Our Trip to the TCMFF 2024–Part 1

Here’s part one of my planned four-part series chronicling my husband’s and my visit to this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival. We weren’t originally planning on attending; but our plans were changed when I applied for a media credential (just to see what would happen) and I was approved! We purchased a Classic pass for my husband as it was comparable to my media pass. Last year, for our first festival, we went all out with the Spotlight pass, so this year was our first experience with the queue system. Knowing that people can be shut out of screenings, we kept that in mind as we planned our schedule. I’d read that people considered last year to be a more budget-conscious version of the festival to which they were accustomed. Having never attended before, we had nothing to which to compare it. We had an absolute blast at last year’s festival and had just as much fun (if not more) at this year’s.

We stayed at the Quality Inn on La Brea and Sunset Blvd. We even had a room with a view of the pool! The hotel was one of those 1960s hotels where the pool was in the middle of a courtyard with rooms around the perimeter. I was happy that we had an interior room and not one of the rooms with the door on the exterior of the building. Accessing our room would require someone to walk through the office. Since I booked only about 1.5 months out, it was the last hotel I could find that was within walking distance to the festival, was modestly priced, and had a King bed available. It was a fine hotel, but I think if we go to the festival again, I’m going to try and book earlier and stay at one of the hotels near Hollywood Blvd. The Quality Inn was very close to the In-N-Out on Sunset Blvd though. We may have taken advantage of it a couple times during our trip. In-N-Out has now expanded to Oregon, but it’s always so horrendously busy that the only time I’ve ever been there is when I’m in California. Our walk back to the hotel at night was fine, we didn’t have any issues with any people outside. However, I was walking back with my husband and sticking to well-lit busy streets. I would not recommend walking back alone.

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

This was our first full day in Hollywood. We’d flown in from Portland the night prior. Originally, I had plane tickets to fly into LAX Wednesday afternoon, but decided to switch to flying into Burbank Tuesday night instead. This was done to eliminate the stress of trying to get across Los Angeles in a short window when I needed to be at the TCMFF media event that afternoon. I can wholeheartedly recommend flying into Burbank versus LAX. Much smaller and less drama. Not to mention it’s only about 30 minutes from Hollywood versus 60+ minutes from LAX near Inglewood. We also decided to not rent a car this go around, as we were only planning on attending the festival–no Disneyland, sadly. It was outside of this year’s budget. Tuesday night was our first experience using Lyft or any ride-sharing service. I had a first time rider coupon, giving us 50% off our ride.

My photo of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. No cars in front!

On Wednesday morning, we had lunch at In-N-Out and then went over to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel–the center of the TCMFF. Preparations were still underway with banners and signage being hung and line queues still being built. At noon, the gift boutique was scheduled to open in the lobby of the TCL multiplex. As one who always wants first crack at the merchandise if possible, my husband and I were there within five minutes of opening. They were still setting up the POS and doing training! I purchased a really neat old diner-style coffee mug that had the retro-style graphics TCM used in the mid-90s when it started. The back of the mug states “Perk Up with TCM!” I also purchased a 15th TCMFF shirt, a 30th anniversary TCM pin, and a 15th TCMFF refrigerator magnet. I like to collect refrigerator magnets and Christmas ornaments from places that I travel to during the year. Unfortunately, TCM did not have any Christmas ornaments in their boutique. If you’re reading this, to the “powers that be at TCMFF,” you should add Christmas ornaments to the boutique offerings.

In the afternoon, my husband and I waited in the lobby of the Roosevelt hotel to pick up our passes. My husband was able to pick up his pass right away, but I had to wait an hour for the media room to open. We both had a drink while we waited. I had a glass of rosé wine and my husband had a whisky-based cocktail called the Expat that also had some sort of spicy peppers. He must have liked it as he had two during our trip. Finally at 2pm, I was able to get my media pass in the “Writer’s Room” at the hotel. I was also given the choice between two books: the new book about Double Indemnity by Alain Silver and James Ursini; or Donald Bogle’s biography about Lena Horne. I opted for the former as it was a book on my wishlist already.

Judy Garland’s blouse from Meet Me in St. Louis. This was the actual blouse that was torn during Judy’s scuffle with Tom Drake on his porch. The mending on the sleeve can be seen.

After picking up our passes, we headed down to the Hollywood Heritage Museum near the Hollywood Legion to view the newest exhibit devoted to MGM stars and costumes. We received a special peek at the event via the Facebook TCMFF group which was having a party at the museum. Normally the museum is only open on the weekend. The exhibit was fantastic. I saw Johnny Weissmuller’s Tarzan loin cloth, a suit owned by Greta Garbo, a hat owned by Errol Flynn, one of Humphrey Bogart’s fedoras, the blouse Judy Garland wore in Meet Me in St. Louis when she beats up Tom Drake on his porch, Esther Williams’ gold catsuit from Million Dollar Mermaid, the painting Jean Harlow’s mother had commissioned after Jean’s untimely death in 1937, and so many more great costumes and artifacts.

My husband and I only had time to view the exhibit before it was back up the hill and back to the Roosevelt for the 4:30 media event. This was a really fun event as it wasn’t crowded and felt somewhat exclusive. Complimentary appetizers, beer, wine and other refreshments were available. We were able to see the hosts and hear what films they were most excited about introducing. Ben stated my favorite film, The Long Long Trailer, and I thought he was kidding. While I don’t know if that was really the film he was most excited about introducing, he was at the screening. I like to think he was being truthful. We were also given the scoop on the next season of TCM’s “The Plot Thickens” podcast. More about the media event in this post.

Errol Flynn’s hat.

After the media event it was back down the hill for the conclusion of the TCMFF Facebook party. We then went to Musso & Frank’s for a 7:30 dinner reservation and then went back to the hotel. After completing the trek from the Roosevelt to the Hollywood Heritage museum four times, our legs were spaghetti. I nursed sore legs and two huge blisters for the first two days of the festival. Shout out to CVS for having moleskin and blister pads available. Also shout out to ibuprofen which got us through some trying times. Lol.

Thursday, April 18, 2024

This was the official first day of the festival. I had lunch reservations at Miceli’s Italian Restaurant, a place I’ve been wanting to go for a few years now. This is where Lucille Ball went in 1956 to learn how to toss pizza dough. Alas, we did not get pizza because they were large and we didn’t want to carry around leftovers. Both my husband and I got sandwiches. He got a meatball sandwich and I got a chicken parmesan one. They were delicious. My husband also had this amazing caprese salad with burrata cheese. I tried Miceli’s house Italian dressing and it was delicious. Their dinner rolls were also fantastic. The calamari was also amazing. The next time my husband and I are in Hollywood, I want to go there for dinner.

The inside of Miceli’s Italian Restaurant in Hollywood

We were going to hoof it to Amoeba Music, but our legs said no. Instead, we decided to just hang out around the Roosevelt. In the afternoon, my husband and I decided that we wanted to try and get onto the red carpet bleachers. Not having Spotlight or Essential passes, we weren’t going to be able to see the stars of Pulp Fiction–John Travolta, Samuel L Jackson, Uma Thurman, and Harvey Keitel. My husband and I figured that the bleachers would be our best shot. At a little bit before 2:00pm, we saw that a line was already forming, so we got in line. My husband and I were #13 and #14, so we were definitely getting in. The queue was small and we were told by some of the red carpet bleacher veterans that basically only the people within the established queue would be admitted. Any stragglers who were well beyond the queue ropes were probably SOL.

John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson on the red carpet. (Photo provided by: TCM Classic Film Festival).

In the red carpet line, there was also question as to whether a second set of bleachers would be set up. After some sleuthing by another line member, it was determined that no, only one set of bleachers. Apparently, they used to use two bleachers but when the bleachers weren’t filled, it was decided to reduce it to one bleacher. It’s completely understandable. It looks bad for TCM and to the red carpet attendees to have a half-filled bleacher. That image doesn’t exactly convey enthusiasm and excitement for the festival. TCM employees Scott McGee and Yacov Freedman talked to the red carpet bleacher fans and flagged down the TCM hosts and red carpet guests for small interviews. Unfortunately, when the time came for the stars of Pulp Fiction, they were only able to wave and walk by as they needed to be inside. We were told that John Travolta wanted to come back out and see the fans, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough time. I believe this to be true as Travolta seems like a nice, personable guy.

Dave Karger and Lesley Ann Warren at the “Clue” screening. (Photo provided by: TCM Classic Film Festival).

After the red carpet, it was time for my husband’s and my first film. When White Heat (1949) was announced, I knew I wanted to see it on the big screen. But then the final schedule was released and one of my absolute favorite movies, Clue (1985) was scheduled, poolside. It was scheduled opposite White Heat. Oh TCM. Why do you do this to me? In the end, Tim Curry’s hilarious performance won out over Cagney. Making the screening even better was that Lesley Ann Warren, aka Miss Scarlett, was scheduled to appear. She was a great guest and still gorgeous.

The Clue pool screening was crazy. It was packed and we arrived late due to being part of the red carpet. We barely attended the opening night party. We attended in the sense that there were no lines at the bar and no one inside Club TCM at the Roosevelt. We went to the pool and were unable to find seats. Having insanely achy legs, the thought of standing for two hours did not seem appealing. Always one to try and stake out potential seats, I spotted a pair of reserved seats that were not occupied. I spoke with a TCM staffer and was told that if the guests for whom the seats were reserved did not show up at the start of the event, we could have the seats. My husband and I stood next to the seats for nearly an hour, hoping that these VIP people did not show. The TCM staffer even told another staffer that those seats were already spoken for by us, should the VIPs not arrive. At about five minutes before the screening, a pair of women showed up and spotted my seats. I made sure to stand as close to them as I could without actually sitting there. As soon as Dave Karger was introduced, Boom! I took the signs off the seats and sat down. I overheard the woman tell her companion, “they just dove in there and took the seats.” No I didn’t lady, I had dibs on them long before you showed up. I didn’t just “dive in.”

The ceiling of the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.

