Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

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Re: Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

Post by movieman1957 »

Christy mentioned at TCM that it didn't run. She did get a DVD of it from TCM and was very happy with the way it turned out.
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Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

Sorry, kids! For some reason they didn't run it. But I love the DVD!

I had driven over to my sister's house (about an hour away) so we could watch it. They made their special grilled hamburgers. Now, they think
it was just a ruse to get free family food. :D

But I've sent an email. So hopefully I'll hear something soon. They also may post a link to them at TCM City.

Thank you for all your support, gang!
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Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

Dear friends at SSO:

Here's a link to my fan perspective at TCM:

http://tcm.atlmac.com/upload/View/2d1f2e1g062u042s

I am very pleased at how my comments were cut with the film clips, and my son isn't embarrassed at all!
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Re: Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

Post by knitwit45 »

Cool beans, Christy! You were poised and articulate, (your make up was perfect)** and it's a great video!!!

**see her earlier description of the near disaster that morning...tooooo funny!
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Re: Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

Thank you so much! I love your new avatar! Hubbabah-Bubbabuh...

The only trouble I had during taping was remembering my name...I think that it took about five takes, or something like that... :roll:
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Re: Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

Friday, April 23, 2010. Dateline: L.A.
(About 3:15 p.m.)

***SPOILER ALERT***

Dave, the Buick chauffeur, extended the royal treatment. When we pulled up to Grauman's for the screening, he told me to wait.

"Don't touch that door! I'll get it."
(He obviously recognized that I was a go-getter, but that I also responded well to command.)

Then he marched around curbside and officially allowed me to begin my entrance to Grauman's most fashion-oriented and biography-rattling feature, Imitation of Life , starring Lana Turner, Juanita Moore, Sandra Dee, and Susan Kohner.

As he opened the car door, he lifted me out of the passenger-side back seat of the brand new Buick with one strong, swarthy hold on my baubly, bracelet-laden self.

Nobody noticed that I was strutting and strolling through the handprinted, footfall laden courtyard. Tourists were busy seeing if their feet fit the form or their fingers filled the mold. Lots of folks were bending over, stretching their camera sights, smiling for their personal photo-op, and totally ignoring that I had arrived. Oh, well. It was like that everytime I showed up at a screening. Where were all the cameras and reporters? Wasn't anyone informed of my arrival?

No, I don't guess they were. I was treated just like any Hannah from Hickville. But, that was o.k. I wasn't really expecting anything more.

The real stars attending the post-discussion screening were Robert Osborne, Juanita Moore, and Susan Kohner, and ,of course, the beautiful print of Douglas Sirk's Imitation of Life, Universal-International's biggest grossing film at that time. Sirk, who would often turn a genre on its ear and give an audience a much different emotional ride than publicity or conformity would expect, revealed the major players of this epic melodrama to be Moore and Kohner even though Turner and Dee were the names that set the scene and drew the patrons who ultimately benefited from the dramatic peaks of the Moore/Kohner emotional heights.

Yes, it was a glitzy soap opera. Yes, Lana had wardrobe. Yes, Sandra was sweet. But the attitudes of the Pre-Civil Rights era and the classic mother-daughter duality struggle were present in vibrant TechniLana. Would it have had such high production values without Lana and Sandra and Sirk? I don't know. That's a question for historians. I'm just a blogger with some attitude, a little vocabulary, and some cute clothes.

The film was beautiful in its intensity of colors, fashions, and sets. All the jewels, the clothes, and the sighs on screen were merely camouflage for the struggles of the characters. But Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner are the actors that send me for the kleenex. If a viewer doesn't cry when Moore pretends not to be Kohner's mother or when Kohner runs to embrace the hearse with her mother's body, then the viewer probably didn't choose to attend this screening. A passholder was unwittingly forced to accompany someone who already had a dramatic agenda and a packed purseful of tissues.

Applause accompanied the credits and dramatic swell of the score. Some folks knew what they wanted and were grateful for the stylish soap soaking the sensibilities.

The post-screening discussion was just as dramatic as the film itself. Robert Osborne, Juanita Moore, and Susan Kohner were engaging and lively with information about the times, the players, and the contributions of the filmmakers.

Moore's comments were more closely associated with the emotional impact of the moments during the filming , while Kohner's lively comments were filled with specifics dealing with the details of the filming itself, and its aftermath.

