Break out the champagne (again), the '55 Hitchcock...

<div style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmeB90vTS5bppAvlRUUmZQzJ0ZU62CAw8bcFRkvcpgBUnzDHqFD8eop3YcqGfOZ9jp0SN68BnhfcvWhe-7m8q1ZzQg4N5wAU8d-iPSm5G-rgii8mSgUjf7OcTQeqGJcw46mCf4ELDibB4T/s1600/to-catch-a-thief-hitchcock-fritz-von-runte+poster++2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmeB90vTS5bppAvlRUUmZQzJ0ZU62CAw8bcFRkvcpgBUnzDHqFD8eop3YcqGfOZ9jp0SN68BnhfcvWhe-7m8q1ZzQg4N5wAU8d-iPSm5G-rgii8mSgUjf7OcTQeqGJcw46mCf4ELDibB4T/s1600/to-catch-a-thief-hitchcock-fritz-von-runte+poster++2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><i><span style="font-size: small;">Alfred Hitchcock’s </span></i><span style="font-size: small;">To Catch a Thief</span><i><span style="font-size: small;"> screens today at the 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival. In celebration of the third annual greatest-classic-film-festival-in-the-world, I’m posting this new and improved version of a piece on </span></i><span style="font-size: small;">To Catch a Thief</span><i><span style="font-size: small;"> that first appeared here on New Year’s Day 2011.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Traditionally, champagne is the drink <i>du jour</i> (or <i>nuit</i>) at New Year’s, and so champagne it shall be now. A bottle of ‘96 </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">Dom Pérignon Ros</span><span style="font-size: small;">é</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;"> would be fitting, but I’m in the mood for something really special…an old favorite… Hitchcock’s distinctive ’55 vintage from the Cote d'Azur. <i>To Catch a Thief</i> (1955), a delectable “Hitchcock champagne,” boasts a rare combination of elegance and flair. Light-bodied with a smooth finish that lingers, it remains unmatched, though it has been imitated far and wide for decades.</span></div><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7Bji7gSXs0Q-kAUD6HU7MuxKxznY-R753bqG2R6uH8kElwg6fVoQKP_JhwQWAKUYV2t8W6JixBBz2kDlepfwlEYVLB4HLXr-ddyzlFJcNP0iL__fy0_gsr6x0TsYpokPev7cnH7zXvcM/s1600/cote+d+azur+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7Bji7gSXs0Q-kAUD6HU7MuxKxznY-R753bqG2R6uH8kElwg6fVoQKP_JhwQWAKUYV2t8W6JixBBz2kDlepfwlEYVLB4HLXr-ddyzlFJcNP0iL__fy0_gsr6x0TsYpokPev7cnH7zXvcM/s320/cote+d+azur+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"the azure coast" of France</td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">A jaunty score sets the tone as opening credits roll over a shot of an international travel service with a poster in the window, “If you like life, you’ll love France.” The tinkling keys of a grand piano hint at continental sophistication and adventure long before the first scream bemoaning stolen jewelry issues from a Riviera hotel balcony.</span><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-size: small;">Quickly the action picks up speed with a colorful cruise through the Cote d'Azur as French police race to the village of Sainte-Jeannet and the hillside villa of retired jewel thief and prime suspect, John Robie (Cary Grant). From these early sequences and throughout the film, cinematographer Robert Burks displays VistaVision/Technicolor to full effect; it was Hitchcock's first use of the widescreen/color process that would become a signature of his color films for the rest of the 1950s.</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmdbwh1cpxzMsbI3MU2c6IEtNAZUKyH2f2bo5ZAte0xH1QQpvsFVVrGnnlFrqtlZQD0cK4-U_1NdlWuJI1URtu9Jo_nvNi4QjgL2v2noPelRHNvuoxTUlM_ISQ4nr1OEv67NrsvHuXdVOF/s1600/robert+burks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmdbwh1cpxzMsbI3MU2c6IEtNAZUKyH2f2bo5ZAte0xH1QQpvsFVVrGnnlFrqtlZQD0cK4-U_1NdlWuJI1URtu9Jo_nvNi4QjgL2v2noPelRHNvuoxTUlM_ISQ4nr1OEv67NrsvHuXdVOF/s1600/robert+burks.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cinematographer Robert Burks</td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Burks had initially worked together five years earlier following the director’s return to the U.S. after making two films in England. Hitchcock was beginning production on <i>Strangers on a Train</i> for Warner Bros. and the studio cinematographer assigned to the project was 40-year-old Burks. It would be the beginning of a fabled partnership. Burks began his career at 19 in the Warner Bros. special effects lab when Hal Wallis, who favored shadows and high contrast on the screen, was in charge of production. Burks apprenticed under James Wong Howe, worked his way up to DP and, by 1948, had risen to cinematographer.</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">The early influence of German expressionism on Hitchcock corresponded nicely with the influences Burks absorbed at Warner Bros. and the two would collaborate on 12 films from 1951 – 1964, every picture Hitchcock made during that period except <i>Psycho</i>. Like Burks, Hitchcock had intimate knowledge of special effects and had an affinity for scenes of complex imagery. One of the most memorable in the Hitchcock/Burks canon came in <i>Strangers on a Train</i> with the scene in which Robert Walker’s murder of Laura Elliott is reflected in the lens of her fallen eyeglasses. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRImOIG_rk45IZY2kfJ0S-65SAKjHmgHNMxdeF6i99gpOFrc4-ZXZ0KDa8KBiMsam8EBH5P0jr8SlDLJqQD0Iv40A2KusFhnWNxyTOH0VdonewgLxfCOzzGRsLDRzgsmZ2wE43Q6Sfkcq/s1600/filming+TCat+in+VV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRImOIG_rk45IZY2kfJ0S-65SAKjHmgHNMxdeF6i99gpOFrc4-ZXZ0KDa8KBiMsam8EBH5P0jr8SlDLJqQD0Iv40A2KusFhnWNxyTOH0VdonewgLxfCOzzGRsLDRzgsmZ2wE43Q6Sfkcq/s1600/filming+TCat+in+VV.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hitchcock (top center) beside the VistaVision camera</td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">Robert Burks was Oscar-nominated for <i>Strangers</i> and again for <i>Rear Window</i>. With <i>To Catch a Thief</i>, he finally won an Academy Award for cinematography. From 1955 – 1958, Burks shot five Hitchcock films in VistaVision/ Technicolor; four of the five were for Paramount Pictures. Paramount had been the only major film studio to balk at the widescreen CinemaScope system when it came on the scene in 1953. The studio set out to develop a process of its own and worked with Eastman Kodak to develop VistaVision, a method that delivered a higher resolution widescreen version of 35 mm. The VistaVision process printed down large format negatives to standard 35 mm, creating a finer-grained print and improved image. The use of Technicolor's dye transfer process was key to VistaVision color image quality. For his first foray into VistaVision/Technicolor, Hitchcock devised a stylish romantic thriller infused with dazzling starpower.