Anyway, despite the cutthroat acquirement of seats at the Clue screening, we had a great time. Making it even better was that they showed all three endings in a row, which is how this film should be seen. After Clue, we walked down to the Egyptian to see a new-to-us film, Gambit, from 1966 with Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine. This was our first time seeing the Egyptian and it was gorgeous on the inside. The romantic caper film, Gambit, was very entertaining and a fun way to end the evening. My other choice for that block was In Cold Blood at the multiplex, but Clue ended too late. I’m not about leaving screenings early. Every film/event we attended at the festival, we watched in its entirety. I’m glad we saw Gambit. We’re planning on adding it to our film collection.

TCMFF 2024: It’s a Wrap!

Last Sunday, April 21, the 15th Annual TCM Classic Film Festival came to a close. It was an amazing 3.5 days of classic film in sunny Hollywood. As a credentialed member of the media, this is just one of a few posts I have planned chronicling my time at the festival. In this post, I thought I would provide an overview of the festival. I’m planning on following up with post with a four-part series describing my experience at the festival, including the films that my husband and I saw and our overall impressions of this year’s festivities.

Thursday, April 18, 2024

During the afternoon, about four hours before the official festivities, attendees went to their first panel–So You Want to Put on a Classic Film Festival. In this panel discussion, organizers of the TCMFF past, present and future were on-hand to explain all the logistics and planning that goes into planning a festival of this magnitude. This panel replaced the traditional “Meet TCM” panel of years past.

John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson at the red carpet for “Pulp Fiction” (Photo provided by: Turner Classic Movies).

The red carpet was rolled out on Hollywood Boulevard in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre for the opening night film–Pulp Fiction. Almost the entire cast was expected to reunite at the festival, including John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, and Harvey Keitel. The four main stars were scheduled to be interviewed onstage by Ben Mankiewicz prior to the screening. Aside from the stars of Pulp Fiction, other festival guests, including Floyd Norman, Mario Cantone, Cora Sue Collins, Lesley Ann Warren, Dana Delaney, and Kate Flannery also walked the carpet. George Chakiris was even present, though he did not present any films at the festival. He apparently made a cameo at the annual trivia contest, So You Think You Know Movies, hosted by frequent festival guest, Bruce Goldstein.

The opening party was held in Club TCM before attendees were off to either walk the red carpet, or to get in line for their first official events of this year’s festival. Clue (1985) with guest Lesley Ann Warren kicked off this year’s poolside festivities.

Friday, April 19, 2024

Mario Cantone and Floyd Norman. (Photo provided by: Turner Classic Movies).

Friday morning brought about the return of Disney’s El Capitan Theatre to the festival. Disney Legend Floyd Norman was on-hand to discuss One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) with TCM favorite, comedian Mario Cantone. At the multiplex, Bruce Goldstein, Shane Fleming, Steve Levy, and Bob Weitz, presented six Vitaphone shorts to a sold-out crowd. The shorts were projected in 35mm with the sound played back on their original 16″ discs. The discs were placed on a turntable built by the Warner Brothers Post Production Engineering Department. Meanwhile, over at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Jodie Foster was the subject of the hand and footprint ceremony. Foster’s friend, Jamie Lee Curtis gave a tribute before the festivities. After the ceremony, Foster introduced Silence of the Lambs, the film in which she won her second Best Actress Oscar.

Jamie Lee Curtis and Jodie Foster at the TCMFF (Photo provided by: Turner Classic Movies)

TCMFF favorites, Ben Burtt and Craig Barron, presented their annual sound and special effects presentation with Them! (1954). Billy Dee Williams, subject of one of this year’s tributes, was at Club TCM to discuss his decades-long career. Movie historian Leonard Maltin was present during the afternoon to present Three Godfathers (1936), and then later a silent double feature Dad’s Choice (1928) and Paths to Paradise (1925) with one of the nation’s leading silent film accompanists, Ben Model, providing the soundtrack.

Steven Spielberg discusses Close Encounters of the Third Kind with Ben Mankiewicz (Photo provided by: Turner Classic Movies).

In the evening, director Steven Spielberg was onstage at Grauman’s with Ben Mankiewicz to discuss the making of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Gidget (1959) was the featured poolside film. Later that evening, director David Fincher was on-hand to introduce the IMAX restoration of his serial killer classic, Se7en (1995).

Saturday, April 20, 2024

Saturday morning started off with the return of nitrate films at the newly restored Egyptian Theatre, making its triumphant return after an extended closure. Film historian Alan K. Rode introduced Edward G. Robinson in Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948). Later, the second and final nitrate of the festival, Annie Get Your Gun (1950), was presented.

Diane Lane discusses A Little Romance with Ben Mankiewicz. (Photo provided by: Turner Classic Movies).

The afternoon was sheer pandemonium at the TCL Chinese Multiplex with the screenings of A Little Romance (1979) with star Diane Lane, and The Big Heat (1953) with Gloria Grahame-super fan, Dana Delaney. The Mae West pre-code, She Done Him Wrong (1933) with an introduction by the hilarious Mario Cantone, was sold-out almost instantly. Those avoiding the insanity were probably over at Club TCM attending an event with makeup artist, Lois Burwell, the subject of the other tribute at this year’s festival.

Jeanine Basinger received this year’s Robert Osborne Award. (Photo provided by: Turner Classic Movies).

Later in the afternoon, film historian Donald Bogle was at the Egyptian to introduce The Mad Miss Manton (1938) with Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, and Hattie McDaniel. After this screening, film historian Jeanine Basinger was presented with this year’s Robert Osborne Award. She also introduced Westward the Women (1951) with Robert Taylor. Meanwhile, over at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman were onstage introducing The Shawshank Redemption (1994) for it’s 30th anniversary. Inside the multiplex, comedian and Family Guy-creator, Seth MacFarlane, helped present a series of nine Fleischer cartoons that were recently restored through his foundation. These cartoons hadn’t been seen since their debut back in the 1930s and 1940s.

Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman and Dave Karger discuss The Shawshank Redemption. (Photo provided by: Turner Classic Movies)

The final poolside screening of the festival was Footloose (1984) in honor of its 40th anniversary. Meanwhile over in the multiplex, members of the cast of Little Women (1994) were reuniting for the film’s 30th anniversary. Closing out the evening was Jeff Daniels at the Egyptian introducing Dog Day Afternoon (1975). Former TCM Underground programmer, Millie De Chirico, introduced the final midnight film of the festival, Heavenly Bodies (1984). Good news! This film will be released on blu ray later this year!

Sunday, April 21, 2024

Cora Sue Collins. (Photo provided by: Turner Classic Movies).

The final day of the festival started with Fred MacMurray’s daughter, Kate, introducing Double Indemnity (1944) at Grauman’s Chinese Theater. She was also on-hand Friday morning to introduce her father in The Caine Mutiny (1954). Over at the Egyptian, cinematographer Caleb Deschanel presented a 70mm screening of Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Later that afternoon, director Alexander Payne introduced a 70mm screening of John Wayne’s The Searchers (1956). Back at Grauman’s, soap opera star Kin Shriner discussed his love of TCM and the film Sabrina (1954) with Dave Karger. Over at the multiplex, 97-year old Cora Sue Collins introduced the precode, The Sin of Nora Moran (1933). Miss Collins played the child version of Greta Garbo’s character in Queen Christina (1933).

During the festival on Sundays, a handful of timeslots are saved for repeats of films that sold out during the other days of the festival. They are labeled on the schedule as “TBA” and are typically announced Saturday afternoon. This year’s TBAs were The Big Heat (1953), The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936), The Good Fairy (1935), The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951), and Only Yesterday (1933).

Mel Brooks and Ben Mankiewicz (Photo provided by: Turner Classic Movies)

The closing event of the festival was the always-hilarious 97-year old Mel Brooks. Brooks is a 7-time guest of the festival and did not disappoint. Brooks was on-hand to not answer Ben Mankiewicz’s questions and to do his own shtick. He did eventually introduce this year’s closing film, Spaceballs (1987)–a spoof of Star Wars with It Happened One Night‘s plot, with some Alien, Alice, and The Wizard of Oz sprinkled in.

The Fab Five lead a toast to TCM and the TCMFF (Photo provided by: Turner Classic Movies).

The festivities were capped off with a toast by the five TCM hosts: Ben Mankiewicz, Eddie Muller, Jacqueline Stewart, Dave Karger, and Alicia Malone in Club TCM. The guests were handed glasses of champagne to toast not only the 15th anniversary of the festival, but also the 30th anniversary of TCM!

Here’s to many more years of the festival and TCM!

TCMFF 2024: Updates From the Field

This afternoon, Wednesday, April 17, I attended the media event. As this is only my second TCMFF and my first with media credentials, I had never attended this event. I didn’t know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the crowd size in the Blossom Room at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel was moderate and the appetizers and refreshments were complimentary. The event was scheduled to run an hour. The first half hour was for mingling. I enjoyed seeing all the new costumes and props in Club TCM–including one of Errol Flynn’s costumes from The Adventures of Don Juan, his cape from The Adventures of Robin Hood, and one of Olivia de Haviland’s silk dresses from ‘Robin Hood.’

Ben Mankiewicz, Eddie Muller, Jacqueline Stewart, Dave Karger, and Alicia Malone take the stage at the Media Reception (photo by: James Ewing)

Ben Mankiewicz came out promptly on the half hour mark and introduced his four co-hosts. Before introducing the other hosts, Ben took time to remark that this year’s lineup of guests was one of the best ever–even better than the year they had a dog who looked like Lassie. Lol. Taking inspiration from Eddie Muller’s title, “The Czar of Noir,” each co-host was introduced as the “Czar” of something. Eddie was “The Czar of Noir,” Jacqueline Stewart was “The Czar of the Academy Museum,” Dave Karger “The Czar of All Things Hollywood,” and Alicia Malone “The Czar of Maine.” After this, Ben asked each co-host what movie they were most looking forward to introducing at the festival. I was happy to learn that Eddie will be introducing Double Indemnity which I plan to see. Ben joked that he was introducing my favorite film, The Long Long Trailer. As awesome as that would be, I’m fairly certain someone else has been lined up for that honor (4/23/24 UPDATE: Ben Mankiewicz DID introduce The Long, Long Trailer at the festival!!). Dave stated that he was excited to introduce The Prisoner of Shark Island, a 1936 film starring John Carradine. John’s son, Keith Carradine, will be on-hand to discuss the film. Dave stated he’d never even heard of this film and neither had TCM’s Senior Vice President of Programming, Charles Tabesh.

