Blog of the Darned

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

TCMFF Survival Guide Part 2 – Making the Most of Your Experience

This will be my seventh year attending the TCM Classic Film Festival (TCMFF), held April 21 to 24, 2022. In addition, I have been going to Comic-Con and other fan conventions for decades, so I know what it’s like to spend four or five days in a strange city living out of a hotel room and running around from the time you get up in the morning until the time you collapse in your room late at night.

This is the sixth version of this guide I've done. I've tried to refine things over the years and have decided to split this post up into three parts:

Part 1 covers the nuts and bolts of how TCMFF works.
Part 2 (this part) covers making the most of your experience and will also contain links to other similar posts past and present. I will do my best to update with new links as I find them.
Part 3 covers preserving your sanity in the craziness of TCMFF

What This Guide Will Not Cover

COVID-19 Restrictions, Processes, Mask Guidelines, etc. will not be addressed in this guide. At the time of this writing, the information on the TCMFF website was sparse and contained almost no specifics. However, the site says that TCM will continue to "monitor best practices and adhere to any required safety measures" and "will release a more detailed plan closer to the Festival." I am not going to attempt summarize or clarify this plan. When the plan is posted, I encourage everyone to read it closely and take appropriate steps accordingly. If they say that you need a certain type of mask that fits your face in a certain way, don't show up with a bandana like you're robbing the stage in a John Ford movie. In January 2022, I did a post on what the COVID guidelines might look like based on those at Comic-Con Special Edition in San Diego in November 2021 and what movie theaters in Los Angeles/Hollywood were doing in January 2022. That post can be found here. Bear in mind that this information is speculative and may ultimately be wildly inaccurate when we are closer to April. Look for the TCMFF COVID-19 plan when it releases. Read it, and follow it.

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Etiquette

This section covers TCMFF etiquette. The most important thing to do is silence your phone and other devices during screenings and do not take them out to post pictures, answer a text, or whatever. You might think it would be cool to take a picture of the movie title onscreen to post for your friends.

Don't!!!

There a people sitting next to you and behind you who are trying to enjoy the film. Just the light from your phone as you bring it up and try to find an app is insanely distracting in a dark theater. I usually put my phone in both Silent and Airplane modes during screenings. For me, most people who would be trying to contact me know I'm at TCMFF, so if I get a text, I tend to think it's an emergency and worry about it, not that I would be able to doing anything while I'm in Hollywood anyway.

It's okay to tweet, post to Facebook, Instagram, whatever while you're waiting in line or sitting in the theater waiting for things to begin. Once somebody starts talking, finish up what you're doing and put it away. Taking pictures/video during the intro is fine, but turn off the flash. It's distracting, especially to the people talking, and won't help if you're farther than about 10 feet away.

Be considerate of those around you. It's generally considered rude to leave before the end of a screening, but sometimes it's unavoidable. If you have to duck out early, try to get to the event you are leaving from extra early and get seat on the aisle so you don't have to climb over people. If you know you need to leave at a certain time, wear a watch. A watch screen is way less distracting than your Galaxy S21.

[A couple of related updates from Facebook comments. Thanks Colin and Danny]:

Be aware of other phone functions such as Alarms which may still make noises even in Silent or Airplane modes.

Be aware of the people behind you. If you want to stand a take a selfie, do it before the intro starts. The intro is part of the screening. You might think it's cool to take a selfie with the speakers in the background, but you're messing it up for the people behind you.

I shouldn't have to say this but:

Don't talk during the movie.
Don't take any pictures during a screening.
Don't check your phone for any reason during a screening.
In an emergency, if you absolutely need to use your phone, go into the lobby. You're not going to be able to help anyone from a movie theater anyway.

Planning

If you are a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type of person, I wish you lots of luck. Me, I figure out the entire schedule ahead of time. Then I don't have to worry about it. I usually know any blocks I was iffy about and will be able to switch gears without dwelling on it. If you wait until, you get out of one movie to decide what you're going to see next, you may be too late by the time you get there.

