Lzcutter wrote:[Robert Osborn] brings up the whole Fontaine at the Festival issue and tells the audience, "She made it very clear she has no interest in doing public things and no interest in coming to Hollywood."
May I fan some flames of rumor? At this screening I sat next to a fellow who seemed to either work for TCM or at the least have inside information from the TCM source. We were waiting for the proceedings to begin when I said to him, "Wouldn't it be a wonderful surprise if Joan Fontaine appeared?". He replied, "That's not going to happen this year. She said she has no interest in appearing, though she'll probably have something in store for next year." Intrigued, I asked, "Are you hinting that there might be a surprise sibling reunion next year?". "No, however that's my fantasy. That they'll invite both of them without telling the other and have a tearful reunion before us all. No, that probably won't happen and I can't divulge what they're [TCM] working on."
I stay awake at night wondering what they're planning for next year with Joan Fontaine...
Last edited by Moraldo Rubini on May 7th, 2011, 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thanks for sharing your feelings towards the film Lynn and all the background info Re. its screening.
And Marco! A De Havilland-Fontaine reunion! It'd be a dream come true. Two sisters, classy ladies, good actresses, living legends....too good to be true...
I hope that rumor mill is true, Moraldo, but before we get our hopes up, we might want to review this frosty conversation Joan Fontaine had with a Canadian journalist in 1979--though perhaps they have mellowed since then? (Don't miss the 1970s' specs on the interviewer!)
[youtube][/youtube]
How sad...she doesn't sound like a truly happy person back in 1979...I can see she has a very strong personality. It'd be interesting if somebody could interview her nowadays; maybe her views have softened.
"Imagine being in a theater in 1933 and seeing this in color and the rest of the bill is in black and white!" Leonard Maltin
I meet up with Jon and we get in line for Silly Symphonies. We meet JB Kaufman, Kyle and TCM's own MorlockJeff. We all end up sitting together. Walt's grandson, Walter E.D. Miller is also there.
A young man comes up to me and asks, "Are you Lynn?" I look around and Jon is shrugging his shoulders. The young man says, "From the Museum?" I tell him I am, indeed, Lynn and he tells me he was a a volunteer at the Museum last summer. He is wearing a TCM volunteer t-shirt. We chat a bit and I tell him I will pass it along to our volunteer coordinator. Jon leans over and says, "when did you get so famous!"
Leonard Maltin takes the stage and acknowledges the hard working TCM staff.
He has put together a program of Silly Symphonies that span both the black and white and technicolor eras. He talks about how Walt was the only studio head really willing to take a chance on Technicolor and how Walt negotiated an exclusive deal to be the only animation studio using the eye-popping technology for three years.
"I didn't want to just show the obvious ones. I'll show a couple of musts and some of the lesser known ones."
He encouraged everyone in the audience to visit the Walt Disney Family Museum (yay!!!!) and introduced Walter. A round of applause erupted.
The first set was all black and white, The Skeleton Dance that started the whole series, Hell's Bells which included an appearance by Satan, Cerebus and the Grim Reaper, The Merry Dwarfs an early proto-type of some of the dwarfs we would see in Snow White and Midnight in the Toy Shop where the toys come to live in the wee hours of the morning.
"Imagine being in a theater in 1933 and seeing this in color and the rest of the bill is in black and white!"
The next set was in glorious Technicolor including The Night Before Christmas with Santa out on his big night, The Pied Piper with its great refrain, "Rats, Rats, Rats", Musicland with the love affair between a young saxophone lad and his beauty of a girlfriend, a young cello, They Flying Mouse, the story of a young mouse (who looks nothing like Mickey) who dreams of flying (and the lesson of being careful what you wish for), Who Killed Cock Robin with a delightful take-off on Mae West and a few others and finally, Mother Goose Goes to Hollywood, with it's wonderful homages to the cream of the crop of Hollywood stars including Kate Hepburn, the Marx Brothers and more.
A wonderful set of shorts that the audience loved.
After the screening, Kyle and MorlockJeff were on their way to the Music Box for Robert O's interview with Peter O'Toole. Jon, JB and I grabbed a quick lunch with some friends and then Jon and I hurried to the Chinese forecourt to get in line for one of the must-sees of the Festival for me, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Lynn in Lake Balboa
"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."
"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese
Wow, she's not a warm and fluffy person is she? I wonder if she ever felt loved by anyone? She's very forthright though and not shy of trying to point score and wash some of the personal family laundry in public. Thanks for posting the link Moira.
