Day 2 of 2011 TCM Film Festival

I had a wonderful first day of the festival and the second day got off to an early start.  I decided to see the 9am screening of A Streetcar Named Desire at Grauman's Chinese Theater.  It was introduced by Leonard Maltin, who I had as a film professor at USC and who I saw interview Peter Bogdanovich at the 2010 TCM Film Festival.  He talked about the original Broadway cast and that it was all essentially intact for the film, except for Jessica Tandy.  It was said the reason for this was because Vivien Leigh would be a bigger box office draw.  I hate hearing things like that, while I do love Vivien Leigh in the role of Blanche, how awesome would it be to capture Jessica Tandy's portrayal of Blanche on screen? I guess that's just how things go sometimes and definitely the way things work in Hollywood, most of the time.  He also mentioned an interesting turn of events regarding the profits from the movie.  He said that the producer, Charles K. Feldman had bequeathed the earnings of the film to the Motion Picture and Television Fund.  I definitely hadn't heard that before and thing that's an amazingly generous thing that Charles K. Feldman did.  He spoke about Mr. Feldman, said that he was an agent who became a producer and that he made sure that the proceeds from the film always go to help members of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.  I thought that was an amazing and generous arrangements and interesting to think about when watching the film.  Now!  let's move on to the actual film...seeing Marlon Brando on the screen at Grauman's Chinese Theater is unbelievable!  He is an awe-inspiring physical specimen, my stars, I was not prepared for that so early in the morning, but what a way to start the day.

The rest of my day kind of happened by accident I wasn't sure which films or events to check out, but eventually I decided to stop by Club TCM and stuck around for the Debbie Reynolds Meet and Greet.  Before lining up I decided to check out Club TCM.  It seemed to be a bit larger than last year.  The boutique also had some very desirable items, so desirable that they sold out!  So here's my tip, if you see something you like at the boutique, don't wait, buy it!  TCM did a really fun thing at the 2011 Festival, they were giving out these little clips to put on your pass lanyard.  Each clip was for a certain type of social media, you could get one for Facebook, Twitter, GetGlue annnnd I can't think of the 4th one.  Oh! I just remembered, I think it was for having the Film Festival app on your iPhone or android phone.  Here's a picture, pretty cool right?!  It was nice to get the likeness of the other passes and beautiful artwork.  And the women who were giving them out were pretty much the nicest people (speaking of, almost all of the volunteers/workers/really anyone I encountered at the festival was so very kind).  When I was trying to show my facebook message to them I couldn't get reception and it wouldn't load, but they believed me and still gave me the clippy thing.  So kind.  Anyway! those are some of the fun things to do at Club TCM.  There were interesting displays of LA Times articles with pictures,  a beautiful photography display, and the original footprints done by Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Sid Grauman.  Here are some pictures that I took around Club TCM:

The Boutique

Douglas Fairbanks

Mary Pickford

Sid Grauman

After exploring Club TCM, I decided to get in line for the Debbie Reynolds Meet and Greet/Signing.  Since I got there kind of early I was very close to the front of the line and ended up chatting with a lot of very friendly festival goers.  To our surprise, while we were chatting away, Debbie Reynolds herself made an appearance and started posing for pictures, talking to everyone and signing autographs.  She asked if we had watched the royal wedding and asked if we were enjoying the festival.  So friendly!  So lovely!  Here are some of the pictures I was able to get, I also got her autograph!

 I decided to stick around and wait to go in for the meet and greet.  It was nice to continue to chat with other attendees.  There was a couple who had been at the Vanity Fair party and shared some wonderful stories.  The wait wasn't too long and I got to take a look around the other room of Club TCM.  I got another picture with Ms. Reynolds and she signed my festival booklet.  All in all a wonderful experience, similar to getting to meet and greet Tony Curtis last year.