The promo video announcing the podcast that was shown. (Photo by: James Ewing)

The big reveal for the media event was that season five of “The Plot Thickens” podcast is debuting on June 6. This season will be devoted to director John Ford and is titled, “Decoding John Ford.” The podcast will feature extensive, unheard audio clips and it will even discuss the search for a lost John Ford film. While much of the podcast will feature John Ford telling his own story, there were some documents unearthed, written by Ford, that needed to be performed to be included in the episode. Tapped for the honor of playing John Ford was Eddie Muller, who reportedly went “method” for his voice performance as Ford. He joked that he stopped short of wearing Ford’s signature eye patch, as it interfered with his ability to see the script. The discussion then turned to why Ford wore the eye patch. The answer was that Ford supposedly suffered from “undisclosed eye issues.”

Eddie Muller goes “method” in his voiceover performance as John Ford in Season 5 of “The Plot Thickens.” (Photo by: James Ewing)

“The Plot Thickens” will debut on June 6, the 80th anniversary of D-Day. John Ford was one of the Hollywood directors tapped to create films for the War Department during World War II. The podcast’s debut will be celebrated with a two-day marathon of John Ford’s films on June 5 & 6 on TCM. Ford’s grandson, Dan Ford, will co-host the marathon with Ben Mankiewicz.

TCMFF 2024–Tentative Picks!

A week ago Thursday (March 28), TCM finally dropped the full schedule for the upcoming TCMFF. Since then, I have been pouring over the schedule, discussing the various schedule conflicts with my husband. We’ve identified the screenings that we absolutely cannot miss, screenings that we’re interested in, but don’t necessarily have to do, and other screenings to which we’re indifferent. This year’s schedule is absolutely killer, despite presenting some agonizing conflicts. This schedule is so good, it feels like it was designed just for me. Last year, we attended the festival with the awesome Spotlight passes. This year however, I am attending with a Media pass and my husband will have the comparable Classic pass. We will be getting experience with the line queuing and the numbering system. I’ve read about how the lines work in previous festivals and understand the protocol. Last year, I wanted to make sure we saw something in every venue so we could see what they’re like. This year, I want to make sure to see something in the two new venues–El Capitan and the Egyptian.

Here is the tentative schedule that my husband and I agreed upon, though in many cases, it is subject to change.

Wednesday

We’re flying into Burbank from Portland Tuesday night. Luckily, our flight is a little less than 2.5 hours, so it won’t be too daunting. Originally we were going to fly into LAX on Wednesday afternoon. However, with a 1:30pm arrival time on Wednesday afternoon with a media event scheduled ~4:30pm, I decided that it would be too stressful to try and get across Los Angeles to Hollywood in 3 hours. I could already feel myself becoming anxious trying to be on time and at the time I was still 1.5 months away. Regardless, I rearranged our plans so that we’d already be in town on the day we have a lot planned.

On Wednesday, my husband and I will need to pick up our passes. I am hoping that we may have time Wednesday morning to possibly go to Larry Edmunds book store. We will also be attending the Facebook TCMFF Group party at the Hollywood Heritage Museum. The museum has an MGM costume exhibit that we plan to see during the party. My husband and I will need to leave the party briefly to go back to the Roosevelt for the 4:30pm media event. Afterwards, we’ll head back to the party. We then have a 7:30pm Musso & Frank reservation. Will this be the year that my husband finally orders the Welsh rarebit that he’s been dying to try? We’ll see. Last year he was supposed to try it and then ordered a pork chop instead.

Thursday

I have a lunch reservation at Miceli’s on Las Palmas Ave. for late Thursday morning. It is where Lucille Ball went in 1956 to learn how to toss pizza dough for the “Visitor From Italy” episode of I Love Lucy. I will try to go to Larry Edmunds this day if I don’t make it on Wednesday. I also want to go to Amoeba Music, but we won’t have a car this year. The walk is about 30 minutes, which isn’t bad, but we’ll need to see if we have time. The festival doesn’t officially kick off until 5:00pm with the opening night party. We’ll definitely be attending that. Prior to the party is a panel about the ins and outs of running a festival and then later the annual trivia event. Both sound interesting, but we’ll see if we go to either.

I made this schedule myself in Excel just to visualize the conflicts.

Right off the bat, first block of the schedule and there’s a major conflict. Pulp Fiction can already be removed as it is the opening night film reserved for Spotlight and Essential passholders. When White Heat was announced, that was the film that I wanted to see… but then the schedule came out and Clue is scheduled opposite White Heat. Clue will be a poolside screening and Lesley Ann Warren, aka Miss Scarlett, will be present. I love Clue. It is hysterical. I am curious whether they’ll show all three endings in a row during the screening. Frankly, they should because it is the only way to watch this film. I am anticipating the Clue screening to be packed to the point where we probably won’t get a seat; but it’ll probably be our only chance for a pool screening if we were to attend any of the three awesome pool screenings that are planned.

Pick: Clue
Plan B: White Heat

Our two main choices for the second and last block of the evening are In Cold Blood in theater 1 at the multiplex or Gambit at the Egyptian. I’ve never seen In Cold Blood and I love true crime, so this would be a great pick. The con with this pick is if we see Clue, it ends at the time that In Cold Blood starts. We don’t want to leave Clue early, because seeing all the endings is the whole point of the film. You watch the entire film to get to this ending. I am also not a fan of leaving screenings early, as I don’t really want to come home having seen 75% of a dozen films. With that said, if we see Clue, it only makes sense to see Gambit, as we’ll have 30 minutes between screenings. If we see White Heat, we’d have 30 minutes to make it to In Cold Blood, or we could just stay at the Egyptian and see Gambit.

Pick: Gambit
Plan B: In Cold Blood

Friday

The first full block of the day is an easy decision. 101 Dalmatians is the only film scheduled at Disney’s El Capitan Theater and I want to see the inside. We’ve seen the outside of this theater every single time we’ve been in Hollywood (at least a half a dozen times) and have never been inside. Disney animator, Floyd Norman, is scheduled to appear with the hilarious Mario Cantone. I also discovered that Mr. Norman and I have the same birthday! El Capitan is also next to Ghirardelli, so a coffee/ice cream breakfast might be the perfect choice for this event. Were 101 Dalmatians not scheduled, I’d probably go see The Caine Mutiny or the Vitaphone feature.

Pick: 101 Dalmatians
Plan B: There is no Plan B.

This block is a tough one. I would go see The Little Foxes, however it starts when 101 Dalmatians ends. Like I said before, I don’t particularly want to leave a movie early. The big con to this is that Mario Cantone is also introducing ‘Foxes’ which stars Bette Davis. Cantone does a hysterical Bette Davis impression. I have to hope that maybe The Little Foxes will be a TBA on Sunday. I would go see Them!, but it starts 15 minutes after ‘Dalmatians’ ends. I’m not sure that we’ll be able to get in on time to see the screening. Leonard Maltin is introducing Three Godfathers which I’ve never seen; but it’s in theater 4, so I’m not sure we’ll get in. The TCM Archive Project is the panel that looked the most interesting to me. I’d also never heard of The Model and the Marriage Broker before it was announced. This is a block that could really go any way and we couldn’t come up with a definitive plan. We might try to get into Them! and use the panel or maybe ‘Model’ as a back-up option if Them! is full. We may also use this block to get lunch if we’re hungry.

Pick: Them!
Plan B: The TCM Archive Project panel, The Model and the Marriage Broker, or lunch!

In this block, my choice is It Should Happen to You with Jack Lemmon and Judy Holliday. This is such a fun film and would be a great afternoon movie. The Hearst newsreel presentation seems interesting, but I don’t know if it’s interesting enough to give up Jack and Judy. I like That’s Entertainment, but it’s really just a big clip show. I don’t know that I need to see it in the theater.

Pick: It Should Happen to You
Plan B: There is no Plan B at the moment.

This Gidget poolside screening is killing me because it’s perfectly staggered between two movie blocks. I love Gidget. I have seen it dozens of times. This seems like a no-brainer. I suggested this movie as a poolside in last year’s after the festival survey. I feel like I manifested this event to happen. However, I don’t think we’ll be going to this screening. If James Darren, Moondoggie himself, were scheduled to attend, it’d be a no-brainer, Gidget is what I’d watch. However, Moondoggie is not the scheduled guest. Without Moondoggie, the excitement for this selection is a little diminished. I love Rear Window, but I’ve seen it in the theater four times. I’m not sure that I need to see it again at the cost of seeing something else. I’ve never seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Steven Spielberg will be in attendance. This film is also scheduled at Grauman’s, so it seems like the perfect venue to see it.

Pick: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Plan B: Gidget

If I go see Gidget, then none of these films even matter. However, we probably won’t be seeing this film and will probably be at Grauman’s for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. With that said, my choices for this block are Jailhouse Rock and It Happened One Night. We could stay at Grauman’s and see Se7en, but I don’t know that I can watch that movie so late at night. It’s pretty gruesome. I think I’d rather end the evening with something a little more upbeat. My husband and I have seen Jailhouse Rock in 35mm in the theater before. I’ve seen It Happened One Night in the theater, but my husband hasn’t. There’s also a film scheduled in Sunday’s block which uses the plot of ‘Night’ in its narrative, so it’d be a nice companion piece. Also, if I don’t see White Heat on Thursday, seeing It Happened One Night would be my chance to see the Egyptian, if I haven’t already.

Pick: It Happened One Night
Plan B: Jailhouse Rock

There’s only one midnight film–it’s a film devoted to sharing the dangers of drinking and smoking. It sounds pretty funny and it’s short. It’s also the midnight film that fits best in our schedule. I think if we see Jailhouse Rock, which ends at 10:45pm, my husband is going to want to go back to the room, he won’t want to wait an hour for another film so late at night. It Happened One Night ends at 11:30, so it’s possible to make it to this screening. However, we need to get up early for the greatest screening of the entire festival on Saturday AM, so it’s possible that we’ll skip the midnight movie and go back to the hotel for bed. We went to last year’s midnight movie, Xanadu, and it was amazing.