I'd loved to have seen The Constant Nymph on the big screen, of all the films being shown this is the one I'd most want to see. I think Joan Fontaine is fantastic in this role and Charles Boyer lovely as always but I do think he's too nice, he's just unaware of her total love of him and his for her rather than selfish. I'd love to read the novel.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
Lzcutter wrote:A young man comes up to me and asks, "Are you Lynn?" I look around and Jon is shrugging his shoulders. The young man says, "From the Museum?" I tell him I am, indeed, Lynn and he tells me he was a a volunteer at the Museum last summer. He is wearing a TCM volunteer t-shirt. We chat a bit and I tell him I will pass it along to our volunteer coordinator. Jon leans over and says, "when did you get so famous!"
Hey Lynn –
At the Silly Symphonies screening, after saying hello to you and Kyle, I went off back to the nosebleed section of the theatre (I can’t tolerate sitting up close) and ended up a row behind a solo gent and a woman and her son. As with most screenings, folks ended up talking to each other, and the solo gent turned out to be YancyCravet from the TCM board. We all started to talk about early animation, and I said I was from No Cal and how the Walt Disney Family Museum is a must see, and the woman asked me if I worked there. I said no, but I knew someone who did, and pointed you out with your group, said your name was Lynn, and the woman prodded her son into going down to introduce himself. I couldn’t hear what they discussed when he retuned to his seat; it sounded to me like they were possibly distant Disney relatives.
Lzcutter wrote:"Imagine being in a theater in 1933 and seeing this in color and the rest of the bill is in black and white!" Leonard Maltin
A young man comes up to me and asks, "Are you Lynn?" I look around and Jon is shrugging his shoulders. The young man says, "From the Museum?" I tell him I am, indeed, Lynn and he tells me he was a a volunteer at the Museum last summer. He is wearing a TCM volunteer t-shirt. We chat a bit and I tell him I will pass it along to our volunteer coordinator. Jon leans over and says, "when did you get so famous!"
Well, Lynn, you ARE famous around here and over on TCM too. Could you please describe how the people in attendance reacted to seeing the Silly Symphonies? Did they laugh and applaud? Were they able to ask any questions of Leonard Maltin or anyone else? Thanks in advance for any info you might be able to share.
feaito wrote:How sad...she doesn't sound like a truly happy person back in 1979...I can see she has a very strong personality. It'd be interesting if somebody could interview her nowadays; maybe her views have softened.
charliechaplinfan wrote:Wow, she's not a warm and fluffy person is she? I wonder if she ever felt loved by anyone? She's very forthright though and not shy of trying to point score and wash some of the personal family laundry in public.
Yeah, that was what occurred to me too. I would think that after all the time that has passed that you might let go of some of the resentment that she felt. I hope that Olivia has too, but who knows?
Here is one of the few times Joan has spoken out in public in recent years, though it is a terse and fairly impersonal Q & A printed in Vanity Fair in 2008. She and Olivia probably have learned that it is better not to discuss private matters in public--since it really isn't any of our business in the end--even if we like both the actresses' work.
"I've never known another film that had this heart and soul." Mary Badham.
I've written pages and pages it seems on Mockingbird but seeing it on the big screen, sheer joy.
I realized before the discussion began that I had no kleenex. Jon, being the wonderful guy he is, solved the problem. He went and got some paper towels.
Despite the plea (heard at the beginning of every film and panel) to turn off cell phones, a few phones rang during the discussion Cari Beauchamp had with the family of Gregory Peck. Widow Veronique and children, Tony and Cecilia were there. The day before at the Academy they had unveiled the new postage stamp that bears Peck's image. They chose three images of Peck as Atticus for the stamp which will be issued in black and white. They told how 1200 people packed the Academy including Sharon Stone, Morgan Freeman and members of the National Guard.
They also said that Peck's Oscar acceptance speech is on Youtube (and likely viewable on the Academy's Oscar Legacy site as well).
Tony Peck said, "We had the freedom to explore our world. A lot of kids wanted Atticus Finch for a father. We had him."
They quoted Harper Lee, who is a good friend of the family, "To Kill a Mockingbird gave Gregory Peck the chance to play himself."
The documentary his daughter, Cecilia, made, Conversations with my Father, came about after she saw his one-man show in Buffalo. She and documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple thought the show would make a great documentary and they called TCM to see if they would like to partner on the endeavor.
"It was his second favorite film after Mockingbird." according to Cecilia.