After getting the wonderful opportunity to see Debbie Reynolds I hung around the Roosevelt Hotel for a little while and overheard that they had to turn people away.  I think that's the first time that I heard of any people not being admitted to any screening, event or anything.  I decided to take a little break for some lunch and used the time to try to decide between To Kill a Mockingbird or Now, Voyager.  I hadn't quite decided if I wanted to cry in Grauman's Theater or one of the smaller Chinese multiplex theaters.  I ultimately decided to go with crying in Grauman's Chinese Theater.  I figured it'd be less noticeable with a large crowd. :)  Plus I also wanted to see/hear both Gregory Peck's family and Mary Badham speak about the movie. I ended up sitting next to a very lovely couple who kept offering me their binoculars to look through.  I had never thought of bringing binoculars, that might be added to the packing list this year.  Gregory Peck's family spoke first and they talked about his recent stamp  and the unveiling ceremony that they had been to.  They shared that they selected the picture, which is a still from the movie, because they felt like he was playing himself in the movie and therefore it made a good picture for the stamp.  They also talked about Atticus Finch styled glasses that helps support the LA Public Library  I ended up checking out the Atticus Finch rimmed glasses and they're pretty cool, a bit pricey though and I don't think they're available anymore.  The movie itself was amazing.  It was so beautiful and moving.  I remember reading the book for the first time in High School and how engaging the story was.  It also reminds you that it's difficult for good books to made into good movies, I feel like like is one of the best movie adaptations.  After the film Mary Badham spoke, I had no idea that she was John Badham's sister!  I believe she's 14 or 15 years younger than him.  I had heard John Badham speak about Saturday Night Fever last year, what a talented family.  She talked about the fact that it was very hard for her to convince her parents to let her be an actress.  She had been living in Alabama and the idea of going to Hollywood was completely foreign to them.  Even though her brother and somewhat paved the way for her, by the time she wanted to go her parents were older and she was so young.  I'm glad they ultimately let her go!  She also talked about being only in 3 films and 2 TV shows.  Which is so crazy to wrap your head around, but she had decided to go to school and when she was finished with school she didn't want to go back into the movie business. She spoke very fondly of Gregory Peck and the whole movie making experience.  It ended up being a wonderful event.  And I'm glad I decided to attend.

I found this picture of Mary Badham, Gregory Peck's daughter and wife from movieline.com

On Friday evening I decided to see Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, with Jane Powell in attendance.  Yes, I probably should've picked a different movie, since I had just seen Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at Lincoln Center but I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to see this film on the big screen, it's so beautiful and I wanted to see Jane Powell.  It ended up being a good choice, Jane Powell was interviewed by Leonard Maltin and shared some wonderful stories and seeing the movie again was so wonderful.  I think just the barn raising dance scene is worth seeing the movie on the big screen.  Jane Powell talked about how much she loved the studio system, which you don't always hear.  But, she said that it was perfect for her, she felt like an employee and has an employee/employer relationship with the studio and she loved it.  She talked about being cast in Royal Wedding with Fred Astaire, after June Allyson and Judy Garland had both dropped out.  She said that she had known that the movie was kind of a biopic of Fred and his sister, so when she first met Fred Astaire she asked him when he last danced with his sister.  He said, 1929 and she said, "Oh!  That's the year I was born!"  And he responded, "They keep getting younger and younger."

So that was my 2nd day of the 2011 Film Festival.  Lots of amazing events, wonderful experiences and many pictures.  :)  I'm going to try to get all of these updates up before the 2012 Film Festival, because that seems like a realistic goal.  I apologize again for my inability to post in a timely manner.  I'm working on it!

TCM Presents An Evening with Jane Powell (Part 1)

So many changes on blogger! I guess that's the punishment I get for not updating in such a long time :).  I'm still working on the Film Festival recap, but in the meantime I have a very fun update from a very fun night thanks to the Film Society at Lincoln Center and TCM.

I usually scour the schedules of a few places in the city looking for classic film screenings to attend, my theaters of choice are The Film Society at Lincoln Center, Film Forum, the Museum of Modern Art and Symphony Space (in the summer).  During my search last week I saw that the Film Society at Lincoln Center was having a 'An Evening with Jane Powell', presented by TCM.  It was going to contain a discussion with Ms. Powell, a classic movie poster exhibit and a screening of, Two Weeks with Love, which was selected by Jane Powell herself!  I immediately purchased a ticket and began to look forward to the event.  I had been lucky enough to attend an event somewhat similar to this last year at Lincoln Center, when I saw a number of Stanley Donen's films while he was in attendance and complete with a discussion/interview and Q&A (you can read about it here, here, and here), so I knew that the Film Society knew how to do it up right.