Pick: The Road to Ruin (it’s the only choice, lol)
Plan B: Going back to the hotel for bed

Saturday

MY FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME, The Long Long Trailer, is scheduled during the Saturday morning block. It’s a no-brainer. This is the film we’re seeing. It’s in the tiny theater 4, so we’ll have to get in line early. I am not missing this screening. It has been my absolute dream to see my favorite movie of all time in the theater. If The Long Long Trailer wasn’t scheduled and it was some other movie, I’d be going to the nitrate screening at the Egyptian, Night Has a Thousand Eyes. However, ‘Trailer’ is scheduled, I cannot give up this choice. I am not willing to risk seeing something else with the hope of it becoming a TBA on Sunday. The. End.

Pick: The Long Long Trailer
Plan B: There is no plan B. I have to see The Long Long Trailer.

This block features my only other chance to see a nitrate, Annie Get Your Gun at the Egyptian. However, I don’t really like this movie. I find Betty Hutton really annoying. Do I go to a movie I don’t really like just to see a nitrate? My husband said he was indifferent to nitrate and expressed the idea that I shouldn’t go see a movie I don’t like if I could see something else. That is a fair statement. Mario Cantone will be introducing Mae West in She Done Him Wrong during this same block. I can only imagine his Mae West impression (if he does one), so I feel that this might be worthwhile. It’s also in the same theater as The Long Long Trailer, so it’d be easy to get in line early. We could also get in the theater 4 line again to see Queen of the Mob which sounds interesting, or go to lunch. I am also interested in The Big Heat with Dana Delany if we don’t see Mae West.

Pick: She Done Him Wrong & Queen of the Mob
Plan B: The Big Heat or Annie Get Your Gun, or forgo ‘Mob’ and get lunch.

I love North by Northwest, but I’ve seen it in the theater a few times. The Phenix City Story is a film noir that I’ve never seen. My choice in this block is The Mad Miss Manton at the Egyptian with Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda. That’ll probably be where we’ll be.

Pick: The Mad Miss Manton
Plan B: North by Northwest or maybe The Phenix City Story.

This is probably the toughest block in the entire festival. The Shawshank Redemption has Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins in attendance. It is a great movie. This is what my husband was all excited to see when it was announced, but then he saw the schedule and saw the animation presentation. He loves animation and when he saw that these are animated shorts that haven’t been seen for decades and it’s presented by Seth MacFarlane, he was torn. I am also interested in International House, as it’s a precode presented by Bruce Goldstein who was awesome during last year’s presentation of Footlight Parade. I’ve never heard of this movie, but it sounds really good. I’m hoping that it’ll be a TBA on Sunday. I also love Footloose and it kills me that it’s at the pool during this time, but Kevin Bacon isn’t going to be present, so some of the luster of that selection is lost. I think my husband has decided to forgo ‘Shawshank‘, which I’m sure will be absolutely packed, in favor of the animation presentation.

Pick: Back From the Ink: Restored Animated Shorts
Plan B: The Shawshank Redemption or International House

The Saturday evening block is a little up in the air. I think we have it narrowed down to two choices–On the Waterfront and Dog Day Afternoon. Both films start about an hour after the animation shorts series ends. Both films end at midnight though, which is the same time that the midnight film, Heavenly Bodies, starts. There are two midnight films scheduled during the festival and if I were to attend one, ‘Bodies’ would be it. My husband and I have seen ‘Waterfront’ in the theater before. I don’t think either of us have seen ‘Afternoon’. This film is also being introduced by Jeff Daniels, who would be cool to see. We could also see Summer Stock, though we’ve both seen it many times. I despise the “Heavenly Music” number though. Seeing Summer Stock would be the easiest way to see the midnight film.

Pick: On the Waterfront or Dog Day Afternoon
Plan B: Summer Stock

Like I said before, the midnight screening is Heavenly Bodies. Our seeing this film is contingent on what we see in the block preceding it. If we see Summer Stock, we’ll probably hop back in line for the midnight film. If we see either On the Waterfont or Dog Day Afternoon, we’ll head back to the hotel to go to bed.

Pick: Heavenly Bodies
Plan B: Bedtime

Sunday

Sunday morning is the last day of the festival and what better way to kick of the day than with Double Indemnity at Grauman’s? I’ve seen Double Indemnity in the theater multiple times, but I love this movie and I’ve seen the outside of Phyllis Dietrichson’s home in the Hollywood Hills. We could easily spend the entire day in Grauman’s because every movie scheduled is awesome; but we’ll see. It all depends on the TBA films.

Pick: Double Indemnity
Plan B: No plan B

My choice in this block is to stay at Grauman’s and catch Sabrina. However, should the TBA be something that I’m interested in, I’ll probably go there. I’ve seen Sabrina in the theater before.

Pick: Sabrina
Plan B: Possible TBA depending what it is

This block has three TBAs so this schedule could really go any way. As it stands, my choice is Chinatown at Grauman’s, as it is the quintessential Los Angeles film. However, I could be swayed to one of the TBAs depending what it is. I love Almost Famous too, but I don’t know that I absolutely have to see it at the festival. I saw Almost Famous in the theater in high school when it came out in 2000.

Pick: Chinatown
Plan B: One or more of the TBAs depending what they are

The final block of the night is devoted to Spaceballs with Mel Brooks himself in attendance. When Mel was announced, it became my husband’s and my absolute #1 pick for the festival. Were Mel not attending, we’d be at the Egyptian seeing Sherlock Jr. We absolutely cannot give up a chance to see 97 year old Mel Brooks in person. Spaceballs is also the film I alluded to earlier when discussing my choice to see It Happened One Night. Spaceballs, while appearing to be a Star Wars parody, uses the plot of ‘Night’ to structure the main plot of its narrative. After Spaceballs, we’ll be at the party. I can only hope that the TBA isn’t something I absolutely wanted to see like White Heat, because that TBA will be SOL.

Pick: Spaceballs
Plan B: There is no plan B

Whimsically Classic Receives TCMFF Media Credentials!

I am excited to announce that my blog, Whimsically Classic, devoted to all things classic film and classic television, has been selected to receive media credentials at this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival (TCMFF). Despite the amazing time my husband and I had last year, we just couldn’t figure out how we would swing it this year. Though last year, we did go all out for our first experience with the Spotlight passes and staying at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel which was on my bucket list. However, I decided to apply for media credentials last minute, on a lark. I didn’t think I would be approved. But I wanted to apply, if only to present a sample of my writing to TCM. I sent a link to the article I wrote last year about my first experience at the TCMFF. I turned in the application at the last minute on the 14th, only two days before the 16th deadline.

You can imagine my excitement when I saw the email from TCM stating that I had been APPROVED for media credentials. I could not believe it. Really?! My little blog?! Suddenly, I went into trip planning mode. Could we afford this? My pass was covered, but my husband wanted to go too. He needs a Classic Pass, which is comparable to my Media Pass. Where would we stay? Surely all the good (moderately priced) hotels were gone by now! How would we get there from PDX? Ooh our Alaska Airlines account has a free companion pass! We don’t need a car, surely we can get transportation to and from LAX. Somehow it all came together. I got the last King room at a decent looking hotel with a reasonable (for Hollywood) rate, only 2 blocks from the Roosevelt. With some rampant saving next month (including paying taxes, yuck!), I think we can swing it. We won’t be tacking a quick trip to Disneyland on this trip…even though it’s RIGHT there, but we for sure can’t swing that. I just cannot in good conscience turn down a free pass to the TCMFF, valued at ~$900!

With that said, I am now EXCITED for the films that have been announced thus far. Previously, I was indifferent, because I probably wasn’t going. Now that I am going, I am excited. Of course the films I’m excited about and the films I actually go see are all dependent upon the final schedule, the guests, and the location. I am super excited to be going now that the Egyptian has been announced. I was hoping to go there last year, but it wasn’t open during the festival. I really want to experience a nitrate film. I hope they announce more besides Annie Get Your Gun. That film is not a favorite of mine. These are the films I’m excited about:

• Almost Famous (2000). I saw this in the theater in high school when it came out! This is a great movie.
  
• The Big Heat (1953). This is an amazing film noir. I can only imagine seeing Jocelyn Brando’s “explosive” scene and the coffee scene between Gloria Grahame and Lee Marvin on the big screen.
  
• Chinatown (1974). I feel like seeing one of the quintessential LA films in LA would be appropriate. It’d be amazing if TCMFF could get Faye Dunaway or Jack Nicholson to appear in person.
  
• It Happened One Night (1934). I love this movie, it’s so much fun. Though I’ve seen it in the theater before, so this will depend on what it’s scheduled against.
  
• The Mad Miss Manton (1938). This is such a fun film starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda. This film always seems to be on in the background while I’m doing something else. I’d love to actually sit and just watch this film.
  
• North by Northwest (1959). This is a great film and seeing it restored would be wonderful. However, I have seen this in the theater before, so it’s something I could miss if something more exciting comes along.
  
• On the Waterfront (1954). This is an amazing film. It’s insane that I enjoy it so much since I typically do not enjoy Marlon Brando, Lee J. Cobb, or Rod Steiger and they’re all in the same film! However, this film is fantastic. I’ve also seen it in the theater before, so it’s something I could miss.
  
• Rear Window (1954). My favorite Hitchcock. It’s perfection from beginning to end. I even love all the neighbors in the apartments. But I’ve seen this movie at least three times in the theater. I saw it last year in the theater! This is another one that I might be able to miss depending on what else is scheduled.
  
• Sabrina (1954). I do love this movie. Despite the fact that Bogart is clearly too old for the role, but I love it anyway.
  
• Sherlock Jr. (1924) & The Goat (1921). The Buster Keaton double feature with live organ accompaniment is a no brainer. I’ve even seen Sherlock Jr. before with live organ accompaniment, but I’ll gladly watch it again.
  
• White Heat (1949). I love this movie. I would love to see this film with its iconic ending on the big screen.

Now I no longer have to boo the TV when the TCMFF commercial comes on TCM. I was booing it because I probably wasn’t going. But now I am! I will also look forward to the programming announcements instead of being indifferent.