Veronique recalled that "Alan Pakula and Robert Mulligan called to say they had the most wonderful book and they were sending over two copies. We read it and in the morning, Greg called them to say he would do it."
"We visited Harper Lee before filming started."
If you buy the Peck stamp at the post office, part of the money will go to the Los Angeles Central Library's Reading Series which was started by Greg and Veronique years ago.
It was time for the movie. When I told Kyle and MorlockJeff that we were going to Mockingbird, he joked that I would start crying at the first strains of music.
He was right. I was crying from the beginning.
Barco, a digital projection company, provided a 4K digital projector for the Festival films in Grauman's and the film looked great.
A couple of things I noticed this time around: the dissolves in this film are beautiful. The incoming dissolve often has the action placed in the dark part of the outgoing dissolve so that the incoming scene catches your eye.
As much as this is a coming of age story for Miss Jean Louise, it's also one (and perhaps more so) for her brother, Jem. He painfully comes to realize even more than Scout that the world is not fair and that his father can do much more than those fathers who "play football for the Methodists."
Phillip Alford's performance as Jem is every bit as heartbreaking as Mary Badham's but it is a much quieter role and performance.
By the time we got to the moment in court when the Reverend says, "Miss Jean Louise, Miss Jean Louise, stand up your father's passing." I am not the only one crying.
As we get towards the end when Scout is trying to tell Atticus and Heck Tate what happened in the words and sees Boo standing behind the door, by the time Atticus says, "Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley. I believe he already knows you." I am crying and sniffling.
But wait, someone else is sniffling. And, he's sitting right next me!
In a moment straight out of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, I passed one of the paper towels to Jon.
By the end of the film, I was able to stop crying.
Cari Beauchamp came out and introduced Mary Badham and we gave her a standing ovation.
Badham was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress nod that year but "lost to an older woman, Patty Duke for The Miracle Worker". Beauchchamp told us.
"And didn't she deserve it." Mary Badham said though the audience is not yet ready to concede that point.
"I've never known another film that this heart and soul." she told us. "My relationship with Gregory Peck was real. Folks, he became like a father to me."
She grew up in Birmingham. Her mother was an actress in the local theater scene there. The theater manager called her to bring Mary down because they were doing auditions for the role of Scout.
They still had to convince her father to let her do the role. Her mother said, "Now, Henry, dear, what are the chances she'll get the part?" And, of course, she did. Her mother told her older John, "Guess what, dear, baby sister's going to be in the movies."
After she was nominated for an Oscar, she says "I don't think he's ever forgiven me for that!" with a laugh.
She and her mother stayed in an apartment across the street from Universal but spent time at the Peck family home.
She wanted to be an equine vet and stopped making movies because of the permissive times and subject matter of film in the mid to late 1960s.
Of Mockingbird she said, "Mockingbird has taken over my life these days. The book and film have become so powerful in our society. So many of life's lessons that we haven't learned yet."
Much too soon, the discussion was over and it was time for us to get in line for Spartacus and Kirk Douglas.
Lynn in Lake Balboa
"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."
"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese
Well, Lynn, you ARE famous around here and over on TCM too. Could you please describe how the people in attendance reacted to seeing the Silly Symphonies? Did they laugh and applaud? Were they able to ask any questions of Leonard Maltin or anyone else? Thanks in advance for any info you might be able to share.
Moira,
That's probably more infamous than famous!
The audience loved the Silly Symphonies, especially the Technicolor ones. Lots of laughter for both the black and white era and the color era. It wasn't a large crowd, the theater certainly didn't seem full but those who were there got the rare treat of seeing Technicolor film prints from the Disney studio vaults and that was certainly worth it!
There was no question and answers for this session probably because we were on a schedule.
Jezzy,
Thanks so much for advocating the Museum. Jon and I were in line with Yancy at The Cameraman and he joined Kyle, Kingrat and us for drinks at Club TCM.
As for Olivia and Joan and the TCM Film Festival, since Robert O and Olivia are really good friends, I would expect to see Olivia at the Festival before Joan. But that's just my opinion. Robert O certainly made it sound like Joan wasn't interested in coming. And, if memory serves, she only lives an hour away in Carmel.
And having a family dynamic much like the sisters, I can certainly understand their desire not to kiss and make up or appear together (it probably goes deeper than sibling rivalry). Much like Atticus Finch suggested that you can never know someone until you've walked in their shoes, I understand the circumstances.
Lynn in Lake Balboa
"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."