Being interviewed

When I arrived at the theater I was surprised to hear that they were holding a reception for everyone before the screening.  Very fancy shmancy and unexpected.  When I walked into the reception I saw that there were beautiful classic movie posters on display.  I then spotted Dickie Moore, Jane Powell, and Robert Osborne (it was so fun to see him after missing him on TCM for so long) in the crowd of people.  I was so surprised I didn't realize they'd be walking around like the rest of us mortals.  Jane Powell was being interviewed (as you can see on the left) and was then followed by photographers.  There were also some fans going over and talking to her.  She looked amazing and as cute as, if not cuter than, a button.  She was also so sweet and kind, she looked really excited to be there and took the time to talk to everyone who came over to her.  After awhile they invited everyone to move towards one side of the gallery.  I did as I was told and ended up standing right next to Robert Osborne for the entire introduction and presentation!!  It was funny to stand next to him, I saw as fans looked over and recognized him and waved.  I also got to see him graciously smile, say hi and pose for pictures when people recognized him.  So awesome!

Here are some other pictures from the reception:

So adorable

One of the beautiful posters

I couldn't get a great picture of Mr. Osborne, it was just so great to see him out and about, I've missed him on TCM!

The presentation started with a little introduction about the event and about the gentleman who's poster collection was on display, Mike Kaplan.  Mike then came up and spoke about his love for Jane Powell and unveiled 3 stunning posters that he had recently acquired.  Two of them were from Jane Powell movies and the 3rd was a movie starring Dickie Moore. Mike talked about the three posters and how posters for movies today don't have the same artistic flare, instead they're governed by legalities.  He also talked about the use of color, especially in regards to the poster for Two Weeks with Love.  Here are the posters he unveiled:

Swedish Poster for Two Weeks with Love

Italian Poster for Luxury Liner

Lovely poster for Star Witness starring Dickie Moore

Mike then invited Jane up and she talked about picking a movie to screen and saying that it was hard not to pick Luxury Liner, but how could she not pick a movie co-starring Ricardo Montalban.  She then shared the cutest story about her and George Brent.  They had worked together on Luxury Liner and she was very fond of him, but didn't stay that close.  Then later in life while she was touring they reconnected and would spend time together, she said it wasn't romantic, at least not for her, just meals and spending time together.  Eventually, George asked her to marry him!  She said she was surprised and asked him why nothing had happened during Luxury Liner and why he didn't ask her then, and he responded, "your Mother was always around."  That got the crowd laughing.  She then posed for my photos, with Mike Kaplan, Dickie Moore and Robert Osborne.

Unfortunately that woman's head got in the way :-/

It kinda looks like Dickie Moore is looking right at me!

Right after this pic, Dickie gave Jane a little peck on the cheek, it was adorable.  Too many photographers!

At this point it seemed like a time when people were going over to Jane to speak with her and to ask for autographs.  I had decided to bring my DVD copy of 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' hoping there'd be an opportunity to ask her to sign it.  I haven't always had the best luck with that, Stanely Donen was not big on autographs.  Jane was more than happy to oblige and even asked my name so she could make it out to me!  I was so flustered, she was really so sweet.  I told her that I had seen her at the TCM Film Festival this past year and it was wonderful that she was a part of it.  I then asked her if she was going to be at the upcoming Film Festival, she said she didn't know, so maybe TCM hasn't asked celebrities yet or maybe that was her kind way of saying no.  I hope she does make it next year, she's such a lovely woman.  It's amazing that she participated in an evening like this.

I also had the opportunity to talk to some other classic film fans, one man was there who collects clothing from classic films and had a photograph for Jane to sign where she was wearing one of the dresses he has in his collection.  I lent another fan my Sharpie so she could get a photograph signed.  And! it turned out that Marge Champion was also in attendance, which is always cool.  I didn't expect any of this and can't believe so much happened BEFORE the movie even started.

This has turned into a very long and picture heavy post.  I think I'll end it here for now and put up another post a little later with info about the interview before the film and my thoughts on the film 'Two Weeks with Love.'  Thanks to the Film Society at Lincoln Center for providing amazing events like this and as always a very special thanks to TCM for everything that it does!