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span id="goog_1252722499"></span><span id="goog_1252722500"></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">When he introduced a recent screening of <i>To Catch a Thief</i>, TCM’s Robert Osborne remarked that it had “the best asset any film could have...Cary Grant.” Good point. This was the third of Grant’s four Hitchcock pictures and it came nearly ten years after their last collaboration, <i>Notorious</i> (1946), one of the best films in either man’s illustrious filmography. In the interim, Hitchcock’s career had gone into and dramatically come out of a slump. During the same period, Grant had continued to make popular films, but had begun to move away from the kind of part he had trademarked – the dapper, self-effacing man of the world. Following <i>Dream Wife</i><b> </b>(1953) Grant retired, dissatisfied with the parts and films he was being offered. But then he was approached by Alfred Hitchcock who had a project in mind with the requisite amount of elegance and humor to attract him. In <i>To Catch a Thief</i> Cary Grant returned to type; John Robie, “The Cat,” is a dashing charmer, “a man of obvious good taste” very few could or would want to resist. Grant seldom departed from type during the remaining years of his career.</span><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span lang="EN">To Catch a Thief</span></i><b><span lang="EN"> </span></b></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">was the third and final film Grace Kelly would make with Hitchcock, who would have worked with her for the rest of his career had she not left movies to become Princess of Monaco. Hitchcock’s breathtaking onscreen vision of Kelly brings to mind Josef von Sternberg’s ravishing cinematic glorification of Marlene Dietrich 20 years earlier. Kelly was a beautiful woman but among the handful of films she made, it was in her films for Hitchcock that her image as a screen goddess achieved perfection. In <i>To Catch a Thief</i> she plays a spoiled rich girl, the ultimate "snow covered volcano" and "Hitchcock blonde."</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikUDzrHfipmeyoDmjbsJtyBPcAxhaN8aOhc0x6TPLtvYtcWI0dY1aq5-m5Yr2FU6KgNGtk8Za7P2-1J4XJ4NhZbLz8TuaiHQfAvNg479VlFcmU-wqWbj8Fy7idDMacNeoXBUxIyBqQKp_i/s1600/Kelly+and+Grant+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikUDzrHfipmeyoDmjbsJtyBPcAxhaN8aOhc0x6TPLtvYtcWI0dY1aq5-m5Yr2FU6KgNGtk8Za7P2-1J4XJ4NhZbLz8TuaiHQfAvNg479VlFcmU-wqWbj8Fy7idDMacNeoXBUxIyBqQKp_i/s400/Kelly+and+Grant+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grace Kelly and Cary Grant</td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">Grant and Kelly are captivating together onscreen and both deliver iconic characterizations with ease - Grant as a debonair retired thief/innocent man, and she as a haughty/hot debutante. The pair literally generates fireworks.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNnOshRfPe_U96fJAzoK4DKsBfOCRsZ6l0nG268p-cOkPTv8lEk6iNkXKyg_kHzho8HQxwOLjpUdSm-6Db76iBGPoonyZjlF4lZlXMeA0NvEUkMGTZyjPjs3BlC6zgO8jiuuTUijHxNTF9/s1600/Jessie+Royce+Landis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNnOshRfPe_U96fJAzoK4DKsBfOCRsZ6l0nG268p-cOkPTv8lEk6iNkXKyg_kHzho8HQxwOLjpUdSm-6Db76iBGPoonyZjlF4lZlXMeA0NvEUkMGTZyjPjs3BlC6zgO8jiuuTUijHxNTF9/s1600/Jessie+Royce+Landis.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jessie Royce Landis</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: right;"></div><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">In her first Hitchcock outing, Jessie Royce Landis portrays Kelly’s insouciant and earthy, bourbon-sipping mother. Hitchcock liked to include colorful women as supporting characters in his films, ranging from the ridiculous (Florence Bates in <i>Rebecca</i>) and the oblivious (Patricia Collinge in <i>Shadow of a Doubt</i>), to the observant and wisecracking (Thelma Ritter in <i>Rear Window</i>, Barbara Bel Geddes in <i>Vertigo</i>). Royce Landis portrayed two of the most appealing of the latter type in this film and <i>North by Northwest</i>.</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">Actor John Williams made his third appearance in a Hitchcock film with <i>To Catch a Thief</i>, this time as an insurance agent helping Robie track down the real jewel thief. His H.H. Hughson is a fine foil for Grant’s Robie. Their early scenes provide Hitchcock the opportunity to have some fun with a favorite theme, the ambiguity of guilt and innocence. Robie tells Hughson flatly that though he “only stole from those who wouldn’t go hungry,” he “kept everything myself.” Chiding Hughson for stealing hotel sundries and cheating on his expense account, Robie comments, “I was an out and out thief…like you.” Robie emphasizes his point with the throwaway line, “I wish I’d known someone in the insurance racket when I went into the burglary business.” Hitchcock toys with subject again when Robie refers to the sensitive hands and delicate touch of his cook and housekeeper, Germaine, who bakes a quiche as "light as air" and who, during the war, “strangled a German general once…without a sound.”</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWMGGRLIgTGrM5k6S-MP7mqJziokgnGlbK26vbc3ALJo7jUXCQj46ukcLZ8VfG3CA7J0277WzcAEwEAOjb4hOK9RslL9E0iCKJ_c0NKhf9eU6agV4dG4oHptfE0vmU2oo1Tojaelk7Tm5f/s1600/john+williams+grace+kelly+rene+blancard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWMGGRLIgTGrM5k6S-MP7mqJziokgnGlbK26vbc3ALJo7jUXCQj46ukcLZ8VfG3CA7J0277WzcAEwEAOjb4hOK9RslL9E0iCKJ_c0NKhf9eU6agV4dG4oHptfE0vmU2oo1Tojaelk7Tm5f/s400/john+williams+grace+kelly+rene+blancard.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Williams, Grace Kelly, Rene Blancard...costumes by Edith Head</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">While some dismiss <i>To Catch a Thief</i> for lack of substance, there's no question that it is a solid film of its genre. With meticulous craftsmanship and tremendous style, Hitchcock delivered exactly what he intended - a voluptuous romantic thriller. All elements blend in harmony, from the John Michael Hayes screenplay to Robert Burks' VistaVision/ Technicolor photography, Lyn Murray’s score, Edith Head’s eyeball-popping costumes, two scintillating stars and the Cote d’Azur setting.<i> </i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><i>To Catch a Thief</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"> was successful and influential, and many later films bear its earmarks...most prominently Stanley Donen’s <i>Charade</i>, as well as his <i>Arabesque,</i> William Wyler's <i>How to Steal a Million</i>, Blake Edwards' <i>The Pink Panther</i> and countless romance/thriller romps ever since.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">~</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="color: #cc0000; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">One of the principal  themes of this year's 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival is </span></i><span style="font-size: small;">Style in the Movies</span><i><span style="font-size: small;">. Kimberly Truhler of <a href="http://glamamor.com/" style="color: #0b5394;">GlamAmor.com</a>, who is attending and blogging on the festival, produced and hosts the following video, </span></i><span style="font-size: small;">Cinema Style File - Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief</span><i><span style="font-size: small;">: </span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JFL8npiVibU" width="560"></iframe></div><br /><br /></div>

Alfred Hitchcock GlamAmor Kimberly Truhler TCM Classic Film Festival The Lady Eve (author) To Catch a Thief Break out the champagne (again), the '55 Hitchcock...

Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief screens today at the 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival. In celebration of the third annual greatest-classi...

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Give 'Em the Old Pizzazz - Funny Face (1957)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPtny_gfVAQdWtE2utDdfEmx7prXKSAU7O1vOV_XkwTjNtRlDBvM058zeyrEzXWvlGEibSL_r9EHQdwByC21q2gK6WgU-w-KHetwW35txnBLtaJb6mn3Q9kgLtQ_R2zc_DwvZqsC5oNATK/s1600/funny+face+red+dress+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPtny_gfVAQdWtE2utDdfEmx7prXKSAU7O1vOV_XkwTjNtRlDBvM058zeyrEzXWvlGEibSL_r9EHQdwByC21q2gK6WgU-w-KHetwW35txnBLtaJb6mn3Q9kgLtQ_R2zc_DwvZqsC5oNATK/s400/funny+face+red+dress+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">Director Stanley Donen and actress Audrey Hepburn are being honored separately and together at this year's TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood. The director, who will be making personal appearances at all screenings of his films, did some of his best work with the sublime Audrey as his leading lady. With a "happy birthday" to Stanley Donen who celebrates his 88th birthday today, this post is dedicated to them both... </span></i></span><br /><i>  </i><br />Pizzazz! The very word came into being with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Funny Face</i> in 1957.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">Stylish and energetic, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Funny Face</i><b> </b>is a collaboration extraordinaire involving some of the great talents of the era: Producer Roger Edens and director Stanley Donen, screenwriter Leonard Gershe, cinematographer Ray June, costumer Edith Head, couture designer Hubert de Givenchy, photographer Richard Avedon and the film's matchless stars Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire and Kay Thompson. Sprinkled with an assortment of Gershwin tunes, this is a movie of considerable pizzazz...</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5ZN2jsdSujI2QpKuGzSPEwGQFvVLijCcuyxbH18A0jZdclAiFV4wkNomCLrUUhQvQiS2NdsLa5aHp037Vbmts31Bd0HpfSaXVNMfi__vYH_UUf6YivQGJnVlXMKVkY7ESOJhUZF2gdQB/s1600/audrey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5ZN2jsdSujI2QpKuGzSPEwGQFvVLijCcuyxbH18A0jZdclAiFV4wkNomCLrUUhQvQiS2NdsLa5aHp037Vbmts31Bd0HpfSaXVNMfi__vYH_UUf6YivQGJnVlXMKVkY7ESOJhUZF2gdQB/s200/audrey.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Audrey Hepburn as Jo Stockton</td></tr></tbody></table><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Funny Face</i> had been a work in progress for years, but the vital element that finally brought the project together was Audrey Hepburn. Then under contract to Paramount, Hepburn was a white-hot star at the time and any picture with her name attached had a very good chance of being made. She loved both the script and the opportunity to dance with Fred Astaire and quickly agreed to do the picture.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">Astaire, then nearing 60, was coming to the end of his career in musical films. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Funny Face</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Silk Stockings</i> were released within months of each other in 1957 and were his last popular movie musicals.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">Though its name was taken from a '20s Gershwin musical in which Astaire had starred, the title and a few tunes were all the film had in common with the original New York show. The film's story came from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wedding Day</i>, Leonard Gershe's Broadway musical about the fashion world based on 'the aura' (rather than the life) of legend-to-be photographer Richard Avedon and his wife. Doe Avedon, a great beauty of the time, was a reluctant muse; it was her husband who turned her into a top-notch model and who guided her career.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">Kay Thompson, ace vocal coach, arranger and cabaret star, had worked with Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Lena Horne and many others during her years in MGM's music department. Gershe had her in mind from the start for the role of Maggie Prescott, a character closely modeled on powerhouse fashion editor and style doyenne of the era, Diana Vreeland. According to Leonard Gershe, it was Vreeland who coined the word 'bizzazz' that mutated into 'pizzazz.' Thompson as Prescott is an invigorating presence and she steals just about every scene she's in; early on, her "Think Pink!" number kicks <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Funny Face</i> into high gear...<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gVserRvKyec" width="560"></iframe></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Think Pink!</span></span></i></div><br /><i>Funny Face</i> is a Cinderella tale, the kind of story that was Audrey Hepburn's bread and butter. The film begins in the offices of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Quality</i> magazine where editor Maggie Prescott (Thompson) decrees that the world of fashion shall think and wear pink (though she does not)! Soon after, she and photographer Dick Avery (Astaire) venture to bohemian Greenwich Village on a shoot...where bookstore clerk Jo Stockton (Hepburn), an ugly duckling with swan potential, is unearthed. The plot takes off from here. Cut to Paris where newly made-over model Jo wears exquisite Givenchy haute couture and is gorgeously photographed by Dick everywhere in the City of Light. Songs are sung. Dances are danced. Love blooms. A fairytale ending eventually comes to pass.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjemEVIDuyxPcTXg3TX10wcoDJXUyFXiJ4P2pBPem0mf8hqE8OCQC8yYoiSVhdxNcU7uXZROOzCFDMFCXPykH-QmBD8r3SxzXwVR_GDAN6rmRcuz5W0bx8l6462RQvOywe4JRHIrMnCWFX7/s1600/funny+face+astaire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjemEVIDuyxPcTXg3TX10wcoDJXUyFXiJ4P2pBPem0mf8hqE8OCQC8yYoiSVhdxNcU7uXZROOzCFDMFCXPykH-QmBD8r3SxzXwVR_GDAN6rmRcuz5W0bx8l6462RQvOywe4JRHIrMnCWFX7/s320/funny+face+astaire.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fred Astaire as Dick Avery</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">The basic storyline is nothing new, but watching Hepburn, Astaire and Thompson cut loose in New York and Paris (and in song) is so easy on the eyes and ears that in so many ways...'s wonderful.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">And there's the 'beatnik' interlude, most noteworthy for Audrey's dance routine in a subterranean Parisian club dressed in black turtleneck and capris with white socks. Though Hepburn battled Donen over the color of her socks, he won and the result is memorable.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">Stanley Donen was never nominated for an Academy Award, although he created some of the greatest musicals in movie history - including <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Singin' in the Rain</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Seven Brides for Seven Brothers</i>. He also made several successful non-musicals, films like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Charade</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Two for the Road</i>. In 1998, the Academy honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award and in his acceptance speech he both sang and danced to Cole Porter's "Cheek to Cheek"...he still knew how to "give 'em the old pizzazz!"</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70JUAfe2Dr48tA0F1Fv2MSF_72CKQAlarV-GByOkoklG-Tv7ycEQOxACz1GHKoQmLfBaDS-JICRWWblqOkLz1ws7vjwRSW5paGgQOjwlIGT_caDk70zQ_aq5gcIBo7gF_69e5tTOjnDY9/s1600/Stanley+Donen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70JUAfe2Dr48tA0F1Fv2MSF_72CKQAlarV-GByOkoklG-Tv7ycEQOxACz1GHKoQmLfBaDS-JICRWWblqOkLz1ws7vjwRSW5paGgQOjwlIGT_caDk70zQ_aq5gcIBo7gF_69e5tTOjnDY9/s320/Stanley+Donen.jpg" width="254" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stanley Donen and his Lifetime Achievement Oscar, 1998</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://youtu.be/JMC8kHycgwM" style="color: #990000;">Click here</a> to watch his acceptance of his Lifetime Achievement Award</div><br /></div></div>