"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese
"You're my freakin' hero." a festival goer (not me) yelling his appreciation during the standing ovation for Robert O.
We came out Grauman's from Mockingbird only to discover a very long line wrapping around the forecourt for Spartacus. No time to grab anything to eat. Just find the young volunteers with queue card numbers and get in line. We were number 212 and 213. Filmlover found us but he had a much lower number and was off to find his place in line.
The volunteers at the Chinese both for Grauman's and for the multiplex did a terrific job all weekend long. They were easy to find, they had correct information and if they didn't know something, they knew who to ask to find out. Kudos to all of them!
Like everyone else, we talked to the people in line with us. According to facts I heard over the weekend, there were passholders from 49 states (only state not repped was West Virginia) and five countries. Most everyone around us is from the mid-west where they have few opportunities to see classic films on the big screen. They all are thrilled to be attending. We felt kind of sheepish being from the City of Angels with its abundance of screenings any given month.
We were not standing in line for long as they started letting us in early. We were taking part in the MoraldoRubini diet of popcorn and water for dinner.
We found good seats in the middle of the theater and on the aisle so I could stretch my leg out. A year ago at the Festival I was still recovering from knee surgery. This year, I was getting around much better (and outwalking Jon, Kyle, Kingrat and others) but standing for the lengths of time required for this festival and my leg was basically telling my brain, "I hate you." My brain was not listening. Yet.
Once the program started, Festival Director Gen McGillicuddy, thanked us all for coming not only to the Festival but to the screening as well. She told us we are in for a real treat. She went through the spiel of asking people to turn off their cell phones (which turned into a futile exercise because there was always at least one cell phone that went off during a discussion or during the film. I don't understand why. Is it really that damn hard for people to check their freakin' phones? Especially when at the top of every screening and panel, someone from TCM reminds them to do so? Next year, I think we may have to have an etiquette thread. Which is really kind of sad when you think about it.)
Gen then brought out Robert O and the crowd went wild! People jumped to their feet. A young man in front of us screamed out, "You're my freakin' hero!!!"
Robert O was gracious as always and got us back in our seats. There was a ramp on the stage and we thought perhaps Kirk Douglas would enter in a wheel chair. Nope. Robert O announced him and he made his way, walking, up to the stage. The crowd went wild again with an extended ovation. He seemed genuinely touched.
"In 1962, I had my footprints placed out front. Were you alive then?" he jokingly asked Robert O. "Two years ago I had a stroke and that made me think of how much we take for granted. I couldn't talk. They said you can't do a one-man show. I'm stubborn and did the show."
"For a guy who can't talk, I'm sayin' a lot!" Wild whoo-hoos from the audience (including me).
Robert O asked about his career and he started talking about Cuckoo's Nest and how he bought the rights to the play and really wanted to play McMurphy but he couldn't find financing. He then talked how his son, Michael, approached him in the early 1970s and asked if he could make the film. Douglas thought he might get his chance to play McMurphy "but the studios told Michael I was too old. What could he do? That experience gave me a little humility."
Each time Robert O would ask a question, Kirk would answer but always with a tangent, entertaining story. At the end, he would turn to Robert O and say, "I think I answered the question.' which brought knowing laughter from the audience.
His favorite film, of the "90 films I made, is Lonely are the Brave.
"Spartacus is most important."
When he read the script for Paths of Glory, he thought, "The movie won't make a nickel but we have to make it."
Regarding Spartacus, "the studio wanted Anthony Mann but he was wrong for the film. After three weeks, the studio said we have to fire him. I'm like Donald Trump! (lots of laughter). Luckily, Brando fired Kubrick from One-Eyed Jacks so he was available so he came over to Spartacus."
"It almost makes me cry what Dalton Trumbo went through." He then talked at length about hiring Trumbo and being adamant that Trumbo get screen credit.
"The sky didn't fall and the blacklist was broken."
He got a standing ovation as he made his exit from the stage so the film could begin.
It was another digital projection and again, looked great.
Mid-way through the first half, a number of people sitting in the middle of rows, got up and left during the film. Grrr. We weren't the only ones wishing they had sat on the aisles so that we wouldn't be disturbed by their leaving. Maybe next year.
We stayed through to the Intermission and then decided that since we knew how the movie ended, after almost twelve hours of movies, it was time to get up.
We returned to Club TCM for a drink and then called it a night.
I was asleep almost before my head hit the pillow.
Lynn in Lake Balboa
"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."