Once you’ve figured out what you want to see, you should probably try to get to events a half hour ahead of the start time, possibly earlier. If it’s something you’d be crushed if you missed, shoot for an hour early, especially if it's in the smallest theater. This is the one that is likely to have to turn people away at certain times. They hadn't announced the TCL Chinese 6 theater sizes when I wrote this (only that they were using three screens), so I wasn't sure which theater that would be.

How do you get to the screening a half hour or more ahead of time? You should be able to figure out the end times by looking at the schedule. Anytime you have a longer break between events is a good opportunity to get some food that doesn’t come in a bucket with fake butter and salt. Do keep in mind that the smallest theater is going fill up fast, a half hour ahead of time might not be enough. Try to get there earlier if possible. This also counts for Club TCM events. In Club TCM, there are booths on the side and rows of chairs on floor near the fairly low stage. Toward the back of the room is a bar for standing, but once the room gets full you're may not be able to see well standing in the back.

One last thing, if you’re planning to change clothes between the daytime and nighttime screenings, figure out which break you’re going to use to go back to the hotel and change.

Ovation Mall (Formerly Hollywood Highland Mall)

The TCL Chinese 6 and the TCL Chinese IMAX are located in the Ovation Mall. You'll be spending a lot of time there. The mall is sort of a tourist mall. Most malls are fairly easy to get around in. This mall, not so much. It was designed so that you can explore, with an eye toward wandering around and getting lost. This means that you may not always be able to tell what level you're on or how to get up or down one level, or most importantly if you're on the correct level for the TCL Chinese 6. If you have a spare hour before the festival starts, go over and find the TCL Chinese and figure out how to get from there to the Chinese IMAX and how to get in and out of the mall itself. It should be easy. It’s not. Note any stairs and escalators you run across. The time you get lost is bound to be the time you have least time to spare. If you see any interesting fast food, see if they have a To Go menu. It might be the only hot meal you get some day. Note that there is construction going on at the Ovation mall, and this might affect some of this info. Fortunately, things like stairways and escalators are very expensive. You don't just rip them out or move them willy nilly, but you never know. They might be resurfacing or changing the hand rails.

If you cannot do stairs or escalators, I strongly suggest you go to the mall ahead of time and find the elevators. I've never taken them, but they have to have some.

Hollywood Blvd

Hollywood Blvd is a nightmare. Okay, let me clarify. Hollywood Blvd is a tourist trap, and that makes it a nightmare. The worst part of it is the stretch between N Orange Dr, where the Roosevelt is, and N Highland Ave. Yes, Hollywood Blvd does have its charm. Okay, charm is putting it a bit strong. The first time I was in Hollywood was in the early 90s, and the bloom was gone off the rose back then. I do get that there is some appeal to Hollywood Blvd like the history and the Sidewalk Stars, but during TCMFF, you're better off avoiding it as much as possible.

I avoid it simply because there's too many people in the way, people taking selfies, Party City Spiderman and others of his ilk trying to get you make a donation to take your picture with them, people trying to sell tours you don't have time for, panhandlers, you name it, all in your way when you're trying to get somewhere. It's almost always better to find another way unless you're going to someplace right on Hollywood Blvd.

Right in the middle of tha stretch of Hollywood Blvd is the El Capitan Theatre. The El Capitan is Disney's flagship theater. The only reason I mention it (not one of the TCMFF theaters) is that there might be a premiere there that has nothing what-so-ever to do with TCMFF. It has happened in years past. The sidewalk might be closed or they might have you cross the street when you don't want to. Another reason to avoid it if you can.

To be honest, west of Orange Dr and in particular east of Highland, Hollywood Blvd is really kind of cool and worth exploring, just you won't have much time during the Festival. Me, I've never felt unsafe on Hollywood Blvd, but admittedly, my tolerance for that might be higher than yours. I do keep my eyes open, and I suggest you do too.

Getting Around at TCMFF

Probably the only good thing about not having the Egyptian Theater this year is that there is much less of a need to deal with Hollywood Blvd. That and most of the Festival is very close to together, with one one big exception, the Hollywood Legion Theater. If you look Google Maps, the distance from TCL Chinese IMAX to the Hollywood Legion Theater looks like it’s about 6 blocks, but if you look at the way the surrounding streets are laid out, it’s a long 6 blocks.

The following map that is mostly to scale. The size of the buildings in relation to the streets could be off by bit. The map make it look simple. It isn't. The TCL Chinese IMAX is on the street level. The main level of the mall is up one level from street and the TCL Chinese 6 is up one level from the main level, I think. From different parts of the mall you may need go up more than one level to get to the same place. It's weird, but that's just the way it works. Note that the numbers in blue circles are entrances/exits to the mall. These are my numbers, just so the map would make sense. If you go up to someone in the mall and ask where entrance 5 is, they won't have a clue what you're talking about. There may be other entrances/exits. These are the ones I know about or could see from a Google Maps. I'm pretty sure there is an entrance to the mall from the Loews Hotel; if staying there, I would find that and figure out how to get to the TCL Chinese 6 and IMAX that way before everything starts. There might be a way to get into that mall from Orchid, but I've never gone that way, so I left it off. Also I left off some streets that I didn't think would help you.

Going to TCL Chinese 6

From the Roosevelt, if you cross N Orange Dr and Hollywood Blvd, you'll be standing in front of Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. If you follow the sidewalk to the left of the wax museum (north on Orange Dr.), you'll come to a traffic circle where tour buses line up. Coming from Franklin Ave., take Orange Drive south to the same spot. Follow the traffic circle around to the back, and there's an entrance to the mall up some stairs. If you go in this way, where you come into mall, there will two sets of stairs going up on the left. One goes to the mall business office. The other goes to the same level as the TCL Chinese 6, about 30 feet from the door. Find this stairway. It will save you a lot time.

From East of N Highland Ave (closer to Hollywood Blvd), go in through either Entrance 3 or 5. Entrance 4 might work just as well. I almost always used entrance 3. There's a set of stairs the go up from Highland Ave into the mall. Do not go in through entrance 6, it's longer and you'll spend way more time dodging people on Hollywood Blvd.

From East of N Highland Ave (closer to Franklin), simple, entrance 2. You should be able to see this entrance as you're coming south on Highland Ave.

Going to Chinese IMAX

The thing you need to think about with the Chinese IMAX is the way they run the lines. The Spotlight VIP line is in the Courtyard, and probably most of it, if not all, is contained there. The other passholder line starts in the courtyard, but only accommodates the first 40 or 50 people. After that, it restarts at the top of the escalator from the Chinese IMAX and winds through the mall and out entrance 1, down the traffic circle and back toward Madame Tussaud's. At least, that's the way they ran it previous years (post-COVID, who knows). Don't worry if it goes back that far. It's a huge theater. You'll probably still get in.

If have a Spotlight pass or if you're getting there an hour early, just go to the front of the theater on Hollywood Blvd, though if you're coming from Highland, you might still be better off going through the mall.

If you're coming from the Roosevelt/Orange Dr and you don't have a Spotlight pass and you're not getting there an hour early, come in through entrance 1. You'll probably hit the end of the line about the time you're coming into the mall.

If you're coming from Highland Ave, you're probably still better off coming through the mall (just to avoid Hollywood Blvd) and head toward the Chinese IMAX. You'll probably hit the line before you get there, and if you have a Spotlight pass, you can take the escalator down, show your badge, and get through that way.

Going to Hollywood Legion Theater

See map below. I didn't include most of the streets north of Franklin. They veer to the west and wouldn't help you anyway. It is a bit of a trek, and you are going up a bit of a hill on the way there. Google maps says it's 0.6 miles (Roosevelt Hotel to Legion Theater) compared to 0.3 miles (Roosevelt Hotel to Egyptian Theater, not being used this year). Google calls it a 14 minute walk. I do think you could shave a minute or two and maybe a tenth of a mile by taking Johnny Grant Way or cutting through the mall as indicated below. The TCMFF web site calls it a 15 to 20 minute walk.

