Poolside screening of American Graffiti (1973) at the TCM Classic Film Festival

On the opening night of the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival, I headed to the pool area of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for some entertainment. To kick off the night they offered passholders a variety of free appetizers as well as some music courtesy of a “Wolfman Jack”. There were professional dancers, decked out in their best representation of 1960s style, strutting their stuff to the amusement of poolside loungers. It all tied in very nicely to the film that was about to be shown. I got to hang out with some lovely folks including Jessica of Comet Over Hollywood, K.C. of A Classic Movie Blog, Jill and Carley of The Black Maria and more.

Jessica of Comet Over Hollywood warming herself by a poolside fire pit

"Wolfman Jack" Press photo: TCM

The festivities started winding down and then it was time for a very special poolside screening. TCM festival director Genevieve McGillicuddy came out to thank the sponsors who were making poolside screenings like this one possible. TCM host Ben Mankiewicz followed and started with a joke about McGillicuddy’s name which he claims should be a name for a Preston Sturges’ character and not for a real person.

Ben Mankiewicz - Press Photo: TCM

While American Graffiti (1973)  is not a beach movie, Mankiewicz felt that it was a perfect film to watch outside, at night in Hollywood, poolside and underneath the stars. It’s an important movie too, one Mankiewicz called “seminal”. This film is very important to me because it was one of the several movies that introduced me to my love of film history. I first saw it as an undergrad when I took a film class. I even did a presentation on the film's opening scene. My love for classic film came from American Graffit and several other movies I studied for that class and was further developed by watching countless hours of TCM and filling up my Netflix queue with new treasures. Some people will argue that American Graffiti isn't a classic yet because it's from the 1970s but for me it’s a treasured classic.

Ben Mankiewicz gave the audience some background on the film. I could tell he did his research before the interview. American Graffiti was shot in 28 nights in 1972. Directed by George Lucas, it was made on a tight schedule and with a budget of around $750k (the final cost was $777,777.77 according to IMDb). No one could have predicted the cultural phenomenon it would become. It helped launch several careers. Ron Howard was the only big name in the film at the time because of his success as a child actor. But so many of the actors in the film went on to become big names:  Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, Suzanne Somers, Mackenzie Philips, Cindy Williams, Charles Martin Smith etc. American Graffiti was innovative for it’s time. It’s use of popular music, the constraint of the story taking place over one night and the ensemble cast make it a favorite among many.

Ben Mankiewicz, Bo Hopkins, Candy Clark and Paul Le Mat. Press Photo - TCM

It was then time to introduce the guests. Actors Paul Le Mat, Candy Clark and Bo Hopkins joined Mankiewicz for an interview about their experiences filming American Graffiti. The movie was Candy Clark’s second film and Paul Le Mat’s first. Bo Hopkins’ first screen appearances was in The Wild Bunch. Mankiewicz asked Hopkins what the differences are between directors George Lucas and Sam Peckinpah. Hopkin’s responded by saying: “night and day”. But Hopkins wasn’t the only actor in the film who had worked with a major film director. Candy Clark reminded Mankiewicz that before working with George Lucas she worked with legendary director John Huston.

Candy Clark had a lot of interesting memories to share about her experience with American Graffiti. She joked that the nights were so cold that the wig she wore in the film served as a hat to keep her head warm. And yes it was a wig! Clark joked that she couldn’t get her hair to be that fluffy naturally. There was also a lot of dish about actor Richard Dreyfuss who was attending the festival but was not present at this poolside screening. Mankiewicz brought up the fact that Paul Le Mat almost killed Richard Dreyfuss on the set of the film. Clark remembers Le Mat taking Dreyfuss by the arms and the legs, throwing him into the shallow end of a Holiday Inn pool head first. Dreyfuss could have broken his neck but luckily he only suffered a bump on the head when he hit the bottom. Paul Le Mat joked that Richard Dreyfuss wasn’t at the poolside screening because he was afraid Le Mat would recreate the event. Clark also revealed, possibly to Dreyfuss’ dismay if he finds out, that Dreyfuss had recently had a heartbreak during filming and spent much of his time at the Holiday Inn crying.  

Clark, along with many members of the ensemble cast, received a lot more work when the film became a huge hit. She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. During the show when they were announcing the nominees the camera focused on the wrong person when they called out Candy Clark. And to rub some more salt into the wound Clark lost the Oscar 9 year old Tatum O’Neal.

Ben Mankiewicz, Bo Hopkins, Candy Clark and Paul Le Mat. Press Photo - TCM

While the movie was filmed in 1972 the story takes place in 1962 and Ben Mankiewicz pointed out that although time-wise it’s only a 10 year difference but culturally the two years were as different as though they were 50 years apart. Bo Hopkins remembers how things changed so drastically after JFK’s assassination in 1963 and with the Vietnam War. He remembers becoming very disilussioned by politics. American Graffiti captures a time right before big change. Candy Clark pointed out that even the cars were vastly different between the early 1960s and early 1970s. Cars of the 1960s were of high quality and she reminisced about the chrome and steel used in those fine vehicles.