Moore, looking lovely at 94, has appeared in 30 films, and most recently was in "The Kid" in 2000. Evidently, Moore still felt some sort of ambivalence concerning Cheryl Crane and her treatment of her mother, because she often contradicted Osborne's leading questions concerning Crane and Turner, and Moore stated sometime during the discussion (and I am paraphrasing) that Lana had been preoccupied during filming with Crane's behavior in light of the Johnny Stompanato scandal and its ensuing difficulties, and Lana's confidences to Moore, as Moore stated them, seemed indicative of their friendship during the shoot. Moore's grandson is also preparing a film or cable program concerning his grandmother's experiences and was introduced at the end of the discussion as he assisted her offstage. (I can't read my notes here, so I am unsure of his name, but if any reader can provide it, please feel free to do so.)

Kohner, who played Sarah Jane, married John Weitz in 1964 to raise her family. Mother of Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz, Kohner was perky and energetic about her experiences during filming of Imitation of Life, and was forthcoming about her feelings concerning her career and how she felt that she had been stereotyped into certain roles. She seemed happy that so many folks remembered and respected her performance in the landmark film under discussion, and vividly recalled the scene in the film when she was assaulted by Troy Donahue.

Even though Moore didn't respond quite as Osborne might have planned, he was calm, cool, and collected under pressure, as always. Kohner also deflected and redirected some of Moore's comments with her remembrances, and audience members applauded and left the theater chatting about all the interesting and lively comments during the discussion.
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Re: Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

Post by moira finnie »

Christy! You were on TCM again just before Ben-Hur!! You're moving into primetime, kid. I wish someone would upload these fan retrospectives to youtube!!
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Re: Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

Post by mrsl »

.
Miss Pink Balloon:

Sorry to butt in on your thread, but will you folks who are members here or from the old neighborhood, tell us who is who in those promos before and after movies taken at the TCM festival? I'm going nuts trying to figure out who they are from where they come from, which is the only clue they give.
.
Anne


***********************************************************************
* * * * * * * * What is past is prologue. * * * * * * * *

]***********************************************************************
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Re: Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

It won't be long until Lynn, Paula, and I will be posting from the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
This year, scheduled films and presenters sound so glamorous.

In addition to Robert Osborne, Ben Mankiewicz, and Alec Baldwin, previously announced Film Stars, Lecturers, and Historians scheduled to appear at the TCM Fest 2011 include:

Angela Allen (TCM FESTIVAL 2010 and 2011--Don't miss a word she says!)
Allison Anders (Director)
Robert S. Bader (Film Historian)
Mary Badham ("Scout" from To Kill a Mockingbird !)
Warren Beatty
Cari Beauchamp (TCM FESTIVAL 2010 and 2011. )
Donald Bogle (TCM FESTIVAL 2010 and 2011. )
Kevin Brownlow (Author)
Leslie Caron (I just knew she would be there!)
Roger Corman
Ileana Douglas (TCM FESTIVAL 2010 and 2011. )
Kirk Douglas
Shelley Fabares
Bruce Goldstein (Founder of Rialto Pictures)
Jennifer Grant (Cary's daughter)
Guy Hamilton (GOLDFINGER!)
Dorothy Hermann (Bernard Herrmann's daughter)
Foster Hirsch (Founder of Rialto Pictures)
Shirley Jones (OK! She's introducing Carousel!)
J. B. Kaufman (Disney's Laugh-O-Grams)
Angela Lansbury
Andy Marx (Groucho's grandson, writer and blogger extraordinaire)
Leonard Maltin (TCM FESTIVAL 2010 and 2011--Always the salient comment on target...)
Jerry Mathers
Rose McGowan (Introduces *A Place in the Sun*)
Hayley Mills (Let's Get Together! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah...)
Maud Nelissen (Composer)
Peter O'Toole (The sky is pocked with stars, especially at the TCM FEST!)
Veronique, Cecilia and Anthony Peck
Ron Perlman (Actor)
Jane Powell (Howard Keel was the one brother she chose!)
Victoria Preminger
Debbie Reynolds (Totally "Unsinkable"!)
Cheryl Rogers-Barnett (Dale and Roy's daughter)
Richard Roundtree (SHAFT!)
Mickey Rooney (The #1 star IN THE WORLD...)
Barbara Rush ( Wondrful performance opposite Paul Newman in The Young Philadelphians, Come Blow Your Horn , Robin and the 7 Hoods , The Young Lions !)
Nancy Sinatra (Will she be wearing those boots?)
Tina Sinatra (Award-winning producer)
David Stenn (Author)
Katie Trainor (MOMA art film collections)
Plus Vince Giordano and his Nighthawks...