Audrey Hepburn Fred Astaire Funny Face Hubert de Givenchy Kay Thompson Leonard Gershe Richard Avedon Stanley Donen TCM Classic Film Festival The Lady Eve (author) Give 'Em the Old Pizzazz - Funny Face (1957)

Director Stanley Donen and actress Audrey Hepburn are being honored separately and together at this year's TCM Classic Film Festival in ...

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Celebrating the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYjloCJ_g1Rx90drPMgnoVsgNU8NhjCoC3pLVi_i5WD1ZbAyrV6qbF4u2nD4Bz5ifiR8TW0r9rWMC0EwH9btHIAUi6ytNV1yop2NBUp1Duw1rYqPmzSex9ehll7kIiiODz6-ttpnqctXq7/s1600/Graumans+old.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYjloCJ_g1Rx90drPMgnoVsgNU8NhjCoC3pLVi_i5WD1ZbAyrV6qbF4u2nD4Bz5ifiR8TW0r9rWMC0EwH9btHIAUi6ytNV1yop2NBUp1Duw1rYqPmzSex9ehll7kIiiODz6-ttpnqctXq7/s1600/Graumans+old.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hollywood's legendary Grauman's Chinese Theatre</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span id="goog_746697975"></span><span id="goog_746697976"></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">J</span><span style="font-size: small;">ust as </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">T</span>urner </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Classic Movies will pay on-air tribute to the films, talents and themes of the third annual TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood April 12 – 15, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The Lady Eve’s Reel Life</i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> will also salute this year’s festival. From now until the 15th</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">, <i>TLE</i> will feature posts and links to reviews of some of the 70+ film classics being shown in Hollywood and the end of this week.</span></span></span><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="goog_1119359062"></span><span id="goog_1119359063"></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZrEgZ6pzli37Of4GhRd9xIMRfEARGNd63FgMwVgtwv8XYcZirUnrUPrSrF3FfB05Ls1BPHUM6wjZgY58gcJr05TDmXQ2GZJxwbxEA_8kvpRJ7uFFAX3iC0DMz6D-_9vFpzqcumUTUf29b/s1600/robert+o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZrEgZ6pzli37Of4GhRd9xIMRfEARGNd63FgMwVgtwv8XYcZirUnrUPrSrF3FfB05Ls1BPHUM6wjZgY58gcJr05TDmXQ2GZJxwbxEA_8kvpRJ7uFFAX3iC0DMz6D-_9vFpzqcumUTUf29b/s200/robert+o.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TCM's Robert Osborne</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">O</span>pening night, Thursday, April 12, features the world premiere screening of the 40th anniversary restoration of 1972 Best Picture Oscar nominee <i>Cabaret</i>.  The film's stars Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey, both of whom won Academy Awards for their performances, will appear with TCM host Robert Osborne.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The festival's celebration of <i>Style in the Movies</i> will honor <i>Audrey Hepburn: Style Icon</i> with presentations of four of her films and the first, <i>Sabrina</i> (1954), screens Thursday night. Janie Bryant, acclaimed costume designer of the Emmy winning series <i>Mad Men</i>, will be on hand.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Style in the Movies: The Legendary Costumes of Travis Banton</i> will spotlight Paramount's long-time costume Designer-in-Chief who, before he moved on to 20th Century Fox, mentored his successor Edith Head. Costume designer </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Deborah Nadoolman Landis will introduce all six Banton films </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(those asterisked below are part of the Travis Banton tribute)</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>The Noir Style</i> will also be celebrated and Eddie Muller, founder of the Film Noir Foundation, will be on hand for several noir screenings along with 'dames noir' like Rhonda Fleming, Marsha Hunt and Peggy Cummins.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There is so much packed into the four day festival that only a closer look at the daily schedules can give a real sense of how wide-ranging and spectacular TCMFF #3 promises to be. <a href="http://www.tcm.com/festival/schedule.html?day=thursday" style="color: #cc0000;">Click here</a> (and scroll down) for Thursday's full schedule.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">F</span>riday offers a day of non-stop events:</span></span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"></div><div style="text-align: right;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPwz6CaRWZUVWuzvrfkMXKeQN_JHG-d53G0vXCU2UkBKUDCFLa_hWhSJfGQQ2j-H6w3qhqQtwHqouxwhQWbvSv3R-HzdE6xTJhsc5gRE0wbyszKb5gwdPh_0xXx_wN-7jHStnpAqleYlhT/s1600/Big+Trees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPwz6CaRWZUVWuzvrfkMXKeQN_JHG-d53G0vXCU2UkBKUDCFLa_hWhSJfGQQ2j-H6w3qhqQtwHqouxwhQWbvSv3R-HzdE6xTJhsc5gRE0wbyszKb5gwdPh_0xXx_wN-7jHStnpAqleYlhT/s320/Big+Trees.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James Stewart and Kim Novak in <i>Vertigo</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">At world-famous <i>Grauman's Chinese Theatre</i>: John Ford's masterpiece, <i>The Searchers </i>(1956), <i>Funny Face </i>(1957) with  director and festival honoree Stanley Donen (on his birthday) and Disney's <i>20,000 Leagues Under the Sea</i> (1954) with its star, Kirk Douglas. Kim Novak will introduce the screening of <i>Vertigo</i> (1958) (<a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2012/01/kim-novak-in-vertigo-hypnotic-presence.html" style="color: #cc0000;">click here</a> for <i>Brandie Ashe</i>'s review for this blog on Novak's performance) and the final <i>Chinese Theatre</i> presentation for the night, Roman Polanski's brilliant 1974 neo-noir, <i>Chinatown</i>, will be discussed by legendary producer and former Paramount exec, Robert Evans, and screenwriter Robert Towne, who won an Oscar for his screenplay.</span></span></span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhKYU7cgu34evtRwhJhaVOvaBydrOfuJlHuqtkTT3BIINztuhqddcQmSfMkSxOEXwoud9f7pWqT78zmRFyjkjC-8D_QT3GWal24JUOkiVAxP04uDNFcWTQ6FMcEnYCPiHsLbmCggmwIDI-/s1600/audrey+in+funny+face.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhKYU7cgu34evtRwhJhaVOvaBydrOfuJlHuqtkTT3BIINztuhqddcQmSfMkSxOEXwoud9f7pWqT78zmRFyjkjC-8D_QT3GWal24JUOkiVAxP04uDNFcWTQ6FMcEnYCPiHsLbmCggmwIDI-/s320/audrey+in+funny+face.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Audrey Hepburn in Stanley Donen's <i>Funny Face</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Among the films screening Friday at <i>Chinese Multiplex 1</i> are William Wellman's <i>Wings </i>(1927), presented by Bill Wellman, Jr., and former Paramount exec A.C. Lyles (a sprightly 93-year-old), the world premiere restoration of <i>Two for the Road</i> (1967) presented by Stanley Donen (<a href="http://kevinsmoviecorner.blogspot.com/2008/07/two-for-road.html" style="color: #cc0000;">click here</a> for <i>Kevin Deany</i>'s take on the film at <i>Kevin's Movie Corner</i>), and the U.S. premiere of the 75th anniversary restoration of Jean Renoir's <i>Grand Illusion </i>(1937). At <i>Chinese Multiplex 3</i>, highlights include screenings of <i>Nothing Sacred</i>* (1937) and the Astaire/Rogers classic <i>Swing Time</i> (1936). A Friday night high point at <i>Chinese Multiplex 4</i> will be the screening of Max Ophuls' <i>Letter From an Unknown Woman*</i> (1948), starring Joan Fontaine (<a href="http://themovieprojector.blogspot.com/2010/04/letter-from-unknown-woman-1948.html" style="color: #cc0000;">click here</a> for <i>R.D. Finch</i>'s reflection on this underappreciated gem at <i>The Movie Projector</i>). At the <i>Egyptian Theatre</i>, Shirley Jones will present the screening of <i>Elmer Gantry </i>(1960), and Rhonda Fleming will join 'czar of noir' Eddie Muller for the screening of <i>Cry Danger</i> (1951).