"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese
Up and out the door (after a relaxing shower) to go over to Grauman's forecourt where Peter O'Toole would place his hands and feet in cement. The place was very crowded already and the line snaked down Orange Drive and behind the building. Gads.
But, I got in and found a spot behind the barrier near the stage so I would see the whole event in profile. No problem. At least I was close enough and got to see it. The security team was telling people that they had to go across the street. They would have a bird's eye view.
Robert O was there as was O'Toole, his daughter, Kate and son, Lorcan. His daughter was wearing a sun dress and you could see her skin turn red under the warm spring sun. O'Toole was wearing a floppy hat. Anjelica Huston (in a short skirt and boots), Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss (who no longer seems so tall), Barbara Hershey and Richard Rush (director of The Stunt Man) were all in attendance as were TCM's own Scott McGee and Pola Changnon.
The theme to Lawrence of Arabia was playing on the forecourt speakers.
Again, Genevieve McGillicuddy welcomed the crowd and introduced Robert O. Robert O talked briefly how this honor is long overdue and introduced O'Toole as "Peter the Great. “He’s never failed to excite us, entertain us, enthrall us, and also surprise us with what he does….”
O'Toole was very gracious, thanking us all for being there, introducing his family and telling us this was not his first affair with concrete. Seems when he was a young lad he worked for a cement company.
"It's many years since I had an intimate relationship with cement, and that relationship turned out to be not a happy one."
"I was at the end of my first year as a drama student and I was broke and everybody who had a suit managed to get jobs in shops as shop assistants. But I didn't have a suit, so I got a job with a load of Irish cement mixers."
He talked about how he was made to suffer carrying heavy bags of cement before finishing: "So I hope today when I plunge myself into the cement that the outcome is a little more cheerful!"
They have mixed a little of the desert sand and a hint of gold into the cement for O'Toole's ceremony. Robert O explained, "I also have to say this is the first time that the concrete is actually made to mimic the desert sands of Arabia, and it’s also going to reflect the gold dust.”
He was very accommodating to the throng of photographers and festival goers who were all trying to get pictures of the event.
By the end of the ceremony, the audience was humming out loud the theme to Larry of Arabia along with music on the speakers.
In less than 45 minutes, it was all over and time to head over to Club TCM (to get in line) for another must-see (for me), A Conversation with Kevin Brownlow.
Lynn in Lake Balboa
"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."
"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese
These accounts are great, but I swear my feet hurt just reading about all the running around to these once-in-a-lifetime events. Did you and Mr. Cutter stay at home or in a hotel room? I only ask 'cause it sounds as though staying in a hotel would be easier than commuting home every day. How cool that Peter O'Toole sounds as though he really appreciated his being asked to put his feet in cement--again.
These accounts are great, but I swear my feet hurt just reading about all the running around to these once-in-a-lifetime events. Did you and Mr. Cutter stay at home or in a hotel room? I only ask 'cause it sounds as though staying in a hotel would be easier than commuting home every day.
Moira,
I stayed at the Roosevelt and shared a room with Suex2. Due to the type of pet we have, box turtles, and Jon's veggie garden, he went home and in the morning before getting in the car, he would water his veggie garden and feed the varmints. Worked out well for him because he got to sleep in more than I did!
Lynn in Lake Balboa
"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."
"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese
"A personal hero to many in this room." Scott McGee on the influence of Kevin Brownlow.
A Conversation with Kevin Brownlow
This was another must-see for me. Like Mockingbird, I had suggested over at TCM City last year in a thread dedicated to suggestions, that they do a talk with Kevin Brownlow. And lo and behold, that dream, like Mockingbird, came true. I can't begin to count the ways that Mr. Brownlow has influenced my work not only as a film maker but in the career path I chose for myself these last almost dozen years as a archivist and preservationist first on the history of Las Vegas and now as an archivist for the Walt Disney Family Museum.
I still remember staying glued to my television on Saturday evenings in the late 1970s (I made my friends and dates wait) when KCET first aired Hollywood. I still have a dog-eared copy of The Parade's Gone By. And though I have heard him introduce films at the Academy before, I've never had the opportunity to attend an extended discussion with him.
I was one of the first people to arrive at Club TCM to start the line. CineMaven was there as well. As time passed others join us. I was hoping to get a booth as we were attending the next panel as well and a booth sounded like a more comfy way to listen for two hours plus than a straight-back chair (even if it is padded). I had checked with Rich, our tuxedo-clad Club TCM manager, the night before, if they would clear the room between panels and was told they wouldn't.
