TCM Classic Film Festival Begins Tonight
In its second year, the TCM Classic Film Festival will run from April 28 – May 1, 2011 in Hollywood. The festival will open a red-carpet gala screening of An American in Paris, including special guest Leslie Caron, who starred in the film 60 years ago. Vanity Fair will be sponsoring the after party that follows the screening.
Robert Osborne, film historian and TCM on-air host, will serve as official host of the festival.
The films slated for TCM Classic Film Festival span several decades, including:
- The Merry Widow (1925)
- The Cameraman (1928)
- Fantasia (1940)
- Citizen Kane (1941)
- The Third Man (1949)
- A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
- Spartacus (1960)
- The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
- La Dolce Vita (1960)
- West Side Story (1961)
- The Parent Trap (1961)
- Becket (1964)
- Manhattan (1979)
- Reds (1981)
As well as many others that will be shown on 35mm, 70mm and digital prints and several have been digitally restored and remastered.
Special events throughout the festival include a discussion with Peter O’Toole during the screening of Becket on Friday, as well as an interview between O’Toole and Osborne later that day and a footprint ceremony at Grauman’s Chinese Theater on Saturday. Actor Peter O’Toole holds the record for most Best Actor Academy Award nominations without a win: eight.
Other discussions during screenings include Jane Powell during Royal Wedding and Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, Mary Badham and Gregory Peck’s family during To Kill A Mockingbird, Mickey Rooney during Girl Crazy, Kirk Douglas during Spartacus, Roger Corman during Little Shop of Horrors, Haley Mills during The Parent Trap and Whistle Down The Wind, Warren Beatty and Alec Baldwin during Reds, Angela Lansbury during Gaslight, Debbie Reynolds during The Unsinkable Molly Brown and George Chakiris during West Side Story.
Debbie Reynolds, Leslie Caron and Film Historian Kevin Brownlow (who recently received an Honorary Academy Award for his life’s work) will all be on hand at Club TCM for discussions and autograph signings.
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the site of the first Academy Awards ceremony, will serve as the official hotel for the festival. Screenings and events will be held at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the Chinese 6 Multiplex, the Egyptian Theatre and Music Box Theatre.
For real-time coverage of the festival follow @oldfilmsflicker on Twitter (look for tweets with the hashtags #yamtcmff and #tcmff). Also look forward to a full round up of the festival’s events early next week.
