When it comes to the world of film, how exactly does one
define a classic?
Turner Classic Movies. All rights reserved
"For some, it's that movie they grew up which they now
want to share with their kids. For others, it's films that were made under the
studio system back during the Golden Age of Hollywood," said Genevieve
McGillicuddy — the managing director of the Turner Classic Film Festival —
during a recent phone interview. "Here at TCM, our thinking is that there
is no right answer to this question. There is no exact definition of what a
cinematic classic is. Which is why — when we're putting together the
programming for TCM's annual festival — we really strive to represent all
aspects of film history."
So sure. The sixth annual Turner Classic Film Festival got off
to a suitably grand start last night with Julie Andrews & Christopher
Plummer strolling down the red carpet at the TCL Chinese Theatre before they
then attend a screening of "The Sound of Music" (which is celebrating
the 50th anniversary of its world premiere this month). But if you'll look over
the rest of the schedule for this 4 day-long event, you'll see that there's
more to TCFF than just celebrating Hollywood musicals of
the 1960s.
Take — for instance — Tonight's screening of 1995's
"Apollo 13," which will feature quizmaster Alex Trebek chatting with
the real Captain James Lovell (i.e., the role that Tom Hanks played in this Ron
Howard film). Or better yet, this afternoon's presentation of 1981's
"Raiders of the Lost Ark," during which veteran stuntman Terry
Leonard will explain how many of the now-legendary action sequences in this
Steven Spielberg movie were staged.
Terry Leonard stands in for Harrison Ford during the filming of "Raiders of
the Lost Ark" 's truck chase sequence. Copyright 1981 Lucasfilm Ltd /
Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved
"That's the key difference between the Turner Classic
Film Festival and other film festivals. Given how passionate TCM fans are about
cinema, we always want to give them the opportunity to look at something they
already love in a whole new way. Which is why — whenever possible — we bring
in special guests who actually worked on or starred in productions that we
feature at the festival. Or better yet, someone like James Lovell, who can then
give their take on how true-to-life a particular motion picture eventually
turned out to be," McGillicuddy continued.
That idea will really get explored this afternoon over at
Club TCM (which is headquartered at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel) during the
"A Surreal Existence: My Life as Portrayed in Film" panel discussion.
Which is when Tony Mendez (i.e. the CIA agent that Ben Affleck portrayed in
that 2012 Academy Award-winner, "Argo"), Aron Ralston (i.e., the
hapless canyoneer that James Franco played in 2010's "127 Hours") and
Mark Schultz (i.e., that Olympic wrestler which Channing Tatum portrayed in
2014's "Foxcatcher") will reveal what's fact and what's fiction in
these films. More importantly, how their lives have been impacted by these
onscreen portrayals.
Mind you, if you're honestly not a fan of modern cinema,
TCFF has something for you as well. You can see experience what going to the
movies was like a hundred years ago by attending Saturday's "Return of the
Dream Machine" presentation. Which is when Joe Rinaudo will operate his
1909 hand-crank powered Model 6 cameragraph motion picture machine. And
festival attendees can then experience George Melies' "A Trip to the
Moon" or the Edison Company's "The Great Train Robbery" just as
the first members of the movie-going public did.
"That's another key component of the Turner Classic
Film Festival. We like to present movies in the way that they were meant to be
seen. Which is why — in addition to screening things digitally or in 35 or
70MM — we've shown movies from the 1950s in Cinemascope. We've even been down
to the Cinerama Dome to show films in Cinerama as well," Genevieve stated.
So what's McGillicuddy's favorite offering at this year's
festival? Genevieve honestly found it hard to choose between two screen legends
who'd agreed to make special appearances at TCFF 2015.
"At 10 a.m.
at the Montalbán Theatre on the 28th, we've got TCM host Ben Mankiewicz talking
with Norman Lloyd. Now Mr. Lloyd is a 100 years-young. And he is probably the
last person in Hollywood today who can talk about what it was like to work with
Chaplin, Hitchcock, Jean Renoir & Orson Welles," McGillicuddy enthused. "But then in the
same theatre on Saturday afternoon, we've got Edoardo Ponti interviewing his
mother, Academy Award-winning actress Sophia Loren. She's someone that we've
been wanting to host either on the channel or at the festival for years now. And
the fact that Ms. Loren has agreed to take part in a live taping of an
extensive conversation as well as be present at a screening of 'Marriage Italian Style,' that's absolutely thrilling."
And Edoardo Ponti won't be the only child-of-a-famous-actor-or-actress
who'll be taking part in this year's event. Peter Fonda will be in Chinese
Multiplex House 4 this afternoon to introduce a screening of 1939's "Young
Mr. Lincoln" (which is one of the
seven films that Henry Fonda made with screen legend John Ford). And W.C.
Fields' grandsons Allen & Ron will be in Chinese Multiplex House 6 tonight to
offer up their insights on one of W.C.'s best screen comedies, 1940's "The
Bank Dick."
All this — plus Alec Baldwin interviewing Dustin Hoffman
out ahead of a presentation of Bob Fosse's Academy Award-nominated bio pic,
1974's "Lenny." Or better yet, Shirley MacLaine showing up at the TCL
Chinese Theatre IMAX on Saturday night to reflect on what it was like to work
with Billy Wilder & Jack Lemmon on 1960's "The Apartment."
"And the best part of staging this event at theaters
like the Egyptian & the El Capitan & the Chinese
is that a lot of the films that we show at the Festival actually premiered at
these theaters. Which gives this event a layer of history that you might not
get by staging this event elsewhere," Genevieve stated. "Of course,
the real home of classic Hollywood
is Hollywood itself. Which is why
we're so thrilled to be in the venues that we have. Theatres like the Chinese
which are still first run houses and a vibrant part of what Hollywood
is today."
And even as TCFF 2015 is getting underway, McGillicuddy and
her team are already knocking around ideas for the 2016 edition of this film
festival.
"There's an on-going conversation that goes on
throughout the year. Our head programmer Charles Tabesh is always looking for
fun new ideas to build panels & presentations around. And he's great about
listening to TCM staffers who will then champion a particular film or performer
for inclusion at the next Turner Classic Festival," Genevieve said.
So if you've ever dreamed of hearing William Friedkin
explain how he shot that amazing car/subway chase in 1971's "The French
Connection" or ever wanted to hear William Daniels & Ken Howard talk
about what it was like to portray singing-and-dancing future presidents in
1972's "1776," now would be a very good time to travel to Tinsel Town
and then try to score some tickets to the screenings & panels that are
being presented at this year's Turner Classic Film Festival.
This article originally appeared on the Huffington Post's Entertainment page on Friday, March 27, 2014