The woman I was standing next to said, "Remember, I was here first." which surprised me because the entrance to Club TCM was double-doored allowing more than one person in at a time. But, she seemed adamant about it. No problem, I told her.
Just before the doors opened, she got a phone call and was telling the person on the either end to get here now! Jon called me to ask where I was. I say the head of the line and am going to grab a booth. He said "go for it".
As we finished our conversation, the doors opened and the young man in charge of the line, said, "You can go in now."
The woman was still talking on her cell phone and not moving. Rather than hold up the line while she finished her conversation, I moved to go in (plus I am looking to give my leg a rest). She was not happy I went before her and let me know as went in. She went to sit down front, I grabbed a booth.
We were soon joined by JB Kaufman, Kyle (or Kingrat or Countess or Suex2, my memory is hazy), a Chinese woman from Pennsylvania and a guy who produced some documentaries with Brownlow. They arrived while I was away from the table so I never properly got his name.
The place filled up fast with people trying to find a place to sit.
TCM's own Scott McGee came out to welcome us and to be the moderator. He reminded everyone to turn off their cell phones. (It doesn't work as one guy's cell phone went off TWICE during the discussion- the first time he went to the far end of the room near the stage to TAKE the damn call but he had missed it and it went to voicemail. He LEFT his cell phone up there on a table and returned to his seat. Of course, when the voicemail was delivered, his phone made noise AGAIN and he finally retrieved it and pocketed his phone. In another part of the room, someone else's cell went off. The crowd was not happy.)
Scott introduced Mr. Brownlow (I can't call him Kevin, sorry) by saying: "A personal hero to me and many here in this room."
He received a standing ovation.
The first film that had an impact on him was Walt Disney's Snow White (how's that for symmetry?) and he called the film, "the first film for many of my generation."
He went to a school he called "straight out of the movies. Where the students tried to escape and the headmaster would round them up."
He discovered silent film via 9.5 film and decided he had to have a projector, "I told my parents, I must have a projector. I forgot to tell them a movie projector." He received a slide projector instead. "If I hadn't complained, I would be a slide photography historian today."
"I became a collector at 11."
He fell in love with Doug Fairbanks movies at an early age (who doesn't?). "He was very energetic, athletic, he couldn't act and he told you that. He was absolutely enchanting."
"The generation I grew up with hated silent films. They made them look ridiculous because they wanted people to watch talkies."
"I wasn't going to be a film historian, I was going to be the second Orson Welles but I couldn't get the weight on."
On how he got interested in Napoleon, "I discovered two reels on 9.5 of a Joe Epstein film and it was so bad I couldn't have in my house. I rang up the library and they said they had a film called, Napoleon Bonaparte and I thought, oh that will be a class film. You know the type. I hated the Epstein film so much I took the Bonaparte film. I had never seen anything like it."
On going around and interviewing silent actors and directors:
"Buster Keaton had a voice like an anchor chain."
After a screening of The Goose Woman, Clarence Brown told him, "I didn't know I was that good." He also talked about how Clarence Brown came to co-direct The Last of the Mohicans when Maurice Tourneur was injured. There is a biography of Clarence Brown currently being written.
When asked about any upcoming projects he talked about the stalled Doug Fairbanks, Sr documentary. "I came in with Doug and would like to go out with him. Patrick Stansbury and I REALLY want to do this."
"A studio that has destroyed the film and done nothing to find it should NOT own the copyright." he told the audience who applauded in agreement. It's what he wanted to say, but forgot, when he was accepting his honorary Oscar.
He talked about how when he approached Paramount about licensing some clips (presumably for Hollywood) and was told it would be $6,000 a minute for each clip he wanted. The point being it wasn't worth their time to bother with it so they try to discourage him and others by quoting such outrageous numbers.
An audience member stood up and said, "thank you for preserving our heritage."
"Thank You for having such a great heritage." he replied.
Scott talked about The Parade's Gone By and said, "You created a lot of careers with that book."
Mr. Browlow told the story of how, when the book was at the publisher, they said it had too many exclamation points and too much Griffith."
He has high hopes that something may be worked out with Francis Ford Coppola for the American audience for Napoleon. "I hope to live long enough to see Napoleon in the States. It may happen sooner rather than later."
James Cruze is the interview he wishes he could have gotten.
It was over too soon but what a great time. And our path would cross Mr. Brownlow's again while we stood in line for The Cameraman.
Lynn in Lake Balboa
"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."
"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese
