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Now on DVD and Blu-ray-Promised Land -
Reacher Coming to DVD and Blu-ray -
Coming to Blu-ray and DVD-Django Unchain ... -
John Ford's Favorite Film -
Coming to Blu-ray and DVD-The Impossible
Now on DVD and Blu-ray-Hyde Park on Huds ...
MAKING FILM SCHOLARSHIP FUN
Now on DVD/Blu-ray—This Is 40
Playing Nationwide: On the Road
Celeste and Jesse Forever on DVD and Blu ...
Photographic Memory—Now on DVD and Blu-R ...
HOORAY FOR 1933—EIGHTY YEARS LATERFeasting On The TCM Fest
There was a full complement of TV crews and photographers lining the carpet to see a wide range of stars, from Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey, who starred in the opening-night attraction, Cabaret, to a bevy of familiar faces from movies and television. I was getting my picture taken when, all of a sudden, there was a commotion: it was 91-year-old Mickey Rooney, charging (that’s the only word to describe it) onto the carpet, smiling and waving. He grabbed my hand and gave me a hearty hello; that doesn’t happen just anywhere. (On my other side was the always charming Margaret O’Brien.)
The festival spotlighted an unusual number of nonagenerians, all of them inspiring. I interviewed 93-year-old silent-film star Diana Serra Cary following a screening of Vera Iwerebor’s moving documentary Baby Peggy: The Elephant in the Room. I’m delighted that Milestone Film and Video is releasing this poignant film, which traces Diana’s unusual life journey, and her ultimate coming to terms with the child star she tried to disown decades ago. Today she is a model of grace and serenity, and extremely articulate about the price a child actor pays for fame.
I was sorry not to be able to stay for the next day’s screening of a newly-restored 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at Grauman’s, but I did get to say hello to its star, Kirk Douglas, who’s still going strong at 95. He told me he is about to have his third Bar Mitzvah, which will land him in the Guinness Book of World Records. He also has a new book on its way called I Am Spartacus which includes still photos from the first phase of production, under Anthony Mann’s direction; apparently Universal “shelved” those rolls of film and never had them developed until now. (TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz had the privilege of interviewing Kirk that afternoon, and pointed out that his great uncle Joe made one of the actor’s first great films, A Letter to Three Wives.)
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5 Comments
Dustin | April 28, 2012 1:04 AM
I was fortunate enough to be at Snow White and Casablanca, both showcased in digital and both breath taking. Where else to see those films other than the Chinese Theater, right? I was disappointed however to miss out on Dracula. Several pass holders made the film a priority. I was also rather disappointed in the fact that Zorro's Fighting Legion did not precede any of the films aforementioned.
Funny side note: Ginnifer and her pixy cut were at the Sunday morning Rosemary's Baby screening. Brett Ratner was also in attendance.
Quieny | April 22, 2012 9:14 PM
I agree with you Thornhill, I get the Latin TCM in Mexico, and it has more TV shows than movies. Major disappointment!
Thornhill | April 19, 2012 11:44 PM
Everything about TCM in the U.S. makes people outside the United States so very very jealous.
Why does TCM in the rest of the world have no respect for its viewers or its brand-name?
TCM in Australia has no policy of screening movies in their proper ratio... they are never introduced (Robert Osborne... who he?)
A case in point to highlight the differences: I was complaining to a friend in the U.S. that a film I had always wanted to see was âRaintree Countyâ. It has never been released on DVD in Australia, and the only way to see it was the shoddy print on TCM. He sent me a copy recorded from TCM-U.S. Wow! What a revelation! Not only is it WideScreen, it even has the overture, intermission card and the entrâacte and runs 186 minutes. And whereâs the TCM logo? It appears very briefly every hour! In Australia, the TCM logo appears in the top right hand corner of every frame of every film, every frame of every short, it is a permanent fixture! The version of âRaintree Countyâ screening here runs approximately 160 minutes, has no overture or entrâacte and is a pale panânâscan print. Why? My question to TCM executives would be: why does that glorious complete print screen in the U.S., but the rest of the world has a vastly inferior product?
A look at the TCM-U.S. web-site is like looking into a treasure chest. You are actually told which films are to be screened in WideScreen (and that appears to be ALL âScope films!!!).
Not only that, the short films are listed by title and screening time! Now look at the TCM-Asia web-site⦠a list of film titles with the briefest synopsis. Thatâs it. We are not told which films are to be in W/S (well, thatâs easy: we presume they wonât be!). We have no way of knowing which short films will be screened or when (thatâs easy too: we know it will be the nth re-run of a Robert Benchley or a Pete Smith⦠thatâs the choice). We do know that EVERY film will be preceded by that annoying âThis Week⦠in Hollywood Historyâ, and with that logo on every frame, as if they had something to be proud of
Ken Blose | April 19, 2012 4:41 PM
The highlight for me...meeting you! I hope to go for the whole weekend next year, just did one day and I loved it!
Norm | April 18, 2012 3:39 PM
Great Event ! One for the Ages...Maltin is Everywhere...