Ben Mankiewicz, Bo Hopkins, Candy Clark and Paul Le Mat. 

Speaking of cars, Paul Le Mat joked that the yellow Ford Coupe that he drives in his film and it’s license plate, THX-138 in reference to Lucas’ film THX-1138 (1971), became more famous than he did. Le Mat also shared with us a story about shooting the scene when a cop pulls him over. In the below video you can listen to Le Mat tell that story.

The actors shared some stories about George Lucas and Harrison Ford. Mankiewicz quotes George Lucas as saying that he was terrified during those 28 days of filming because they were on a tight schedule, had a limited budget and the filming was overall chaotic. The cast remembers that Lucas knew what he was doing at all times but was very quiet and didn’t talk much. After two weeks of auditions, including one by Tom Selleck, Harrison Ford was chosen for his part. Ford refused to have his hair cut in a 1960s because it could hurt his chances of getting another role. Ford convinced Lucas to let him wear a cowboy hat as part of his character in the movie. Bo Hopkins joked that he almost tried out for Ford’s part in Star Wars!

Mankiewicz observed that there are four different movies inside this one big movie. Certain cast members don’t even have scenes with each other.  Hopkins remembers going to a pre-screening of American Graffiti. He hadn’t seen it before and had no clue about the other cast member’s scenes that he wasn’t involved with. He claims the film was almost unrecognizable to him because it was that good.

 

Ben Mankiewicz, Bo Hopkins, Candy Clark and Paul Le Mat. 

 This was a great interview and I love how the three actors were very candid and open about their experiences. While the idea of a poolside screening is a great one, in reality it can be a bit tricky. There is limited seating in front of the screen and the lounge chairs and tables situated around the pool fill up quickly and are at an odd vantage point.  Luckily, TCM also screens the film inside Club TCM. They were having some technical issues with that indoor screen however. I had to leave early to attend the screening of Bachelor Mother (1939) but I was immensely happy that I got the opportunity to attend this special event for the time that I did!

TCM Classic Film Festival 2014 - Press Conference with Charles Tabesh and Genevieve McGillicuddy

“The audience that comes to the festival is a wonderful snapshot of who watches the network. It really represents the diversity of all backgrounds, all ages that love classic film.” - McGillicuddy

Here are some highlights from the press conference with Charles Tabesh and Genevieve McGillicuddy at the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival. Note that this is paraphrasing and not direct quotation unless quotation marks are used.

On film preservation – Ever since TCM has started working on the festivals they have become  more involved with film preservation projects. TCM tries to use various formats including film prints which are harder and harder to find. They work with studios and film archives to coordinate restorations, screenings and blu-ray releases.

On programming – TCM has a team of programmers which is led by Charles Tabesh and includes four other TCM staffers. Themes are decided upon as a group but different people handle different parts of the scheduling (day time, prime time, etc.). There is a lot of research that goes into the programming. Since there are several themes going on within a given month, Tabesh says it’s a lot of work for the programmers to research and implement the themes so that they are successful on air.

On The Story of Film – This documentary series by Mark Cousins recently won a Peabody Award. TCM originally came across the documentary when Telluride Film Festival Co-Director Gary Meyer recommended it to them. Tabesh’s team watched it and loved it and decided to add it to their programming.

On the TCM Classic Film Festival – TCM had talked about having a film festival for years and it was a natural progression for them. The timing worked out and they created the event to connect with their fans. The festival is a visible manifestation of the community coming together and it’s an extension of the channel.  It has also heightened the public's awareness of TCM.

On TCM’s programming philosophy - The programming philosophy hasn’t changed at all. They’ve always had the same mission but have become a little more adventurous over the years. TCM is still committed to exploring film history. When TCM first launched, 90-95% of what they aired was strictly from the Turner library (MGM, Warner Bros., RKO, etc.) but over the years they’ve developed relationships with other studios and distributors and have expanded their programming by bringing in more movies.

On diversity on TCM – TCM is very conscious of diversity. Over the years they’ve tried, programming-wise, to do as much as possible to focus on diversity even though so much of early film is non-inclusive. They try to include tributes to minorities, people of different walks of life, etc. to diversify their programming. Tabesh is hoping to do more kid’s programming on the channel soon.