My First TCM Film Festival–Part 3

During my last post, Jimmy and I had just gone to bed at 2:00am after finishing our midnight movie, Xanadu. We were on the go from 9:00am all the way until 2:00am. It was a long day.

April 16, 2023

Today was our last day at the TCMFF. We were going to get up early for the 9:00am screening of Heaven Can Wait with Don Ameche and Gene Tierney. However, having gotten to bed at 2:00am, this screening was not happening. I’d seen this film before and I own it, so we decided that sleep sounded more appealing. We also skipped the last spotlight breakfast, in favor of sleeping in. Unfortunately, because we didn’t get out and about until around 10:30am, all the good ribbons were already gone from the information desk. We decided to have an ice cream/coffee breakfast at Ghirardelli across the street from Grauman’s. Jimmy had wanted to get the Lands End sundae ever since he saw it on the menu at the Disneyland Ghirardelli (actually California Adventure. It’s in the Pacific Wharf area).

The amazing ceiling at Grauman’s. This is the most gorgeous ceiling I’ve ever seen in my life. I hate to imagine how much work it takes to clean it.

Originally I wanted to go see the Carole Lombard/Clark Gable precode, No Man of Her Own. However, it started at 12:15pm. By the time we got over to the theater, it was almost noon. Seeing that they start seating movies 30 minutes prior, and the precode was in the tiny Theater 4 in the multiplex (a theater I’ve heard referred to as “The Thunderdome”), Jimmy thought that even with our Spotlight passes, we might not get in, due to them having already started seating. He didn’t want to risk missing the start of another film trying to get into theater 4. Instead, we opted to see the classic to end all classics, Casablanca (1942) at Grauman’s. Even though we’d seen this film in the theater four times previously, it turned out to be the right choice. Eddie Muller and Ben Mankiewicz delivered a delightful introduction and we were off. Seeing one of my favorite movies on “the biggest screen in North America” was absolutely amazing. You could hear a pin drop in the theater. It is definitely one of the best theater experiences I’ve ever had.

The inside of Grauman’s

After Casablanca, we did head over to theater 4 to see Mr. Cohen Takes a Walk (1935). This wasn’t a film that I originally planned to attend, however, I wanted to see Leonard Maltin who was introducing this film. He also introduced Heaven Can Wait, which we missed because we chose to sleep instead. We also already knew what our 4:45pm movie was, so ‘Mr. Cohen’ fit perfectly in the schedule. Leonard Maltin’s introduction was excellent. He was absolutely correct when he said that “this isn’t a great film, but it’s a good film and deserves to be shown.” Shout-out to the woman who spent Maltin’s entire introduction taking pictures of herself sitting in a theater seat instead of being a polite and attentive audience member. ::Rolls eyes.:: ‘Mr. Cohen’ ended up being exactly what Maltin said it was. It was a very charming movie.

This is the most gorgeous theater I’ve ever seen in my life.

After ‘Mr. Cohen,’ we had a 45 minute break before our next film. We wanted to find something quick but substantial to eat. We spotted Johnny Rocket’s at the mall outside the multiplex. Jimmy asked the waitress what the lead time was on a burger (he used to be a sous chef) and we were told that she could rush the burgers if we ordered those first. Jimmy and I quickly ordered a burger and she ran the order to the kitchen. We also got fries and sodas. Shout-out to Johnny Rocket’s who got our burgers out in less than 10 minutes. We got to the restaurant a little after 4:00pm, and had our food by 4:15. We had 30 minutes to eat and get back to Theater 4. We made it and were back in the theater to see Larceny Inc (1942) with time to spare.

A bust of Bette Davis’ head that was on display in Club TCM. This was used for makeup tests during production on “The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex.” Can you imagine having this in your house?

Larceny Inc was one of the TBA films. At the TCMFF, a handful of timeslots on Sunday afternoon will display TBA. On Saturday, the TBAs will be announced. The TBA titles are films that sold out during their original screening and festival attendees are given another chance to see something they may have missed. Larceny Inc originally screened on Friday, but we were seeing Footlight Parade. The TBAs on Sunday ended up being, Larceny Inc, Footlight Parade, The Killers, One Way Passage, and The Old Maid. We spent all afternoon in theater 4, which up until Sunday had been the only theater we hadn’t seen yet. Larceny Inc was hilarious. It isn’t often you see a comedy with Edward G. Robinson where he dresses like Santa while smoking a cigar. After the film ended, we immediately got back in line at theater 4 for our final film–The Old Maid (1939) with my queen, Bette Davis, and Miriam Hopkins.

I’d seen The Old Maid before, but I wanted to see it because I’d heard that Mario Cantone had delivered a hilarious introduction during the first screening. Jimmy and I were seeing Harvey during The Old Maid‘s first go around. I’m glad how the TBAs turned out, because The Old Maid was my second choice if Harvey were sold out. We had just seen the new King Kong restoration at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland in January. King Kong was at Grauman’s during the Harvey/The Old Maid timeslot as well. However, because we’d just seen it, it wasn’t on our radar.

Mario Cantone’s The Old Maid introduction encore performance was hysterical. I don’t know how politically correct a post-stroke Bette Davis impression is, but it was hilarious. Jimmy and I met Mario during the cocktail party on our first day of the festival. The Old Maid did not disappoint with the melodrama and for the record, I am Team Bette.

Eddie Muller, Alicia Malone, Dave Karger, me (!), Jimmy, my phone and my wine. I’m so happy I didn’t spill my wine on their table, that would have been so embarrassing!

After The Old Maid, we headed back across the street for the closing party. They were using Club TCM and the Roosevelt lounge again for the party. Both rooms were very crowded and the drink lines were long. As a note, people: if there is a long line, just order something easy (e.g., glass of wine, beer, rum and coke, crown and coke, etc.) stop waffling when you get to the front of the line, just order something. But I digress, despite the crowd, the closing party was a lot of fun because Jimmy and I finally got to talk to the last host that we hadn’t met yet despite spending so much time with him–Dave Karger.

I am so happy to report that all five of the hosts: Ben Mankiewicz, Eddie Muller, Alicia Malone, Jacqueline Stewart and Dave Karger were as nice as could be. Not an air of pretension surrounding any of them. They graciously shook hands with and talked to the festival attendees and even posed for photos. Dave even told Jimmy and I that we should go on one of the classic cruises, which he said is even more fun than the festival. Jimmy and I actually looked at pricing for this year’s cruise, which is actually slightly cheaper than the TCMFF (for two people). Unfortunately, I don’t think we can swing both the festival and the cruise in the same year. However, we’re interested in the cruise and may go when it casts off from the West Coast again. It’s leaving from San Diego this year, which would be super convenient, plus San Diego is awesome, but we can’t swing going this year.

Jimmy and I had an absolutely amazing time at our first TCMFF. While I wish that the weather was a little better, it was better than it was in Portland, so that’s something. We are already planning to return next year as it will be both the 15th TCMFF and the 30th anniversary of TCM. It’ll also be the 40th anniversary of films made in Jimmy’s and my year (1984, eek), so I’m hoping for a Spinal Tap reunion. What I wouldn’t give to hear “Big Bottom” live. When we returned from the festival, Jimmy said that he expected to have fun, but he didn’t expect to have as much fun as he had. Thank you, TCM!

Total number of films seen: 13

Total numbers of panels seen: 2

Total number of Laurel & Hardy shorts seen: 1

Films that we’d seen before: Footlight Parade (1933), Beach Party (1963), Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), The Old Maid (1939), Sorry Wrong Number (1948), Casablanca (1942) and Xanadu (1980)

New to us films: Harvey (1950), Rio Bravo (1959), Larceny Inc (1942), Mr. Cohen Takes a Walk (1935), and Enter the Dragon (1973)

Panels: Looney Tunes at the Oscars and The Evolution of Henson Puppetry

Laurel & Hardy Shorts: “Going Bye-Bye” (1934)

Favorite Parts of TCMFF: The Henson Puppetry Panel, seeing Casablanca in the IMAX, Enter the Dragon, meeting all the hosts, seeing Jacqueline Stewart and Alicia Malone in the elevator, and the cocktail party.

Least Favorite Parts of TCMFF: The crowds at the opening and closing night parties in Club TCM and the Roosevelt Hotel lounge (larger space would have been better), the weather, the Friday night incident, and the fact that it ended!

Other things I saw at the TCMFF:

John Travolta’s suit from “Saturday Night Fever.”

An ice bucket from “Casablanca”

Rita Hayworth’s famous dress from “Gilda.”

Click on the photo to read Part 1 of my trip to my first TCMFF!

Click on the photo to read Part 2 of my trip to my first TCMFF!

My First TCM Film Festival– Part 2

When we left off in Part 1, Jimmy and I had just finished watching Rio Bravo (1959), the opening night film. We also attended the cocktail gala which was awesome. At around midnight, we were back in our room at the Roosevelt, ready to hit the sheets, as we had a 9:00am movie to make the next morning.

April 14, 2023

We woke up at around 6:30-7:00 to get ready and make it downstairs for the Spotlight breakfast which started at 8:00am. The breakfast was fine, nothing spectacular. We had some scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, fruit and a croissant. The sausage turned out to be turkey sausage and it was not very good. Very tasteless. However, the rest of the breakfast was good. We also got a to-go coffee. The best part of the breakfast was that it was free (so to speak, it is a perk of the Spotlight pass). We also saw Alicia Malone who was milling about the breakfast. My only minor complaint is that I wish there were more tables. Both days we attended the breakfast, we had to balance our plates on our laps. There was also a raffle. It was also on this day that I learned about the ribbons that attendees attach to the bottoms of their passes. I found out that I could get them at the Information Desk. And I also learned that you had to get them early in the day, otherwise all the good ones would be gone very quickly.

The ribbons are available early mornings at the TCM Info desk.

We left the breakfast at around 8:30 to head across the street to the multiplex (theater #1) to see our first film of the day, Harvey (1950). Neither Jimmy nor I had ever seen this film. Harvey was introduced by Joe Dante, the director of the 1984 classic, Gremlins. But before Dante’s intro, TCM programmer Scott McGee delivered the customary opening remarks, thanking sponsor Citi. But, that was not all, at this screening was a special guest! Cue the TCM staffers walking into the theater helping the special guest, none other than Harvey himself. All 6’3.5″ of him. This whole scene was pretty funny. The staffers helped Harvey to his reserved front row seat and even took a photo of him. I enjoyed Joe Dante’s intro. He is obviously just as much a film fan as he is an expert.

Jimmy and I loved Harvey. We knew that Harvey was James Stewart’s invisible friend and we knew Harvey was a rabbit. Otherwise, we didn’t know how the film was going to play out. We absolutely loved it. Josephine Hull, who played Stewart’s sister, was absolutely hysterical. She earned that Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Literally right after the film, we added it to our list of movies to purchase, alongside the previous evening’s Rio Bravo, which we’d also never seen.

After Harvey, we headed over to multiplex #6, for Footlight Parade (1933). When this film was announced, I knew it was a must see. I’ve seen this movie before, I’m not sure if Jimmy had. Even though ‘Parade’ conflicted with East of Eden, which I also wanted to see, I absolutely had to see Busby Berkeley’s choreography on the big screen. The screening was packed and it was absolutely fantastic. I loved Bruce Goldstein’s introduction. He also had an excellent closer as well where he had put together a presentation showcasing banned scenes in Footlight Parade. We were treated to a montage of different scenes and a caption stating which country/state/province banned this specific scene. Let’s just say that Quebec should have just banned the film completely. They also had a hilarious complaint about Berkeley’s scene where the dancers stand in three tiers, while revolving. Quebec specifically objected to “revolving women.” If we make it to the TCMFF next year, I would definitely prioritize seeing Bruce Goldstein again. I believe he has a reoccurring gig every year.

3 of the working violins from “Gold Diggers of 1933” were on display in Club TCM

After Footlight Parade, we headed back across the street to Club TCM for our first panel presentation–Looney Tunes at the Oscars. Jimmy had made it clear that in addition to seeing the films, he wanted to make sure to take advantage of seeing some of the special presentations, as these experiences couldn’t be replicated anywhere else. While he wanted to see the films, he wanted to also do/see things he wouldn’t be able to do at home. Jimmy and I both love Looney Tunes, and seeing that this was Warner Brothers’ 100th birthday, how could the Looney Tunes not be featured. This presentation was a lot of fun. Animation historian, Jerry Beck, and Executive VP at the Academy Museum, Randy Haberkamp, were both on-hand to deliver a delightful discussion about Looney Tunes shorts that were nominated for and/or won Oscars. In between segments of the conversation, we were treated to one of the Oscar-nominated or Oscar-winning shorts. Some of the shorts we’d seen before, like the two Bugs Bunny cartoons, the Sylvester & Tweety cartoon, and the Pepe LePew one. However, there was one with two mice called “Mousewreckers” which we’d never even heard of, let alone seen.

After Looney Tunes, we took a slight break in our room and then headed down to the Tropicana pool to line-up for that evening’s poolside film–Beach Party (1963). I knew for my first festival that I wanted to do at all of the special activities (Club TCM, poolside film, midnight movie) at least once. And I wanted to see at least one film in all the venues. I’m happy to say that I achieved all these goals. Next year if we go, I won’t necessarily need to be so strict as I know what everything is about. There were three poolside films at the TCMFF–Hairspray, Beach Party, and A Mighty Wind. Hairspray was automatically out as it was during the opening night film and cocktail party. Plus, it rained that night so it was moved indoors into Club TCM. A Mighty Wind is fine, but there were films in that block that I wanted to see more. Beach Party with Frankie Avalon in attendance was the obvious choice.

Dave Karger and Frankie Avalon at the Beach Party poolside screening.

Jimmy and I were actually first in line at the poolside screening. It is crazy how much you have to defend your spot at the front of the line when people try to just casually stroll up and act oblivious to there being a line when they’re called out. I’d read that to get one of the lounge chairs, you needed to be there early. Jimmy and I had our eye on one of the big, round 2-person chairs on the side of the pool. We scored our big chair and lucked out even further when the staff brought out heaters and placed them around the pool. They placed a heater right next to our chair which was awesome. Then there was wait staff taking drink orders. I got a Cava sparkling wine.

As a side note, during this event, there was a shooting (someone was shot in the head) on Hollywood Blvd. We received messages on our apps that the venues were on lockdown. We eventually were given the all clear. Due to the incident however, there were helicopters flying above the pool during Frankie’s interview and the beginning of the film. It was annoying. However, seeing the severity and scariness of the situation, I cannot be too upset. I was lounging poolside sipping sparkling wine while attending a film festival, meanwhile someone was lying in the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. I can get over it. I would like to give a shoutout to the TCM staffers for keeping the festival goers safe and getting the word out quickly.

Dave Karger introduced Frankie Avalon, one of the stars of Beach Party. Avalon was excellent and he looked great. He talked about how he’d met Annette while she was still on the Mickey Mouse Club and even went out on a date with her, but the relationship never progressed beyond friends. They were friends when both were cast in Beach Party. Frankie talked about how much he loved Annette. The conversation even turned serious for a moment when he talked about Annette receiving her MS diagnosis in 1987 while they were filming their Beach Party reunion film, Back to the Beach. Sadly, she would succumb to the horrible disease in 2013 at the age of 70. This part of the interview was obviously very bittersweet for Frankie, as he obviously cared very much about Annette and was saddened by her suffering and passing.

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel at night during the Beach Party screening.

Thankfully, the conversation shifted into something a little more upbeat when Dave and Frankie began to talk more about the Beach Party films. Frankie said that he didn’t think the dancing aged well. And while I can’t say I disagree with him per se, I will say that the dancing in all the ‘Beach’ movies and Gidget and everything else of that ilk, is my favorite. It’s very much of it’s time, but it’s actual dancing that I could do. Lol. Dave asked Frankie how many pies to the face he took when filming the end of Beach Party, and Frankie said it only took one take to film the scene, so he only took a single pie to the kisser. And with that, the film started.

Jimmy and I were so comfy at the Beach Party screening and were underneath the heat lamp, we didn’t want to leave early to see Clooney.

The Beach Party screening was happening as George Clooney was appearing across the street at Grauman’s to discuss Ocean’s 11. As one can imagine, many people left the Beach Party screening after Frankie’s interview. Jimmy and I wanted to see Clooney, despite not really wanting to only see parts of events. We had tentatively planned to leave Beach Party (we’d seen it before) and see Clooney. However, when the time actually came, we were so comfortable lounging in the big round pool chair, underneath the heat lamp, that we decided to stay for the entire screening. I’m happy we did. Sorry Clooney, maybe we’ll see you next year? I hope you come back to talk about O’Brother, Where Art Thou?.

After Beach Party ended, we briefly thought about going to The Batwoman midnight movie. However, it was 10:00 and there weren’t any other films starting at that time. We didn’t particularly want to wait two hours to go back out to see the midnight movie. Instead, we opted to return to our room and watch TCM instead. When we got back to the room, Gentleman Jim with my man, Errol Flynn, was starting. Perfect! We went to bed after the movie ended, as we had another 9:00am film to see.

April 15, 2023

We woke up early again for the Spotlight breakfast. This time, we wisely skipped the bland turkey sausage. We picked up our new ribbons for that day’s screenings. Jimmy and I both took a Muppets-inspired ribbon that said “The frog is staying!” After breakfast, we walked across the street to Grauman’s, to see the 9:00am screening of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954). The last surviving brother, Russ Tamblyn, was going to be interviewed before the screening. Tamblyn was being honored at the festival and had been interviewed the day prior during the Peyton Place screening, but Jimmy and I were attending the Looney Tunes panel. When I saw the schedule announced, I knew I wanted to see Tamblyn at least once. Given the choice between ‘Brides’ and ‘Peyton,’ I knew it had to be the former. I wanted to see the barn-raising dance on the IMAX screen.

Dave Karger interviews Russ Tamblyn during Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Prior to Russ Tamblyn coming on the stage, we were treated to a video tribute celebrating his entire career. The tribute was very well done. Russ was introduced by Dave Karger. The interview was hilarious. Commenting on the acrobatics he performed in the aforementioned tribute video, Russ said that the only acrobatics he’d done recently was getting out of bed. There was also a hysterical moment during the interview when Russ’ wife coached him from the audience, correcting him on how many grandchildren they had together. Dave and Russ talked about the plot of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and how it could never be done today. Dave also mentioned the movie being shown as part of TCM’s “Reframed” series on problematic films that they presented during the pandemic. Russ then did a funny bit where he pretended to be pitching the plot of the film to a modern producer.

Then, the interview got even funnier when Russ offered his suggestion for a Mormon-remake of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. He called it, Seven Brides for ONE Brother. Lol. Dave seemed like he might have been getting a little nervous, but cleverly segued the conversation into asking Russ about the Pontipee Brothers’ red hair. Russ had a funny story about that as well. He said that all the brothers got their hair dyed red on the same day. After the last red dye job was done, they all hopped into Howard Keel’s convertible to drive somewhere for lunch. Russ said that people’s heads turned as a car full of seven red-headed men cruised down the street. Finally, it was time for the movie to start.

I don’t have any other photos from the ‘Seven Brides’ screening to include, so here’s a photo of Howard Keel singing that earworm, “Bless Your Beautiful Hide.”

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers on the IMAX screen, aka “the largest screen in North America,” was absolutely fantastic. The color was gorgeous. And the barn raising dance was absolutely amazing on the big screen. I could not ask for a better experience. Even a few weeks later, I still cannot get Howard Keel’s voice singing “Bless Your Beautiful Hide” out of my head. Jimmy and I watched Calamity Jane the other day and I desperately wanted Keel to sing “Bless Your Beautiful Hide” to Doris Day. And even though I knew he didn’t, because I’d seen the film before, I wanted him to do it anyway.