</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.tcm.com/festival/schedule.html?day=friday" style="color: #cc0000;">Click here</a> for the complete schedule of events for Friday, April 13.</span></span></span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVyvapBZMrOznYNVoxzhmUiNaCXoiVszPB6gHMCV-R5bK5Eei5dN8pXQI4NnmiGAqFcy_8kJ-5ktd7atTlEprkcI3mZPGBlnoA9MGcNxweSJfLs_DjLuwWFSa9DaB7Jm46jtz_Di1DfKP6/s1600/SnowWhite1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVyvapBZMrOznYNVoxzhmUiNaCXoiVszPB6gHMCV-R5bK5Eei5dN8pXQI4NnmiGAqFcy_8kJ-5ktd7atTlEprkcI3mZPGBlnoA9MGcNxweSJfLs_DjLuwWFSa9DaB7Jm46jtz_Di1DfKP6/s320/SnowWhite1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Disney's <i>Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">F</span>ilm festivals are always frantically busy on weekends, and TCMFF will be no exception. On Saturday at <i>Grauman's</i>, Kim Novak will have her hand and footprints enshrined in the courtyard concrete. Later, screenings at the theatre will include Disney's <i>Snow White</i> (1937), <i>Casablanca </i>(1942) and the 60th anniversary world premiere restoration of <i>Singin' in the Rain </i>(1952) - introduced by Debbie Reynolds. At <i>Chinese Multiplex 1</i>, Robert Wagner will appear for the presentation of <i>The Longest Day </i>(1962) and director Norman Jewison will be on hand for a 25th anniversary screening of his 1987 classic <i>Moonstruck</i>. At <i>Chinese Multiplex 3</i> fashion designer <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/alltherage/barbara-tfank/" style="color: #cc0000;">Barbara Tfank</a> will appear for the screening of Otto Preminger's sumptuous <i>Bonjour Tristesse </i>(1958), Eddie Muller will introduce Jules Dassin's 1950 noir classic, <i>Night and the City</i>, and actor Richard Anderson will be on hand for the screening of John Frankenheimer's underrated 1966 film, <i>Seconds </i>(<a href="http://twentyfourframes.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/seconds-1966-john-frankenheimer-2/" style="color: #cc0000;">click here</a> for <i>John Greco</i>'s review at <i>Twenty Four Frames</i>).<i> Chinese Multiplex 4</i> will feature a program of Laurel & Hardy shorts, <i>A Fine Mess </i>(1932 - 1933), and the astonishing Josef von Sternberg/Marlene Dietrich 1934 historical fantasy, <i>The Scarlet Empress* </i>(<a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/search/label/Light%20Shadow%20and%20Synergy" style="color: #cc0000;">click here</a> for my series on the von Sternberg/Dietrich collaboration).</span></span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxbgOYSVQtSDk8T6-ZjmjctCOIPoLgKk8-AmoTyzPb63QFvf1_NFLuEvX1_xECDCfaI6rcEisbPNYJsdEQl5xYIEenlC-YgGBERL438dDAeuf31lriF4h3AvI8mZFWa0R0Vz_v3AlvA55l/s1600/The-Scarlet-Empress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxbgOYSVQtSDk8T6-ZjmjctCOIPoLgKk8-AmoTyzPb63QFvf1_NFLuEvX1_xECDCfaI6rcEisbPNYJsdEQl5xYIEenlC-YgGBERL438dDAeuf31lriF4h3AvI8mZFWa0R0Vz_v3AlvA55l/s400/The-Scarlet-Empress.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marlene Dietrich in <i>The Scarlet Empress</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The Egyptian Theatre will showcase the sparkling 1958 comedy <i>Auntie Mame</i>, with an appearance by designer <a href="http://www.toddoldham.com/" style="color: #cc0000;">Todd Oldham</a>, director Norman Jewison will  discuss his very stylish <i>The Thomas Crown Affair </i>(1968) and Eddie Muller and actress Peggy Cummins (now 86) will discuss her best-known film, a standout of its genre and a shocker in its time, <i>Gun Crazy</i> (1950).</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.tcm.com/festival/schedule.html?day=saturday" style="color: #cc0000;">Click here</a> for Saturday's full schedule.</span></span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgam6siKCNSLrXT95n0awSBFANM5jZHYs4WixaZUJ66Kf6RSF7Fbku7d6gTACT-tCHFhtw5p30oQh7nebDRPRt_sXjZNLedFIeuNrtwu_BvET4kIrKapVflL4VxD9h3ItbCUCcEv8eJVFze/s1600/fireworks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgam6siKCNSLrXT95n0awSBFANM5jZHYs4WixaZUJ66Kf6RSF7Fbku7d6gTACT-tCHFhtw5p30oQh7nebDRPRt_sXjZNLedFIeuNrtwu_BvET4kIrKapVflL4VxD9h3ItbCUCcEv8eJVFze/s320/fireworks.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grace Kelly and Cary Grant in <i>To Catch a Thief</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">T</span>hough Sunday's schedule isn't yet complete, the day is by no means quiet . At <i>Grauman's</i>:<i> </i>Hitchcock's glittering 1955 VistaVision romp <i>To Catch a Thief</i>, Robert Evans will appear at the screening of Roman Polanski's 1968 trendsetter <i>Rosemary's Baby </i>(my take <a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2010/10/rosemarys-babyroman-polanskis-horror.html" style="color: #cc0000;">here</a>), Thelma Schoonmaker, Oscar winning film editor and widow of the incomparable Michael Powell, will introduce Powell's masterful 1948 collaboration with Emeric Pressburger, <i>Black Narcissus </i>(<a href="http://thrillingdaysofyesteryear.blogspot.com/2012/03/tribute-to-archers-powell-pressburger.html" style="color: #cc0000;">click here</a> for <i>Ivan G. Shreve</i>'s review at <i>Thrilling Days of Yesteryear</i>), and Todd Oldman is set to appear for the screening of George Cukor's sly and fabulous <i>The Women </i>(1939). At the <i>Cinerama Dome</i>, Debbie Reynolds will introduce the Cinerama epic <i>How the West Was Won </i>(1962). </span></span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJ_C0YM_v0aOXV5elKeC2O_KWL62bfWuTROJc38sbR-rlBojfFP95auLGHOGVZUh0dvyCq9L0HOeNlnoYLmFh5kdUlb-PwVA16xtH91UGspOeLLCypPMXOvkyTQy3Gke9pwhqe9cYGEAl/s1600/blacknarcissus10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJ_C0YM_v0aOXV5elKeC2O_KWL62bfWuTROJc38sbR-rlBojfFP95auLGHOGVZUh0dvyCq9L0HOeNlnoYLmFh5kdUlb-PwVA16xtH91UGspOeLLCypPMXOvkyTQy3Gke9pwhqe9cYGEAl/s1600/blacknarcissus10.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deborah Kerr in <i>Black Narcissus</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.tcm.com/festival/schedule.html?day=sunday" style="color: #cc0000;">Click here</a> for the Sunday schedule.<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A</span>s even a brief glance at its schedule makes crystal clear, TCM's Classic Film Festival is truly bigger and better than ever in 2012.</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ysln8lycvtK0IeFbNZXD-LAzP1RQX6hEJZEmHG57UJgy7vbexvwfHyvRjA0dRA7VW5rYkuLfzKSQEc0joaCrv2-dG9KGSUMTNHVHD9s3qRDsTuwn-GUnAqkOlix06rvHd_ard-XJ92pI/s1600/Searchers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ysln8lycvtK0IeFbNZXD-LAzP1RQX6hEJZEmHG57UJgy7vbexvwfHyvRjA0dRA7VW5rYkuLfzKSQEc0joaCrv2-dG9KGSUMTNHVHD9s3qRDsTuwn-GUnAqkOlix06rvHd_ard-XJ92pI/s400/Searchers.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Wayne, <i>The Searchers</i></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://youtu.be/-Gc0MOFmkLY" style="color: #cc0000;">Click here</a> to watch a TCM festival promo...</span></span></span>

