A MAVEN'S TALE OF TRAVEL, MOVIES & MADCAP AT TCM'S FILM FEST

[mongoII]

Outstanding recollection of your trip to the TCM Festival, Theresa. I enjoyed every minute reading about it...with envy.
Just to be in a room with all those stars would flabbergast me. I would have to carry around an oxygen tank...at my age. Although I did see some big stars in my day.
If I was at Musso & Frank's I would have ordered a thick corned beef or pastrami on rye with a juicy pickle of course. Brooklyn roots.
Did you get to see the prints at Grauman's? Did you compare your footprint with Carole Lombards? Tell us more.
Thanks a heap for sharing a most exciting venture with us.

Joe

[CineMaven]

Hello there dear dear Mongo. No need to be envious. Just start a VACATION fund for next April, and sock away your pennies every week towards TCM's Third Annual Film Festival. You won't regret it. And I'd love to read your take on things, and the lovely photos you would post. Come on man...star saving!!

ANY DIANE BAKER FANS???

One of my friends sent me this link. Check it out if you're a fan:

Diane Baker Talks “Best-Kept Secret”: San Francisco’s Expanding Academy of Art

HAPPY MOTHER’S' DAY

I wish all you posters out there who are Moms, or are still blessed to have your Mother, to have a great day with her and your family!!!

TCM FILM FESTIVAL

I've felt slightly melancholy and reluctant to write about my last day at the Film Festival and have been putting off writing about it, b'cuz it ends the four halcyon days Turner Classic Movies gave me as a movie fan. < ( SIGH! ) > But as they say, all good things must...

SUNDAY - MAY 1st - THE LAST DAY of MOVIES

The condemned Maven ate a hearty meal. How shall I spend my sad last day at the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival? Well...I'll do it with:

* one film not seen in 60-70 years

* an historical perspective of one group's contribution to motion pictures and...

* the Terpsichorean feats of two young men, unparalled in the history of movies.

A hearty meal??? Why this'll be my smorgasbord.

10:00AM "NIGHT FLIGHT"

This stodgy curio features Gable, Myrna Loy, Helen Hayes, Robert Montgomery and the brothers Barrymore ( John & Lionel ). Whew! It creaked. But the aerial shots were interesting. I thought Robert O. was poisoning the well when he introduced the movie and told us it wasn't really very good. It was the first time I heard him say something negative about a film. I'm afraid Osborne knows best. Whew! I wasn't crazy about a movie about the history of night flying over South America. But it was very interesting to see the stars that were in the film...and probably early in their careers.

It was great to see DREW BARRYMORE being interviewed...not just b'cuz she's a movie star in her own right, but as the continuing progeny of the Barrymore line. And she says SHE is a big film buff herself. "I'm one of you." Whoa! She's so pretty, so friendly and so aware of her family. She felt closest to her grandfather while watching his films. Someone in the audience yelled out "DOWN IN FRONT!" It stopped everything dead in its tracks. Drew Barrymore said, "I love a loon!" It broke everyone up. She was a complete joy!! And she will soon join the ranks of TCM Guest Programmers.

12:30PM "BRIGHT BOULEVARDS AND BROKEN DREAMS"

I've got a couple of historian Donald Bogle's books. But there is The Man himself coming out of Club TCM. I got over my shyness and swarmed around him with others and got my picture taken with him. When they finally open the doors to Club TCM I grabbed myself a seat, and prepared to sit back and listen to Mr. Bogle's very engaging storytelling style. He walks us through the history of African-Americans' participation and contribution to motion pictures.

Starting with MADAME SUL-TE-WAN (who appears in Griffith's "BIRTH OF A NATION"). Mr. Bogle weaves and wends the history all the way up to Sidney Poitier. He talks of meeting up with FREDI WASHINGTON. She played Louise Beaver's daughter in the original "IMITATION OF LIFE." (To hear her speak her lines was heartwrenching b'cuz I imagine art imitating life with this actress). He talked of meeting her at the train station in upstate New York. She is alone. He sees her green eyes. I don't think I took one breath while he relayed that account. He actually got to see her, talk to her. I don't know why...but I feel the most sorrow for Fredi Washington not making it in films. She was beautiful, had a great voice, poise. So unfair, what might have been...what should have been.

Mr. Bogle's prepared a slide show of some of the great stars who's "peppered" the screen with their talents and have supported some of Hollywood's great major stars. Seeing some made me wince while others made my heart race: THERESA HARRIS, STEPHIN FETCHIT, ETHEL WATERS, MANTAN MORELAND, NINA MAE McKINNEY, EDDIE 'ROCHESTER' ANDERSON, JAMES EDWARDS, LENA HORNE, SIDNEY POITIER, HATTIE McDANIEL, DOROTHY DANDRIDGE and the dear beautiful FREDI WASHINGTON et al...they survived the Hollywood that was inside the America that wasn't very fair to everyone. They carved their niche. They belong. And today's stars stand on their shoulders. It was a lovely presentation I was sorry to see end.

4:20PM "A TRIBUTE TO THE NICHOLAS BROTHERS"

Introduced by filmmaker Robert Townsend and hosted and narrated by its director Bruce Goldstein, "A Tribute to the Nicholas Brothers" was a sight to behold.

"You have to see this to believe what these two men could do in dancing shoes. Not even Astaire and Kelly...could top them. This alone was worth the trip." - << ( WOULDBESTAR ) >>

Yes, Wouldbestar, you took the words right out of my mouth. I know, I know...you've all seen The Nicholas Brothers in film, but to see their routines back-to-back, in one fell swoop...well, it is simply breathtaking. They conquered movies, Broadway and in later years received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor for their body of work.

Brothers Fayard and Harold came from a musical, middle-class background. They were really cute as a button, two good-looking kids. They had natural born talent. Their dancing was magical. But don't for one minute get it twisted and mistakenly think their dancing came magically out of thin air. There were hours of practice, rehearsal and skill. I purposely chose to end my festival experience with this film, and rose from my seat to applaud them. The film..the brothers received a standing ovation. Their widows and children, grandchildren and great grandchildren were in the audience to witness and hopefully feel the warmth, affection and appreciative gasps from the audience throughout the movie, which included home movies as well. Mr. Goldstein said in his presentation, that after one of the Nicholas Brothers dance numbers appeared in a film, the movie crowd was so exuberant they demanded projectionist re-wind the film to re-play their dance routine.

My goodness..to say the Nicholas Brothers are unique, is an understatement. They will remain unequalled.

And for the programming of all these films, we have CHARLES TABESCH to thank. He came up to me on line and asked me how I liked the festival. (I tried to hide my awe and shock that he remembered me and came up to me on a line-full of people. Folks started looking at me because they knew who HE was. GULP!) I said I hated it because of all the very wrenching choices he put before me with his scheduling. He smiled. I cannot thank him enough for presenting us with a fantastic cornucopia of cinematic treasures. I think everyone's tastes were served and satisfied.

Thank you Charles!

THE CLOSING NIGHT PARTY.

I got a l'il gussied up, put on my fancy dress shoes again < ( OUCH! ) >...and went to TCM's Closing Night party. The band: DOOZY entertained the crowd with their good old-fashioned musicianship. How the heck am I back in the 40's? I was invited to sit at a table with a lovely couple who were a riot as we watched the party unfold. The Husband kept yelling out for the band to play "IN THE MOOD." "If they do, you're going to have to dance with her, 'cuz I ain't dancin'," said the Wife to her husband, about me. Me dance? I can shake a leg if I have to...but, me dance? My stomach was in knots at the thought of dancing in those heels I wore! We movie gossiped and talked about what excited us about what and WHO we saw. They were over the moon about seeing Jack Larsen and Jerry Mathers. (Uhmmm...that's Jimmy Olson and the Beaver to you & me!) I saw the court officer from the "JUDGE JUDY" show. He had a passholder's badge just like the rest of us. (What?!!) I felt brave enough to go and talk to him.

CineMaven: "You like old movies too?!!!" not doing a very good job hiding my incredulity.

Officer Byrd: "Oh yeah. I used to watch them with my grandmother all the time."

CineMaven: "Really? Who did you like from back then?" I admit, pressing him...testing him.

Officer Byrd: "Spencer Tracy, Charles Laughton. Clark Gable."

And then Officer Byrd busted out doing a damned good dead-on Clark Gable imitation, that got a squeal out of me. (Ugh! I'm such a big baby!)

I watched a couple of brave souls cut a rug out there on the dance floor, and I re-connected with several festivalgoers who stopped by my table to say hello...and goodbye. Everyone looked so nattily dressed and was in good spirits. Everyone here knew all the movies I knew, and I knew if I walked up to a stranger and said the name Warren William, they wouldn't look at me like I had two heads. It is SOMETHING SPECIAL to be in a room with people who share a common interest. I know this intellectually, but to FEEL it...is something else again. I felt this in an intense way when I was invited to TCM in Atlanta two years ago, with such a smaller group. The feeling was intense...surreal. But here in Hollywood, the feeling was that I was part of a community. I've read all the other posts about this film festival and seeing the word "community" rings so true with me.

I walked the streets of Hollywood. I was up and down Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard. I saw the sights suggested that'd be of historical interest. I looked down at many of those great names cemented at Graumann's (I patently refuse to call it Mann's, I don't care WHO buys it!) Chinese Theatre, and the stars on the Walk of Fame. I took lots of pix and video to capture what I was seeing so I could look at it later and hold on to what I was feeling.

Near midnight the party ended, the band stopped playing and people were leaving or milling about. I couldn't prolong the fun, the glamor, the excitement or avoid Reality any longer. I had to say Goodbye to it All.

IT'S OVER.

I'm packed and have to check out of the Roosevelt by noon, though my flight out of LAX is not until Midnight. (Whew!) I was trying to figure out what I would do next having not been able to connect with an old high school friend who lives out there. As I was about to start more walking around, I got a phone call from SueSue Applegate, who had time to kill before being picked up by a relative. (Aaah! Saved by the bell) so we hung out together. Now...without the hubbub and excitement and distractions of all that was going on, I was able to sit and chat and connect with her. (GIRL!!! You need to write those books!)

As we sat in the lobby before going out, we both noticed Marge Champion sitting with Darcy Hettrich (the woman who single-handedly wrangled all the celebrities we saw at the festival. Three cheers for Darcy!!) Sue Sue went over and got a picture of them, but I was too shy. We left the lobby and SueX2 needed a smoke. So I gained my last bit of courage to go back in and approach these two ladies.

As I waited for a lull in their conversation I went over and reminded Ms. Hettrich who I was...that I STILL have her voice on my cellphone answering machine message inviting me to be a guest programmer two years ago. She didn't remember my name, but she definitely remembered me (WHEW!) and then introduced me to Ms. Champion. We shook hands and I told her how much I've enjoyed her films. I told her that just the night before one of her films was on TCM ("GIVE A GIRL A BREAK"). What a sweet little face she has. She told me of her then-husband having directed Peter O'Toole in a movie and she was sitting out in the desert of Israel in 135 F weather talking to Peter O'Toole. I didn't want to intrude too long so I bowed and scraped my way from their presence and back outside where SueSue was finishing up her cigarette.

SueX2 and I hung out, took a cab to the Formosa Cafe, found it closed, and went to eat at the Pig ‘'N Whistle right near where the cab picked us up in the first place. We walked back to the Roosevelt and sat by the pool to gab a little more when I finally said my goodbyes to her.

As I looked around the hotel, there was no trace TCM was ever there. No hustle. No bustle. No neon sign for Club TCM. No boutique. No interviewing stage set up. It was quiet...quiet. Even the music on the elevator was changed back to modern music. (HA! THAT made me realize that TCM planned down to the smallest detail. They even thought of putting music everywhere from the 30's and 40's).

The Roosevelt looked like a ghost town except for the trendy youngsters that pranced about. I saw two gigantic TCM trucks pull out of the parking lot. The sign on the CineGrill marquee was now empty.

To be honest, the heart and soul was taken out of the Roosevelt Hotel with TCM's departure....with the community's departure. I felt sad to have even stayed long enough to see things empty. When I'm brave enough and strong enough, I'll look at all the footage I took of my trip out West and if I can technologically get it together, I'll share that with you.

I feel kind of sad. But you know what, I've got a lot of memories.

And I feel kinda happy too.

[JackFavell]

That was great Maven. I especially appreciate your description of The Nicholas Brothers, and how the audience reacted to their films and families.

[feaito]

Excellent account Theresa and you ended it beautifully. It's a pity about Night Flight though I thought it would be better... I am going to buy the DVD anyway. Part of the story takes place in Chile -on studio, I know- and that's enough -historical- reason for me, plus the all-star cast. I also think that the Nicholas Brothers are amazing. Some weeks ago I showed their routines from "Orchestra Wives" (1942) and "Lady Be Good" (1941) to some astonished friends and relatives. Their dancing skills and acrobatic prowess are amazing!!!

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us who could not be there.

[moira finnie]

Everyone here knew all the movies I knew, and I knew if I walked up to a stranger and said the name Warren William, they wouldn't look at me like I had two heads.

I love the way you described this and the sense of community among those in attendance. I am so in awe of what reads like a comprehensive history encapsulated in Donald Bogle's presentation, as well as reading your description about all the artists who struggled to find a niche in Hollywood, especially the glorious Fredi Washington, whose talent still seems so fresh on film. I've recently been reading Sam Staggs' "Born to Be Hurt: The Untold Story of Imitation of Life." In it, Staggs quotes from a 1943 interview that Fredi Washington gave in which she said she was "proud of the fact that she had 'received the privilege of making suggestions for changes, and, as a result, dialogue and situations were altered and the entire ending of the picture changed.' That statement...[probably] refers to the deleted lynching scene. In 1978, she told an interviewer, 'I had to fight the writers on lines like, 'If only I had been born white.' They didn't seem to realize that a decent life, not white skin, was the issue.'"

I would love to see the film that you described honoring The Nicholas Brothers on DVD or on TCM someday. Did anyone mention if that was a possibility?

Btw, did you return on the train to NYC? I loved your account of your rail journey out to the coast! Thank you so much for sharing your impressions here.

[Rita Hayworth]

I envy you, Lzcutter, and rest of the SSO Community down there. Keep up the good reporting ... :!:

[feaito]

There's another black actress who shares the same last name with Freidi, Mildred Washington, who made a lasting impression on me with her performance in Claudette Colbert's Pre-Code "Torch Singer" (1933). Sadly she died that same year.

[mongoII]

Splendid.