Scheduled Films Include:

■All About Eve (1950)
■The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
■An American in Paris (1951)
■Becket (1964)
■Bigger Than Life (1956)
■Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
■Cabin in the Sky (1943)
■The Cameraman (1928)
■Carousel (1956)
■Casanova in Burlesque (1944)
■Citizen Kane (1941)
■The Connection (1961)
■The Constant Nymph (1943)
■The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
■The Devil is a Woman (1935)
■Dodsworth (1936)
■Fantasia (1940)
■Gaslight (1944)
■The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
■Girl Crazy (1943)
■Girl Happy (1965)
■Gold Diggers (1933)
■Goldfinger (1964)
■Guns of Navarone (1961)
■Hoop-La (1933)
■La Dolce Vita (1960)
■The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
■Manhattan (1979)
■The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
■The Merry Widow (1925)
■The Mummy (1932)
■My Pal Trigger (1946)
■Network (1976)
■A Night at the Opera (1935)
■Night Flight (1933)
■Now, Voyager (1942)
■One, Two, Three (1961)
■The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
■The Parent Trap (1961)
■Pennies from Heaven (1981)
■A Place in the Sun (1935)
■Reds (1981)
■Royal Wedding (1951)
■Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
■Shaft (1971)
■Shall We Dance (1937)
■Spartacus (1960)
■A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
■Summer Magic (1963)
■Taxi Driver (1976)
■The Third Man (1950)
■This is the Night (1932)
■The Tingler (1959)
■To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
■Trigger, Jr. (1950)
■The Trouble with Harry (1955)
■Under Western Stars (1938)
■The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)
■Went the Day Well? (1942)
■West Side Story (1961)
■Whistle Down the Wind (1961)
Plus Disney's Laugh-O-Grams!
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Re: Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

Post by MissGoddess »

I'm counting on reading your posts. Most likely I'll view this thread here more than the one at TCM.

Have a great time!!
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Re: Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

Dear Miss G.,

I am going to miss meeting you! I was so looking forward to seeing you there! I will do my best to post updates now and then....but I know Lynn and Paula will be busy keeping everyone informed, too! I spent a lot of time socializing last year, so I will try to do at least one update a night if I can....

Plus, isn't the Mavester on the roster, too? :lol:
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Re: Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

FIRST OFFICIAL POST

Dateline: Hollywood!

Arriving at the Hollywood Roosevelt is always a thrill, especially when it's time for the TCM Film Festival. Palm trees are softly swaying in the breeze, and tall, cool beverages stand erect on a tray held high by a handsome waiter circling the heated pool now filled with salt water, which keeps all us bathing beauties more buoyant.

Ah...the good life.


It is indeed comforting to see some of the same wonderfull staff members ready to help with luggage, directions, and suggestions for the fast-paced excitement. They want all guests to have fun, relax, and enjoy, and not long after my check-in, I met a couple of fun-loving kids from the Jersey Shores, Milt and Sue and Mike and Fran, and they were doing their best to comply.


On Wednesday afternoon, Robert Osborne is conducting interviews with film professionals in the lobby of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, located on Hollywood Blvd, across the street from Grauman's Chinese Theater. As I arrived in the lobby, it was a bustle of activity and excited fans.


Mr. Osborne prepares to conduct an interview with Barbara Rush, who is all "decked out" in a lovely two-piece suit in a striking shade of canary. One fan in front of me compliments Ms. Rush concerning her shoes, which were multicolored and vibrant with almost every shade in the rainbow. Ms. Rush volunteered to everyone that she designed her shoes all by herself, and that it was one of her favorite pursuits. I introduced myself to Ms. Rush, and her manner and gracious reserve is very much like her character of Joan Dickinson in The Young Philadelphians, and she looks so lovely, and seems to glow with good health and energy. I am impressed with her kindness, also. She sat and spoke privately with Isac, a young man whose TCM Fan Perspective was filmed at the TCM Festival in 2010, and whose last name is not in my notes. Regular TCM viewers will recognize him for his energy and enthusiasm for classic film and popular media from his interview, which has aired many times in the past year. After Ms. Rush's lengthy visit with Isac, those adorable, tiny feet in those beautiful shoes carried Ms. Rush and her elegance toward the stage and to her interview with Robert Osborne, who states that Ms. Rush and her family were extraordinarily kind to him in his early days in Hollywood. Kudos to Ms. Rush for helping out one of our beloved TCM hosts.


