sex-crazed heiress” chasing after Roland Young.
Danny of Pre-Code.com
has a lot to say about this film which stars his favorite actress
Genevieve Tobin. You should check out
his review as well as
his TCMFF recap of when he attended the event (and read all of his recaps which
are wildly entertaining). There were a lot of familiar faces at this
screening, I chatted with Em of
Vintage Cameo and I didn’t even realize I was sitting to New York Post film
critic
Lou Lumenick until the film started! I’ll have a full review of
the film here soon.
There was another Pre-Code 6 Hours
to Live (1932) showing immediately after but I opted to skip it to get
in line for The Manchurian Candidate (1962). Angela Lansbury was going
to be interviewed before the film and there is no way, no how that I was
going to miss seeing her. A lot of people felt the same way so getting
in line early was a must. Carlos and I met after the screening of Boyz
in the Hood (1991) he attended (yes some people actually went to that
and that’s okay!) and got in line at the TCL Chinese Theater. We had a
nice long chat with
Jay of
The James Bond Social Media Project before we headed in. I had tweeted my queue number and Jay happened to see it and met us in line. I love how social media connects people in real life!
 |
| My number for the Manchurian Candidate screening. |
 |
| Jay and Carlos in line for The Manchurian Candidate |
I cannot tell you what a delight it was to see Angela Lansbury in
person. It was annoying that most folks didn’t stay for the movie. Our
aisle cleared out pretty quickly. We stayed for the entire screening
even though we drifted in and out of consciousness. There will be more
on my experience here soon.
 |
| Angela Lansbury and Alec Baldwin |
I regret not going to the midnight screening of Roar (1981) which
looks like a crazy film. The folks who did go developed a bond that
continued well after the festival ended. Why couldn’t I be one of the
Roar people?! Alas, I’m a morning person and needed some sleep for what
would be another epic day. Stay tuned for my next TCMFF recap!