TCM Classic Film Festival The Lady Eve (author) Celebrating the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood

Hollywood's legendary Grauman's Chinese Theatre J ust as T urner Classic Movies will pay on-air tribute to the films, talents and th...

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Noir City X...and a look at upcoming classics festivals

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKjWxyAN5_HgjrtEC88z8bbm3WZzwRuajvyhICRGj2H0Q6W0Z1lPAwPynLpLmRTiuUFk_mdqO0GM8N0zWy_IWa7pJTQxCFxi0hGKyfM5h2zU3J1O9f3k8DbUPQK0oobf53aqkUMbKIaTMf/s1600/naked+alibi+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKjWxyAN5_HgjrtEC88z8bbm3WZzwRuajvyhICRGj2H0Q6W0Z1lPAwPynLpLmRTiuUFk_mdqO0GM8N0zWy_IWa7pJTQxCFxi0hGKyfM5h2zU3J1O9f3k8DbUPQK0oobf53aqkUMbKIaTMf/s1600/naked+alibi+2.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><span id="goog_1955017720"><span id="goog_1955017728"></span><span id="goog_1955017729"></span></span><span id="goog_1955017721"></span><span id="goog_1955017733"></span><span id="goog_1955017734"></span></b></span><br /><b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><u>Noir City X, San Francisco</u> </span></b><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">January was a busy, busy month in my reel and real lives this year, but I still managed to squeeze in one night of lust and murder thanks to <i>Noir City X</i>, San Francisco's 10th annual film noir festival, a ten day event that ran from the 20th through 29th.</span><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Noir City</i>, presented by the locally headquartered Film Noir Foundation and masterminded by the organization's founder, Eddie Muller, is the one festival I'll never miss...even in the midst of a serious case of <i>Vertigo</i>. The line up for <i>Noir City X</i> featured many well-known classics: <i>Dark Passage</i> (1947) with Bogart and Bacall, Otto Preminger's genre defining <i>Laura </i>(1944), <i>Gilda </i>(1946) - wherein Rita Hayworth sizzled her way to film immortality, Preston Sturges' dark and hilarious <i>Unfaithfully Yours </i>(1948), <i>The Glass Key </i>(1942) based on a Hammett novel and starring the other iconic noir couple of the '40s, Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. Two adaptations of <i>The Maltese Falcon </i>screened, the original Roy Del Ruth 1931 version with Ricardo Cortez and Bebe Daniels, and John Huston's 1941 Bogart-Astor-Greenstreet-Lorre masterpiece. In addition, on January 21, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">festival guest of honor Angie Dickinson was interviewed by Muller on stage between screenings of two of her crime thrillers, <i>The Killers </i>(1964) directed by Don Siegal and John Boorman's <i>Point Blank</i> (1967).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As always, the festival also presented many not-so-well-known, even obscure films noir. And it was to see one of these rough-cut little gems that a friend and I met at San Francisco's enduring movie palace, The Castro Theatre, on Thursday night, January 26.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Naked Alibi </i>(1954) was a film unknown to me until I saw it listed on the festival program and the names of those top-billed got my attention. Sterling Hayden plays a cop out for vengeance, Gloria Grahame is the "border town bad girl" who gets under his skin and Gene (<i>Bat Masterson</i>, <i>Burke's Law</i>) Barry is a murder suspect released from custody for lack of evidence. Billed as an "ultra-rare potboiler," we chose <i>Naked Alibi</i> based on curiosity (the stars, that title) and its spot on the festival schedule (a good movie night for both of us).</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lXpKLYzYvps" width="420"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It may be ultra-rare, but <i>Naked Alibi</i> is also pretty slight stuff, even for a '50s B-movie. Hayden and Grahame deserve most of the credit for keeping things interesting - though Barry is an entertaining eyeful as an upstanding citizen/psycho with a hair-trigger temper. These three and the border town setting - plus an enthusiastic full-house audience - made <i>Naked Alibi</i> worth the price of admission.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Being in a festival frame of mind, I thought it timely to survey a few upcoming classics fests... </span><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghq5yb5yVXvP6lgAuLDeQaNyGaFmiT2UT_KEBK1tdIYY4vIPZFZV-2hd1uJhvsGgC8ElHdN4zVrZY-rnuY1jcXoiXM6m9NHQkeA9NaKRKRXoN67DasPTGw15Nb0cDyaGApbmWIswe8qLOd/s1600/moon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghq5yb5yVXvP6lgAuLDeQaNyGaFmiT2UT_KEBK1tdIYY4vIPZFZV-2hd1uJhvsGgC8ElHdN4zVrZY-rnuY1jcXoiXM6m9NHQkeA9NaKRKRXoN67DasPTGw15Nb0cDyaGApbmWIswe8qLOd/s320/moon.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A Trip to the Moon</i> (1902) in color</td></tr></tbody></table><u><b>T</b><b>he Kansas Silent Film Festival, Topeka, KS</b></u></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><u></u></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />The 16th annual <a href="http://www.kssilentfilmfest.org/" style="color: #990000;">Kansas Silent Film Festival </a>begins this Friday, Feb. 24, and runs through Saturday, the 25th, at Washburn University in Topeka - and it's free to the public!</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This year the festival will screen the newly restored hand-colored version of George <b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal;"> <span style="font-size: small;">Méliès</span></span></b><span class="style53"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">' </span></b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">classic short, <i>A Trip to the Moon </i>(1902) on Saturday night. It is believed this color version, featured during the opening of the 2011 Cannes film festival as well as in  Martin Scorsese's <i>Hugo</i> (2011), was not seen by the public for more than 80 years.</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="style53"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Also on the schedule:</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="style53"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Maurice Tourneur's <i>The Wishing Ring (1914) </i></span></span></span><span class="style53"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">accompanied by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra</span></span></span><span class="style53"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i> </i></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="style53"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i>The Clinging Vine </i>(1926) starring <a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2011/08/father-and-mother-were-movie-stars.html" style="color: #990000;">Leatrice Joy</a>, with organ music by Marvin Faulwell</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="style53"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i>The Cure </i>(1917) starring Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance, with music by Greg Foreman </span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="style53"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i>Alice in the Jungle </i>(1925), a Walt Disney cartoon - with music by Phil