Other interviews conducted this afternoon on the lobby stage include the legendary Angela Allen (continuity expert on The African Queen, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, The Third Man and many other legendary films) who arrived from London and was staying with friends in L.A., Dorothy Hermann ( Composer Bernard Herrman's daughter, who will introduce The Ghost and Mrs. Muir during later festival activities), and others. The unveiling of the original Grauman's footprints of Sid Grauman, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. , was hosted by Robert Osborne and a lovely young lady from the family who currently owns the "cement" archives. Applause and ahs were heard even from event-seasoned media in attendance and also those savvy passholders who were early birds...


On Thursday, the first official event is graphic artist Michael Schwab who is signing the official TCM Film Festival Poster, and many passholders did not pass up this opportunity to have an official 2011 memento signed by its originator.


From 1 to 2 p.m. in Club TCM, all eager festivalgoers had a chance to Meet the People Behind the Network and connect a face to a job description. Adorable Scott McGee, in charge of festival research and other festival duties, including compilation of festival tributes, moderated the event. Charles Tabesh (Programming Director), Genevieve McGillicuddy (Managing Director), Pola Changnon(Creative Director), and Darcy Hettrich(Director of Talent) were on the dais. Each spoke about their job responsibilities,and Ms.McGillicuddy and Mr. McGee revealed that they both had Master's Degrees in Film/and or Communication, and that having those degrees greatlly helped in their eventual employment with Turner Classic Movies. Tom Brown, Director of Original Programming, also discussed his contributions to the network and explained that financing is often a major factor in developing certain creative programs particular to TCM. One young lady from the audience expressed her desire to work as an intern, and it was suggested by panel members that she visit the website for jobs at the Turner Network.

Mr. Tabesh was responsible for the programming of the films at the 2011 festival and as I recall, received a round of applause for his many efforts, and Ms. Hettrich reminisced about the harrowing moments during the TCM Festival 2010 when volcanic ash clouds almost prevented Luise Rainer from appearing at the festival and having that wonderful interview with Robert Osborne. Because of Ms. Hettrich's activism, we are able to enjoy so many wonderful film professionals at this festival, like Debbie Reynolds, Jane Powell, Richard Roundtree, Julie Andews, Hayley Mills, George Chakiris, Kirk Douglas, Angela Allen, Diane Disney Miller, Dorothy Hermann, Angela Landsbury, Cheryl Rogers-Barnett, Barbara Rush, Mickey Rooney, Margaret O'Brien, Warren Beatty, Leslie Caron, Mary Badham, Kirk Douglas, and Peter O'Toole! And film experts like Donald Bogle, Leonard Maltin, Cari Beauchamp, Katie Trainor, David Stenn, Kevin Brownlow, and Disney historian J.B. Kaufman. I am glad Ms. Hettrich could persuade them all to leave their "swankiendas."

Genevieve McGillicuddy, Managing Director of the Festival, is also responsible for the upcoming TCM Cruise in December. Great idea! Many passholders I've spoken to expressed keen interest in the USS TCM....


After the interesting TCM Panel, all TCM City Posters trounced over to the In-and-Out Burjay for our annual officially unofficial gathering of the clan: The mysterious red-headed stranger, Jack Burley, friendly and fedora'd Kingrat (winner of the last TCM Challenge and host of the next), Stephanie from Jersey, Miss Emberly from Texas, Charlie Chaplin 101, BeatleBrandon, the legendary Kyle from Hollywood, Izcutter and Mr. Cutter from the San Fernando Valley, David from Seattle, lovely loveslilacs and her husband James, the stylish and efficient Countess De Lave (hostess of the last programming challenge), Glenn, the winner of the Classic TCM Festival 2011 pass, wouldbestar, Morlock Jeff, and Disney historian J.B. Kaufmann. It was so much fun meeting acquaintances from last year, and new ones I'd already made this year. If I've left anyone out of our star-studded get-together,feel free to update me!
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Re: Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

