A Personal Look at the TCM Classic Film Festival 2012

I’m pretty sure Cinerama *is* how the west was won

Sunday started out with a misadventure at 6:45 in the morning — you’d be shocked how empty Hollywood Blvd. is that early in the morning. We were heading off to be first in line for How The West Was Won in Cinerama at the Cinerama Dome and wound up going in the wrong direction. Eventually we made it there and were indeed first in line. The film was unbelievable — better than I remembered — and seeing it in Cinerama, which is truly how it should be seen, blew my mind.

This also made up for missing Night and the City, as one of the film’s many stars is Richard Widmark, whose final appearance in the film is him riding the front of a train into the audience. I may have fainted.

After the film the saucy Ms. Debbie Reynolds shared some tidbits about making the film with Robert Osborne and flirted with the audience.

Me and Orson Welles

On our way to Grauman’s after the film I spent some time visiting Orson Welles. Also, we passed by Edgar Wright on the sidewalk, who apparently had just been at screenings of Trouble in Paradise and Cover Girl, but we were too engrossed in our conversation about Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle to notice until it was too late. Ah, cinephile problems.

The last film I screened at Grauman’s Chinese was Howard Hawks’s brilliant western Rio Bravo, which was introduced by Angie Dickison, whom I met in January at Noir City X. She is so gorgeous, I’m unsure how host Ben Mankiewicz kept his wits about him during their discussion. Ms. Dickinson called John Wayne “cute” in this film, which is so true. As are Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson. I may have hooted at them a little. What can I say, I live my life like I’m in a Tex Avery cartoon.

The last film of the festival was over at the Egyptian where the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra accompanied the 134-minute long 1924 Douglas Fairbanks classic, The Thief of Bagdad. Again, I was with Kristen and Trevor, but we were joined by the Will and Carley of The Cinementals. I’m surprised the world didn’t explode with us all in one row. And what a film it was! Some truly phenomenal visual effects and Fairbanks at the top of his game.

Leonard Maltin is a cool dude

But the festival doesn’t end when the films do. The final activity of the weekend was the closing night party back at the Roosevelt Hotel. I managed to snag a photo with Leonard Maltin before heading poolside with Kristen, Trevor, Jennifer from Dereliction Row and Titania of ClassicFlikChik.

There we met a young man named Isaac, who at only 17 has already been to the TCM Classic Film Festival all three years in a row. Drinks were had (not with Isaac, we’re not Ozzy Osborne, we don’t corrupt the youth!) and the rest of that night is probably left unshared.

So, all in all, this year was more amazing than I could ever have imagined and I’m guessing that each year it’s just going to get better and better and I am just so pleased that I am able to participate in this phenomenal love and appreciation of classic cinema and owe so much to TCM for letting all us fans have these amazing shared experiences. If you have never been, I hope you get to experience it at least once in your life; you will not regret it.