After this film, Jimmy and I headed over to the Multiplex to see the Laurel and Hardy presentation. This is the one screening where we planned to leave early. There were three shorts listed in the schedule for Laurel and Hardy. The first short, “Going Bye-Bye!” was the only one we hadn’t seen. Jimmy and I were happy when this was in fact the first short screened. I will say that the introduction for this presentation was extremely lackluster. A TCM staffer could have done the introduction. It would have had about the same effect. But I digress, the “Going Bye-Bye!” short was hysterical. Laurel and Hardy testified at a trial that led to a man being imprisoned. After the sentence is handed out, the man vows revenge on Laurel and Hardy. The two men decide to leave town for their own safety. But not having any money, they decide to share a ride with someone also traveling. They place an ad in the paper, and a woman answers it. When they go over to her house to meet, it turns out that her boyfriend is there. Her boyfriend turns out to be the now escaped prisoner who wants to avenge his incarceration by taking out Laurel and Hardy.

We weren’t allowed to take photos in the Henson panel, so I’m including this picture of Fozzie and Kermit’s dad from The Great Muppet Caper. This picture makes me laugh every time I see it.

After the short ended, Jimmy and I left to attend what was hands down the best thing we saw at the TCMFF–The Evolution of Henson Puppetry panel at Club TCM. Jim Henson’s son, Brian, now the chairman of his father’s company, led the presentation. He started with a demonstration of some simple hand puppets and he and his puppeteer performed a routine that Brian’s parents performed before Jim hit it big with his Muppets. This routine, “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Your Face” was absolutely adorable and hilarious. Making the presentation even better was that Brian had a camera set up to show the audience how the puppets were filmed for television and film audiences. As the title would suggest, Brian presented how the puppets evolved and the technology evolved. In addition to hand puppets, we learned about how they would put gloves inside the puppet arms for puppets, e.g., Swedish Chef, who needed to be able to hold things. There were also animatronic puppets and digital puppets. We were also told how the Henson company achieved different shots, such as the big Muppet bicycle scene in The Great Muppet Caper. Even after hearing Brian’s explanation as to how it was done, I still don’t understand it. Lol. Unfortunately, none of the famous puppets were in attendance, but I imagine that the cost and risk of security wouldn’t be worth it.

My queen, Ann-Margret, wearing these fabulous black boots and being interviewed by Dave Karger.

After the Henson panel, we were back at Grauman’s IMAX, because ANN-MARGRET was going to be there. When Ann-Margret was announced, Jimmy and I knew that nothing else that was scheduled was going to keep us from seeing her in person talk about Bye Bye Birdie (1963). It didn’t matter what was scheduled. We were seeing Ann-Margret. I’m happy to report that we were successful. Once again, Dave Karger conducted the interview. Ann-Margret was absolutely amazing. She said that ‘Birdie’ didn’t feel like 60 years ago, as she has much energy now (at 82) as she did then. Yes! That’s what I like to hear. Ann-Margret has just released a rock n’ roll album, which she laughed and said she didn’t yet have a copy of it. She also talked about some of the cast members, like Maureen Stapleton and Paul Lynde. She also talked very briefly about Elvis in relation to him being the inspiration for Conrad Birdie. She was amazing. In honor of her April 28 birthday, Dave presented her with a birthday cake inspired by her famous legs. Then we all sang “Happy Birthday” to her. It was awesome.

Saying good bye to Ann-Margret and Birdie, we were off to our next film. This is where Jimmy and I had a bit of a compromise. He wanted to see Enter the Dragon introduced by his now BFF, the RZA, later that evening. I would have seen In the Heat of the Night or Unfinished Business. However, I’d already seen Beach Party in lieu of Ocean’s 11 (which he wanted to see, because he wanted to see Clooney), so I figured I’d acquiesce to his movie choice. In the meantime though, we needed a movie to fill the block. I picked Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) because I wanted to see an Eddie Muller introduction and I figured that this ending would be really awesome on the big screen. Remarkably, Jimmy and I were in the minority of having actually seen the film when the ubiquitous “How many of you haven’t seen this film?” question was asked. I’m happy to report that neither the film nor Eddie Muller disappointed.

Ann-Margret blowing the candles out on her cake.

After Sorry Wrong Number, we hopped on the shuttle to go down to the Hollywood Legion to see Enter the Dragon (1973). This ended up being an excellent choice because I’d never seen a Bruce Lee movie and it was the only film we saw at the Legion, so I still achieved my goal of seeing one film in every venue. Jacqueline Stewart conducted the interview with the screenwriter, Michael Allin and the RZA (aka Jimmy’s new BFF). This was an excellent conversation. The RZA is a huge fan of Kung Fu and has done a lot of work scoring kung fu related films and shows (Kill Bill and Afro Samurai), in addition to kung fu influencing his music with the Wu-Tang Clan. We then ended up sitting behind the RZA. I was surprised how much I loved Enter the Dragon. I didn’t think I would, but it was an absolute blast. I’m considering buying the Bruce Lee box set in the upcoming Barnes and Noble Criterion sale. After the film, we lucked out and the shuttle had just arrived when we walked out the door, which is good because we had 45 minutes to get back down to the multiplex for the midnight movie…

XANADU.

Finally at midnight, we were ready for our midnight movie, my favorite roller disco movie–Xanadu (1980). By this point, I was wearing my silver sequin bomber jacket, sparkly shoes, Xanadu shirt, and ribbons in my hair a la Olivia Newton-John. This experience was absolutely fantastic. The entire audience was into it, despite it being midnight. Who doesn’t love the Gene Kelly glitz makeover sequence? It is not surprising that the musical number Gene Kelly directed and choreographed himself was the best number in the film. This was absolutely amazing and I loved seeing it on the big screen. An unexpected side effect of this screening was that Jimmy became interested in learning about Don Bluth after learning that he animated the random sequence in which Kira and Sonny turn into animated fish.

At 2:00am, we were exhausted and walked back to our room across the street and piled into bed. Tomorrow was our last day 😥

My favorite part of Xanadu and my favorite gif from Xanadu. Gene Kelly gets his glitz makeover.

Click here to read Part 1 of my first-time trip to the TCMFF!

Click here to read Part 3 of my first-time trip to the TCMFF!

My First TCM Film Festival–Part 1

On April 17, my husband (Jimmy) and I returned home to rainy Portland, OR after spending 9 fun-filled days in Los Angeles. We had an absolute blast at our first ever TCM Film Festival (TCMFF). We’re hopefully going to be able to go again next year, when the TCMFF will be celebrating its 15th anniversary and TCM will be celebrating its 30th. Jimmy and I are also looking into going on one of the TCM Classic Cruises, as we’ve never been on a cruise before. This year, the cruise is setting sail from San Diego, which would be very convenient versus flying to somewhere like Miami, but we can’t swing the cruise and the TCMFF in the same year–though the cruise is cheaper. This would be an instance where we would do either the TCMFF or the cruise, but not both.

But I digress. Back to the TCMFF.

April 9 & 10, 2023

We flew out of Portland at 6:00am and landed in Los Angeles a little after 8:00am. Originally, we planned on spending a couple days at the beach before moving to Hollywood. However, about a week before our trip, we had a change in plans and ended up ditching the beach and purchasing a 2-day Disneyland package instead. Had this been in the itinerary from the start, we would have flown into Orange County instead of LAX. Anyway, after picking up our rental car, we drove to Anaheim and were scanned into Disneyland by 10:00am.

Because this post is devoted to Jimmy’s and my experience at the TCMFF, I won’t go into detail about the 2 days we spent at Disneyland, only that it was awesome. Though if I were to do Disneyland and the TCMFF in the same trip again, I would do Disney at the end of the trip, because our legs were still burning on the first day of the TCMFF. I suppose it also didn’t help that after Disneyland, we drove to LA and went to the Los Angeles Zoo for the day. For the record, the Los Angeles Zoo is fun, but I think that the Portland Zoo is better. But neither compare to the San Diego Zoo which is on a completely different plane, compared to these two smaller zoos.

April 11, 2023

We stayed in Room 928 where Montgomery Clift lived for three months while filming From Here to Eternity.

We left Anaheim early in the morning and headed to Griffith Park to go to the Los Angeles Zoo. Before the zoo however, we went to In-N-Out on Cahuenga Blvd. This was the busiest In-N-Out in the World’s Smallest Parking Lot that I’ve ever seen. Not wanting to risk getting trapped in the parking lot with 10 spaces, we went through the drive-thru and took our lunch to the zoo parking lot. After the zoo, Jimmy and I checked into our room at the famous Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, which serves as the center of the TCMFF. We were assigned Room #928, which I learned later was the room that Montgomery Clift lived in for three months while he filmed From Here to Eternity. Supposedly, Clift’s ghost haunts the ninth floor and people have reported hearing faint sounds of the bugle. Jimmy and I didn’t hear any commotion or bugle, but we were hitting the sheets pretty hard every night. It was really fun to find out though that we were in one of the famous, haunted rooms. I didn’t even request it.

The Blossom Room at the hotel is also the site of the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. During the TCMFF, this room serves as the location for the Club TCM panels, as well as the spotlight breakfast. We also attended the opening and closing night parties here. The parties spilled over into the lounge across the walkway. I understand however, that this isn’t the norm and that these parties are typically held poolside, next to the Roosevelt’s famous Tropicana pool. This definitely would have been better as the area is more spacious, however, it was uncharacteristically chilly in Los Angeles during this time and would have definitely been cold at night. As someone from Oregon, the weather was par for the course for us, though we obviously would have preferred the sunshine. Fortunately it was sunny and warm at Disneyland and at the zoo.

After checking into our room at the Roosevelt, we headed over to Koreatown to Guelaguetza Oaxacan Mexican Restaurant. IT WAS SO GOOD. Jimmy wanted to get some molé and figured Los Angeles would have a good Oaxacan restaurant. I found this restaurant which had amazing reviews. Their website is ilovemole.com. This restaurant was freaking awesome and I highly recommend it. You can also order their molé to be shipped to your home, which I can definitely see us doing in the future.

April 12, 2023

We woke up incredibly early at 5:00am to be at the Los Angeles Breakfast Club where Eddie Muller was appearing as a speaker. I’d read that he would be signing copies of two of his books, the reprint of Dark City, and The Art of Noir. I already have a signed copy of the Dark City reprint (signed by Eddie Muller, courtesy of Larry Edmunds online). I purchased a copy of The Art of Noir ahead of time with the hopes of getting it signed, as well as save myself some time.