Figgs</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="style53"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i>Tramp, Tramp, Tramp </i>(1926) starring Harry Langdon, with music by Jeff Rapsis</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="style53"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i>Way Down East </i>(1920) starring Lillian Gish, accompanied by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="style53"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i>Sugar Daddies </i>(1927) starring Laurel & Hardy, with piano music by Marvin Faulwell</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="style53"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Fritz Lang's <i>Spies </i>(1928) - with music by Greg Foreman</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="style53"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i>He Did and He Didn't </i>(1916) starring Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, </span></span></span><span class="style53"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">accompanied by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="style53"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i>Monte Cristo </i>(1922) starring <a href="http://classic-film-tv.blogspot.com/2010/08/about-john-gilbertan-interview-with.html" style="color: #990000;">John Gilbert</a>, with organ music by Marvin Faulwell and percussion by Bob Keckeisen</span></span></span><br /><br /><b><u><span class="style53"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Cinefest 32, Syracuse, NY</span></span></span></u></b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMHdpABA28Asgc1QkZAXeWUiNMg6Wq1exGXQYsm12mPvnCID25Udgl-oiPj5sHowJU7QJGwt9VBzYlrocWliyO54KBh1Hu-SQAxCj3JWueZNQM_BJhGXre9n9AxiEDvToVE2XXHuD0ktxW/s1600/Love-Thy-Neighbor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMHdpABA28Asgc1QkZAXeWUiNMg6Wq1exGXQYsm12mPvnCID25Udgl-oiPj5sHowJU7QJGwt9VBzYlrocWliyO54KBh1Hu-SQAxCj3JWueZNQM_BJhGXre9n9AxiEDvToVE2XXHuD0ktxW/s320/Love-Thy-Neighbor.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>Coming up March 15 - 18 is <a href="http://www.syracusecinefest.com/" style="color: #990000;">Cinefest 32</a> in Syracuse, New York. The schedule promises a variety of screenings and much more for the dedicated classics buff.<br /><br /><span id="goog_1955017755"></span><span id="goog_1955017756"></span>A small sampling of the vintage motion pictures to be shown: Douglas Fairbanks in a film thought to be long-lost, <i>Mr. Fix-it </i>(1918), Clara Bow in <i>Get Your Man </i>(1927), Carole Lombard in <i>Matchmaking Mama </i>(1928), Sylvia Sydney in <i>Confessions of a Co-ed </i>(1931), Barbara Stanwyck in <i>Red Salute </i>(1936), Jack Benny and Fred Allen in <i>Love Thy Neighbor</i> (1940).<br /><br />Also on the bill: Eileen Bowser, former curator of the film department of the Museum of Modern Art, archivist/preservationists David Shepard and Ron Hutchinson of the Vitaphone Project and film historian Leonard Maltin, who will host a 'Sunday Morning Auction.' <br /><br /><b><u>TCM Classic Film Festival, Hollywood, CA</u></b><br /><br />The third annual <a href="http://www.tcm.com/festival/" style="color: #990000;">TCM festival</a> will run from April 12 - 15 this year - the setting is Hollywood and the mood glamorous...some schedule highlights:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7rzRlAQCTwsSVw6I18qupev_XnWrm-chO8xx1ddHFJy1-n8RMsccTPW1fIH_qNAmXzHW_K9ZfV0kNauxEHriSDFlEoGQ89aFXERdnEHU9n2NhLQxidgYWlabDIGV93pSfT8_2M_rzAes/s1600/funny+face.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7rzRlAQCTwsSVw6I18qupev_XnWrm-chO8xx1ddHFJy1-n8RMsccTPW1fIH_qNAmXzHW_K9ZfV0kNauxEHriSDFlEoGQ89aFXERdnEHU9n2NhLQxidgYWlabDIGV93pSfT8_2M_rzAes/s320/funny+face.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Audrey Hepburn will be saluted as a style icon with screenings of <i>Funny Face </i>(1957), <i>Sabrina </i>(1954) and <i>Two for the Road </i>(1967). Film noir will get a nod with <i>Cry Danger </i>(1951), <i>Gun Crazy </i>(1950) and <i>Raw Deal </i>(1948). The legendary costumes of iconic Paramount designer Travis Banton will be spotlighted with <i>Nothing Sacred </i>(1937) on the star he loved to dress most, Carole Lombard. Deco design will be highlighted with screenings of <i>Our Dancing Daughters </i>(1928), <i>Swing Time </i>(1936) and <i>The Women </i>(1939). The breathtaking list goes on: <i>Cabaret </i>(1972), <i>Casablanca </i>(1942), the two great American films of 1974<i> - Chinatown </i>and<i> The Godfather Pt. II,</i> <i>Grand Illusion </i>(1937), <i>Singin' in the Rain </i>(1952), <i>Wings </i>(1927). Guests will include Liza Minnelli, Rhonda Fleming, Debbie Reynolds, Marsha Hunt, Peggy Cummins, Joel Grey, producer Robert Evans, the Film Noir Foundation's Eddie Muller and others yet to be announced, plus TCM hosts Robert Osborne and Ben Mankiewicz.<br /><br />Meanwhile, beginning March 1, <i>The Road to Hollywood</i> will get under way and bring the TCM Festival to 10 cities around the U.S. and north of the border - New York, Minneapolis, Houston, Philadelphia, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Toronto, Denver and Portland. I hope you live near one of them! <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jYsu9UH2woQJkRnIWq4kYVMIAVc3Rvb_fXbAKQFlYgwScepDBpg7r3J5NlU4j8f54sfNiGa2zQPI4PXxkKSUeQyRySdUkXjUFXIZTzYyCciRyGyFfzrUyqW37RLMu2nDGnhXrcjyN4bv/s1600/Crashout+07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jYsu9UH2woQJkRnIWq4kYVMIAVc3Rvb_fXbAKQFlYgwScepDBpg7r3J5NlU4j8f54sfNiGa2zQPI4PXxkKSUeQyRySdUkXjUFXIZTzYyCciRyGyFfzrUyqW37RLMu2nDGnhXrcjyN4bv/s1600/Crashout+07.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Crashout </i>(1955) - Kennedy, Bendix and Talman</td></tr></tbody></table><b><u>The Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival, Palm Springs, CA</u></b><br /><br />The 12th annual <a href="http://arthurlyonsfilmnoir.ning.com/" style="color: #990000;">Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival</a> is set for May 10 - 13 in sunny Palm Springs. The schedule and guest roster aren't up yet, but in past years, the Lyons festival has featured such films as the ultimate Joan Crawford noir vehicle, <i>The Damned Don't Cry </i>(1950) with genre heavy and hunk-o'-man Steve Cochran,  <i>Loophole </i>(1954) with Dorothy Malone, Barry Sullivan and the sublime Charles McGraw, <i>Crashout </i>(1955) with Arthur Kennedy, William Bendix and another noir favorite, William Talman, and <i>The Underworld Story</i> (1950) with Dan Duryea and Herbert Marshall.<br /><br />The festival is a Palm Springs Cultural Center presentation and was founded by Arthur Lyons, mystery writer, film historian and author of <i>Death on the Cheap: The Lost B-Movies of Film Noir</i>. Lyons died suddenly in 2008 at age 62, but the festival that bears his name continues on.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~</div><br />More classics festivals loom in the future - in places like Columbus, OH, El Paso, TX, Chicago, San Francisco and, of course, Hollywood. I'll try to post updates from time to time and if there's a festival coming to your area that you'd like mentioned, just let me know: <a href="mailto:ladyevesidwich@gmail.com" style="color: #990000;">ladyevesidwich@gmail.com</a> ...<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>

Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival Cinefest Film Noir Kansas Silent Film Festival Naked Alibi Noir City TCM Classic Film Festival The Lady Eve (author) Noir City X...and a look at upcoming classics festivals

Noir City X, San Francisco January was a busy, busy month in my reel and real lives this year, but I still managed to squeeze in one night ...

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2011 TCM Classic Film Festival Dates Set

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglwlBczVmtR2Xrwz_r80atN1pGHcvHbJsMg89PWwBmVLSAIZvi6P0ZKtlGxPYUL-rx6ZjGUYt9TM1T9pGSQAqP37No6twMb7YcCfXXV2m1CR-tuQr4rIhHutVGRgoVSOfqAtz7vsmxE1SZ/s1600/TCM+Fest+2011.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519007774360429490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglwlBczVmtR2Xrwz_r80atN1pGHcvHbJsMg89PWwBmVLSAIZvi6P0ZKtlGxPYUL-rx6ZjGUYt9TM1T9pGSQAqP37No6twMb7YcCfXXV2m1CR-tuQr4rIhHutVGRgoVSOfqAtz7vsmxE1SZ/s400/TCM+Fest+2011.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 125px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 430px;" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519607052369254210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7C25XO53gD9bDZGtRxYPcNi6soM1PRaSMBHTPO_iwGvhyQQZMiwJGf1Hh43oH-rW3xq8b3JxYDmTauIOITUqR2Y90jeAjT79wldAcetuYsiqBn2AmKEFoHR3o6ZWLzNqyxOHU6MK5Imb/s320/headline%5B2%5D.png" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 38px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 335px;" /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiojzS602Dzi-RafXSDfHasHfeROnThY3LHOzM7qGtKZFzuJYbNb6Th5OWdK7RtbcdFSevqmCUL9dWSmrM1QAdG_KpE8zHRmlm6am2EVvXFsJShn6mqGe8vo9rHKL-cVc5dvDjxOknPULrC/s1600/Robert_Osborne+cropped.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519579630165147602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiojzS602Dzi-RafXSDfHasHfeROnThY3LHOzM7qGtKZFzuJYbNb6Th5OWdK7RtbcdFSevqmCUL9dWSmrM1QAdG_KpE8zHRmlm6am2EVvXFsJShn6mqGe8vo9rHKL-cVc5dvDjxOknPULrC/s320/Robert_Osborne+cropped.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 144px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 122px;" /></a>Tonight at 8pm, on Turner Classic Movies, Robert Osborne announced the dates for TCM's 2011 Classic Film Festival in Hollywood: <strong>April 28 - May 1</strong>.<br /><br />Passes will go on sale in November, but early birds can get started by making reservations now at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel which will once again serve as the official hotel and headquarters for the festival.<br /><br />Screenings and events will also take place at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Mann's Chinese 6 and the Egyptian Theatre.<br /><br />Last year more than 20,000 attended TCM's inaugural festival - people from 44 states, Washington DC, two US territories and six foreign countries...I have a feeling it will be even bigger this year.

TCM TCM Classic Film Festival The Lady Eve (author) 2011 TCM Classic Film Festival Dates Set

Tonight at 8pm, on Turner Classic Movies, Robert Osborne announced the dates for TCM's 2011 Classic Film Festival in Hollywood: April 2...

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