Post by mongoII »

Christy, wonderful summation of the TCM Festival. I enjoyed reading it. Wish I could have been there. I would have been eager to see Mickey Rooney, Debbie Reynolds, Barbara Rush, Margaret O'Brien, Jane Powell, Angela Lansbury, and Haley Mills.
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Re: Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

I wish you could have been there, too, Mongo. Thanks for the kind words. I know we would have had lots of fun with all our SSO buddies. :D
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Preparing for the exciting premiere event at the Turner Classic Film Festival 2011 encouraged me to organize my outfits early. I knew that Leslie Caron would be introducing An American in Paris with Robert Osborne, so I wanted to create an unusual outfit to honor stylish stars and have fun with playing "dress up." An homage to Edith Head, Adrian, and Orry Kelly would be a great idea for next year's "glam film fez fun."

Flashback: When I was in 2nd and 3rd grade, we lived in the wonderful city of New Orleans, and for playtime, my Mom would haunt the resale shops after Mardi Gras to find my sister and I clothes for our "dress up" tea parties with neighborhood kids, and she would also look for ball gowns that she might use for her social events that she attended with my Dad.


The most stunning "playwear" in my recollection was a lovely rose pink satin, scoop-necked ball gown with full skirt that had sculpted silk roses made from the same pink satin material as the gown, and they were appliqued to the neckline, waistline, and shoulders of the bodice. High heels, Mom's discarded lipsticks, translucent powder, eyebrow pencil, and Voila! Grown-up as I could be at 7!

So I wanted to create a special outfit for 2011 because my love for fashion compelled me .

I decided on one of two dresses, a pink chiffon number with beaded bodice, or a V-necked black velvet number, with a Ginger Rogers cape made of graduated flocked netting with a black satin sash, and after seeking expert advice from one of my personal fashion savvy friends, I chose the black velvet number.

I was almost ready to start trimming and hemming my cape, when my dear pal offered me the use of an emerald-shaped vintage pin with graduated baguette rhinestones, and I decided to use the black flocked netting with sparkles as a stole with the pin as it's focal point. Black Claudette Colbert pumps were the tootsie toter of choice so I added some vintage rhinestone buttons set in silver to the black satin bands criss-crossed on the instep. Then I made a little graduated ruffle that underscored the silver buttons.

When loveslilacs arrived to assist with the upswept "do" I was contemplating, she was impressed with the entire ensemble. With her approval, I knew it was the right choice.

Then all of my friends and I went to the Club TCM Meet and Greet at 5 p.m. It was so much fun meeting new friends from all over the world, and seeing pals and acquaintances from last year's festival. Sam and Becca, Tony from Missouri, Stephanie from New Jersey, Antoinette from Ohio, Jonathan from Scotland, Tracy and James from Lafayette, Paula from Oakland, Paula from Georgia, Theresa from New York, Milt and Sue and Mike and Fran from "Joisey," Theresa from Florida, Emberly from Austin, Ben and Bruce from Chicago, and many more...

Then we all walked over to Graumann's for the Gala Premiere of An American in Paris where Robert Osborne and Leslie Caron were having a short discussion before the screening. Ms. Caron, who also was scheduled to have a book signing of Thank Heaven, her 2010 autobiography, reminisced with Mr. Osborne and stated that at the time she was filming An American in Paris with Gene Kelly, she didn't realize that it would still be celebrated and revered so many years later.

Ms. Caron's energy and enthusiasm for her standing ovation and audence reception was evident in her manner and gratitude. After such a lovely beginning, the curtains opened up and the film began. The colors were so brilliant and the scenic design and art direction created such a vibrant palette of images that it seemed as if every frame were an oil painting. The score sounded lovely, and the audience applauded when it began and when it ended.

After the excitement of the premiere, we all walked over to the Vanity Fair party with me in my black velvet gown with the fluffy, sparkly stole, Colbert heels, and vintage beaded bag...I was a legend in my own mind, and that of a few tourists who were taking pictures of me on the runway. It was so much fun and the festival had barely even begun.

Let the schmoozing begin!
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