Eddie Muller signed my copy of The Art of Noir.

The Los Angeles Breakfast Club was an experience to say the least. Let’s just say that if Jimmy and I go to LA next year, and nobody TCM-related is appearing, we will not be returning. The breakfast was fine. Nothing special, though honestly, I wasn’t expecting anything spectacular. Anyway, the first hour of the two hour event was absolutely excruciating. It was way too early in the morning for the amount of obnoxious nonsense that we endured. There were songs, staged heckling, calisthenics, breakfast board business, bad jokes, corny banter, everything but Eddie Muller. The only part of this absurd ritual that Jimmy and I enjoyed was when we got to shake hands with the guests and the board, thus getting to shake hands with Eddie Muller. As one can imagine, we were indifferent to shaking hands with the board members.

All of the ridiculous traditions of The Los Angeles Breakfast Club are rooted in tradition, a tradition that started in the 1920s. I do have to hand it to the board members of this club, they are committed. I wouldn’t have it in me to carry on like this, ESPECIALLY at 7:00am. Suffice it to say, it was a lot to endure. However, at around 8:00am, Eddie Muller finally took the podium. He delivered a great talk about film noir. He defined film noir, talked about the formation of his Film Noir Foundation, how he got involved with TCM, and gave some humorous anecdotes about people he’s met along the way, including the beloved late TCM host, Robert Osborne. Eddie was definitely the best part of the presentation and it was worth putting up with everything we did to get to that point. Jimmy thinks that all the hijinks at the club were a spoof of an Elks Lodge, or something like that. Having never been the member of a lodge, I will take his word for it.

After the Los Angeles Breakfast Club mercifully ended, we had a one hour window between the end of the breakfast and the beginning of our Classics tour at Warner Brothers. Thankfully, they set up the book signing table near where we were sitting at the breakfast, so I was able to get into the signing line very quickly. After listening to the person in front of me bare her soul to Eddie about film noir for what I swear was 10 minutes (though was probably only like 5 minutes), I got my book signed. We headed over to Burbank and quickly found the studio tour and were inside. On the tour, Jimmy and I got to sit at the front of the cart with the tour guide, which was awesome. We saw all kinds of locations, such as the ACME Bookshop and A.A. Geiger’s Rare Books from The Big Sleep, as well as filming locations from East of Eden, Cool Hand Luke, The Music Man, Casablanca, The House of Wax, History of the Wax Museum, Rebel Without a Cause, Bonnie and Clyde, and Now, Voyager. Backlots are always so interesting, because without the set dressing, they look rundown and kind of cheesy. It’s amazing how these sets seem so realistic with the right lighting, camera angles, and set decoration.

My Day #4 pass. I changed up the buttons everyday and added new ribbons when good ones were released.

After the tour, we went to the famous Pink’s hotdogs in West Hollywood. I had a philly cheese steak dog and it was really good. We then headed back to the Roosevelt to pick up our TCMFF passes. Jimmy and I opted for the Spotlight passes, because we wanted to get the full experience. For those who are unaware, there are four pass levels at the TCMFF. The Spotlight pass gets you into every experience, gives you a swag bag, as well as entry into the opening night film and opening night cocktail gala. I will say that the swag bag wasn’t that exciting as it was mostly just one of everything from the gift shop. And since Jimmy and I were both spotlight pass holders, we got two of everything. However, the opening night film experience and the opening night cocktail gala were awesome. The cocktail gala was so much fun. We also enjoyed not having to wait in line at the venues. Spotlight passholders in the lines were issued queue numbers, but were seated prior to the other pass levels. The queue numbers in this line I imagine were more for headcount, versus determining who will or who won’t get in.

After picking up our passes, we headed down to the Hollywood Heritage Museum to attend the Facebook Going to the TCMFF group pre-party. The party was fun, though it only being our first year, we didn’t really know anybody. However, we were able to go inside the museum and look at the exhibits, including a replica of Cecil B. DeMille’s 1924 office, which was interesting. There was also a Creature From the Black Lagoon head as well as correspondence from Robert Osborne’s personal collection. I also purchased Lara Gabrielle’s Captain of Her Soul: The Life of Marion Davies as well as Kimberly Truhler’s Film Noir Style: The Killer 1940s. I got both books signed by their respective authors as both were in attendance signing their books. I also got a signed bookplate from Darrell Rooney, co-author of Harlow in Hollywood. He was also in attendance signing his book. I already owned that book and unfortunately didn’t bring it with me, as I didn’t know he’d be there signing copies. I have since placed the signed bookplate in my copy of the book. In the gift shop, I found an I Love Lucy commemorative plate that is part of the same collection as my other ‘Lucy’ plate. For $10, I couldn’t pass up the plate. After hiding in the back of the group during the big group photo (I hate pictures of me), Jimmy and I left to get to our 7:30 dinner reservation at Musso & Frank’s.

Musso & Frank’s is a Hollywood institution, having opened in 1919 and being well-trodden ground for Hollywood’s Elite. Charlie Chaplin in fact had his own booth built at the restaurant. You can request the Charlie Chaplin booth. Unfortunately for Jimmy and I, the booth is a 5-top and he and I are obviously only a 2-top. Since I will assume that Musso & Frank’s is always busy, they can’t seat us at table meant for a larger party. I tried to get seated in the booth when we visited the restaurant for the first time at the end of October 2021. The remarkable thing about Musso & Frank’s is that they haven’t changed their menu since 1919. Jimmy got a steak that he said was delicious and I got the best pork chop I’ve ever had in my life. It was so good. And thanks to the Oregon Bottle Drop program, I was able to pay for our Musso & Frank’s dinner with my bottle return money.

April 13, 2023

Thursday was the official start of the TCMFF; but it didn’t start until 5:00pm. We started the day out at the Formosa Cafe, which I wanted to try. The Formosa Cafe was delicious. I loved the food and the decor. We then went to Amoeba Music, an awesome store that I love. They have an amazing record selection (obviously), but more importantly, they have an amazing classic film DVD/Blu Ray section!! I could have gotten so much stuff, but settled on something like 8 different titles. We headed back to the Roosevelt and hung out until it was time to start getting ready for opening night. Jimmy took a nap. We got ready for opening night and headed downstairs. We went to the opening night party in Club TCM and then headed across the street to walk the red carpet.

Here is a picture of my shoes from opening night. I hated the picture of me that was taken, so I’m not posting it. I liked this photo.

I wish that the red carpet event had been organized a little differently, but it might always be like this and I didn’t know. The red carpet experience didn’t allow us to walk the carpet with the hosts and the celebrity guests. Not sure if that is how the red carpet is normally done, or whether we did something wrong. Suffice it to say, the red carpet was fine, though it wasn’t what I expected.

The opening night film was Rio Bravo, which neither Jimmy nor I had seen. We were seeing the opening night film no matter what it was, so I didn’t consider any of the other options. If we didn’t have the Spotlight or Essential passes (which get you into the opening night film), I would have gone to see One Way Passage and The Wild One. But we got into the opening night film, which special guests Steven Spielberg, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Angie Dickinson. This was also our first time inside the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. It is now the TCL Chinese IMAX, but for all intents and purposes, it’s Grauman’s.

Grauman’s Chinese Theatre is absolutely gorgeous on the inside and is everything you would expect it to be. The ceiling is absolutely amazing as is the women’s bathroom. The Grauman’s Chinese Theatre women’s bathroom is hands down the fanciest bathroom I’ve ever seen. There’s an entire circular room lined with floor-length mirrors that you walk through before you even get to the bathroom.

Directors Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson came out to talk about the 4k restoration of Rio Bravo, which was completed by Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation. Scorsese founded the Film Foundation over 30 years ago, and many directors, including Spielberg and Anderson are board members. Spielberg explained that the board has restored almost 1,000 films since its inception. Then it was time for Ben Mankiewicz to introduce and interview Angie Dickinson, the only surviving star from Rio Bravo. Angie’s interview was very funny, albeit a little scattered. I’m not sure if that was due to her age (91), nerves, a little of both, or maybe that’s just how she normally is. I have no idea, I’ve never seen an interview with her before. But the interview was funny. She and Ben talked about their mutual love of See’s Candies. There was another part where Angie was telling a story about John Wayne and briefly seemed to forget his name. Her memories of making the film and little anecdotes were funny and definitely added to the overall experience.

Angie Dickinson and Ben Mankiewicz. Pardon the quality of the photo. We were a ways back, so I took a photo of the screen.

Jimmy and I absolutely loved Rio Bravo. We weren’t sure we were going to enjoy it, as neither of us are big fans of Westerns or John Wayne, but we absolutely loved this movie. I’m attributing it to the strength of Dean Martin’s absolutely fantastic performance. He deserved an Oscar nomination for this film. Walter Brennan was hilarious as Wayne’s deputy. Angie was gorgeous and a nice change of pace from female characters I usually see in Westerns. And Ricky Nelson was gorgeous and I enjoyed seeing him in this film. I also hoped for a Dean Martin/Ricky Nelson duet and I’m happy to report that Howard Hawks did not disappoint. Jimmy and I loved this movie so much, we made a note to purchase it and add it to our film collection.

After the film, we walked outside and it was raining. Instead of cowering under an umbrella, we just started walking and boarded an awaiting shuttle. We were brought to the Mother Wolf restaurant on Wilcox Ave. This restaurant was awesome. TCM had obviously rented out the entire venue, there were two main party areas. One area had a bar and a DJ and the other area was another bar, with tables and chairs. The tables and chairs side was the place to be as all the TCM hosts were there, though we never saw Alicia Malone. That’s not to say she wasn’t there, however. Jimmy and I stood next to the kitchen where all the fresh hors d’oeuvres were coming out. We had tray after tray of hors d’oeuvres being offered to us and every single one was delicious. At one point, we found ourselves standing next to The RZA’s table. Later in the evening, Jimmy would get his picture taken with The RZA. We left the party about a quarter to midnight when it seemed to be winding down. Back at our hotel, we went to bed, as we had a 9am movie to make it to the next morning.

Click here to read Part 2 of my trip to my first TCMFF!

Click here to read Part 3 of my trip to my first TCMFF!