TCM Film Fest 2013: Recap, Part 2

This is the second of my two-part series wherein I recap my time at the 2013 TCM Film Festival.

Day 3 – Four!

Saturday morning cartoons were a staple of my rearing and today would be no different. So again at a time that I would not typically be attending the cinema (8:30 or so to queue up) I was entertained by a series of Looney Toons shorts, featuring the one, the only Bugs Bunny, who was celebrating his 75th birthday! The shorts were introduced by Jerry Beck and Leonard Maltin.

I swiftly moved from Chinese Multiplex 1 to 4, prepared for my second Hitchcock screening, The Lady Vanishes that was introduced by Norman Lloyd (age 98), who skipped his weekly tennis game to present this (and several other) film.

The wonderful thing about attending events like this is that they provide a rarefied opportunity for us in the present to listen to people who provide first hand accounts of people of the stature of Alfred Hitchcock, people who in seem so distant and removed from us.

 

The Big Parade: I have to admit; this film was not on my radar as I made my preliminary viewing plan, but I am SO glad that I changed my mind at the last minute. Admittedly I am not a huge fan of silent cinema, but it is a format that I am gradually coming around to. So what better way to continue my silent cinema education than by watching the World Premier Digital Restoration of the WWI classic, directed by King Vidor, and introduced by film historian Kevin Brownlow. What fascinated me above all else with this movie is that it predates the silent epic Wings which until this point was my gold standard in the capturing “the war to end all wars” on film. This response to The Big Parade does not diminish in any way the impact and significance of Wings but it does help inform my further understanding of the canon of silent film. In the simplest of terms, this film was sublime.

 

The Tall Target: Check out my previous blog post on this.

What a way to round out the day! As the evening crept in, a feeling of sadness swept over me … I knew my time at the festival was drawing to a close and it made me sad 🙁 I said hellos (and goodbyes) to the wonderful array of friends I made and ventured back to my hotel to ready myself for my eastbound flight the next afternoon.

Day 4 – No movies, just taking it all in. 

But I enjoyed living vicariously living through my fellow festival goers as to their whereabouts. I did a walk-by of the Cinerama dome prior to the showing of Cinerama Holiday (really wanted to see it).

Other films I wanted to see if given the time were:

Never in a million years did I think I would utter the phrase – how I hate to leave Los Angeles – but this weekend I did. But the time came sooner than I wanted. I spent that morning prior to departure wandering down the boulevards of legend (H’wood and Sunset) pass through a lovely farmer’s market.

OH I did also take the time to show my #noncynicalnewyorker stripes and took way too many pictures of some of my favorite stars’ star on the Walk of Fame.

But now as I write this, LA and Hollywood are in my rearview as I am settled and safely nestled in my East Coast domicile, ready for it to start all over again. See you in 2014!