On celebrity presenters - People like Essentials co-host Drew Barrymore and festival presenter Anna Kendrick are examples of contemporaries from Hollywood who love classic films and wanted to do something with TCM. They reach out to TCM and share their enthusiasm for the network and express interest in working with them. TCM keeps an open dialogue with these celebrities and tries to work within the constraints of their busy schedules. TCM loves to bring together new and old Hollywood and this is one of the ways they can do that.

On TCM internationally - There are TCMs in Europe, Latin America and in other regions of the world. They are programmed and marketed differently from each other and are run independently. Some have advertising, some show more contemporary movies and some work with different rights and licensing agreements and because of this each TCM is different. There are some parallels between the different TCMs but ultimately the programming is different in each country.

On feedback from fans - TCM pays attention to what fans say. Social media is a great way for the fans to interact with each other as well as to interact directly with TCM. When they receive complaints they handle them carefully. They make sure to see if the complaint is just a misunderstanding or if it's something they can improve upon. The key with the feedback is that if TCM watches it very carefully it can be useful to them.

On the greatest pleasure of working on the festival
Tabesh - the greatest pleasure for him is when hears someone say they saw a film they had never seen before and they loved it.
McGillicuddy - the greatest pleasure for her is watching an audience watching a film on screen, sharing the experience with them and knowing that she played some part in making that experience happen.

On the biggest challenge of working on the festival
Tabesh - the biggest challenges are finding good prints for the festival and having to rearrange the schedule because of last-minute changes.
McGillicuddy - to pull off an event this size with venues that are all owned by different companies. They try to utilize many different theaters which is both challenging and rewarding.

On their top sought after festival guest - Doris Day is #1 on their list. She was bumped up after their original #1, Maureen O'Hara, committed to the 2014 festival.

On working for TCM - Tabesh says he loves his job and enjoys going to work every day. He learns something from every festival experience. There is always something new going on at TCM and his job never gets boring. McGillicuddy loves having a job where she can go to the office and have a discussion about which Greta Garbo movie they're going to show next. She says that conversations like that are such a gift and she doesn't take for granted the great team of people she works with at TCM.

On nationwide screenings like Road to Hollywood - TCM is interested in doing more of those types of nationwide screenings in the future and currently in discussion about what those plans might be. McGillicuddy revealed that TCM will revive their partnership with Fathom Events and will be working them in the future.

On the discovery films at the festival - It was asked whether TCM was interested in showing more international selections as part of their "discovery" sub-theme in the festival programming. Tabesh says there are 90 films shown at the festival but 400 show on TCM in any given month. He feels there are more opportunities to branch out with the channel more than there are with the festival. However, Tabesh tried to get the Bollywood Pyassa (1957) on this year's festival schedule but he couldn't get a good print. He'd like to be more adventurous in that regard and hopes to be able to bring in something more obscure for a future festival.

On other classic film channels - Every channel is different: some are ad supported, some have a different focus and some have different business models. When TCM launched AMC was already an established classic film channel.  One of the reasons that TCM is so successful is that they never saw themselves as having to compete with another network. They stayed focused on what they wanted to. AMC's model eventually changed and new networks popped up. Tabesh says he's not being dismissive of the other channels but they're not something TCM worries about.

On the festival guests - Tony Curtis was one of the first guests of the festival back in 2010. McGillicuddy remembers being in awe that he was in attendance. She also very fondly remembers Peter O'Toole and says that meeting him was on her bucket list. TCM feels very privileged that they get the opportunity to host people like Curtis, O'Toole and many more. McGillicuddy says that Maureen O'Hara was very excited about her appearance at the festival and hearing this was immensely gratifying for the TCM staff.

Peter O'Toole smooches @tcmfilmfest Director Genevieve McGillicuddy. We don't know who's luckier here. #TCM20 pic.twitter.com/089qufVB76

— TCM (@tcm) April 10, 2014

On the Academy Museum - The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will be launching in 2017. It's been in the works for a while but is really coming together at this point. TCM has a great relationship with The Academy and are looking forward to the launch of this new museum. They have been in talks with the Academy so that TCM can partner with them in some capacity, whether it be the channel, the festival or both, to help them promote the museum. Nothing is set in stone because the museum launch is still some years away.

On Watch TCM - Will this ever become a subscription based service? Tabesh had no clear answer on this because he is not involved in the discussion. It seems like TCM's relationships with cable companies influence what they can and cannot do with Watch TCM.

On showing film and digital at the festival - McGillicuddy says there are reasons for showing both at the festival and challenges that come along with that. TCM works with Boston Light & Sound on the festival. McGillicuddy believes that company is the best in the business. They go into the festival theaters, take out all of the equipment and put changeover systems so they can show 35mm, etc.. The Egyptian theatre is already equipped to show both film and digital but the other theaters need the extra technical assistance. Tabesh says that the reason why TCM can get access to really good prints is because the film archives trust Boston Light & Sound.