From Hollywood Roosevelt, you have three options:

Go north up Orange across the Traffic Circle (really just a parking lot, you can walk straight across). The red line is Johnny Grant Way a service/access road/alley that connects Orange Dr to Orchid Ave. It doesn't seem to have any sidewalks so you'd need to keep an eye out for traffic especially at night. Then take Orchid north, right on Franklin, then left on Highland.
Go north up Orange to the Traffic Circle and into the mall at entrance 1 and out the mall at entrance 2. From there, you're almost on Highland and just go north to the theater.
Go north up Orange across the Traffic Circle to Franklin, turn right on Franklin, then left at Highland. Definitely longer but you don't have to deal with the mall or an access road.
I would not go Hollywood Blvd to Highland, because Hollywood Blvd, unless you're trying to pick up food or something on the way.
From the TCL Chinese 6 and IMAX, go through the mall and exit from entrance 2. Then north up Highland to the theater.

From east of Highland, just go north on Highland to the theater. Franklin jogs at Highland about a block north. Where it starts again is the last crosswalk if you're on the wrong side of the street. Highland's a pretty busy street. I don't think I'd want to j-walk it.

A few Legion Theater tips that I might or might not follow:
Someone suggested because of the distance, just going to all of the screenings at that venue to avoid having to go back and forth. I can't see going that route unless the schedule was very very cooperative. I might let it sway me if I was on the fence about a block and was already going to be up there.
There's not much in the way of food up that way, a Subway just north of where Franklin jogs on the east side of the street, and handful of restaurants, most of which are only open for dinner. I did hear good things about the food at the Legion Theater itself, and I do vaguely, remember that the sandwiches at the snack bar looked good.
Someone suggested that if going to the Legion theater at night, walk in packs. Me, I'd be more worried about crossing Franklin at night. Still, I think if you were heading there close to the time a screening was getting ready to start, there's bound to a dozen or more people heading there at the same time, so it's quite likely you would be in a pack already.

Research

Take the time to read everything you can find on the website, http://filmfestival.tcm.com/. Search for blog posts like this one. There are links to similar posts below. A good source of info is Twitter, follow @tcm and search on the #TCMFF hashtag. There will be lots of good tips there. Also you might want to join the Going to TCM Classic Film Festival! Facebook group (link at the end of this post). Google the people being listed as guests, you never know, you might be standing next to one of them at Starbucks, and it will give you something to talk about. If they are showing one of your all-time favorites, read the Wikipedia and IMDB pages about the film. You’re sure to pick up some interesting tidbits that most people don’t know. You can look smart to other people in line.

Smartphone App

Each year the festival does smartphone apps for iPhone and Android. If you have a smartphone, download it. They probably won't post it until fairly close to the Festival. Just know that it will be posted, and get it when available. The smartphone apps will contain pretty much everything in the TCMFF guide book, plus things like updates of late additions/changes and the titles for the To Be Announced (TBA) slots on Sunday. More on that later. Even if you don't think you would use it, download it anyway. You might get shut out on a screening and need to figure out a plan B on the fly. That would be one time you realize you left your guide book at the hotel. Me, I don't use it a whole lot as I'm usually on Twitter during TCMFF and can get much of the same info there. Also, phone battery life can be an issue, so I would rather save my battery for taking pictures and social media, when most of the info on the app duplicates what's in the TCMFF guide book that I'm already carrying anyway. Plus, I would rather read on paper than my phone. Then again, if you live on your phone, you'll rely more on the app.

TCMFF Guide Book

Each year, TCM publishes a guide book listing all of the films and other events, guest bios, and other valuable info. Everything you need to know about the festival will be in there. In the past, it has been printed in a small format, but I wouldn't call it pocket size, well, not unless you have very large pockets. Now, I know what your thinking. If everything is in the guide book, why do you need the app? Well, S*** Happens. Guest might get sick and have to cancel at the last minute. Maybe there's a new book coming out, and they don't know whether or not copies will be available for a signing at the time they go to press. And again the TBA screenings, I swear, I will get to that in this post.

You can pick up your guide book when you arrive and get your pass/badge. Per the web site, passes will be available for Will Call pick up at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel beginning Wednesday, April 20th. 2022 festival passes cannot be shipped. I'm sure this is due to COVID-19, so that they can verify vaccination/negative COVID test status. No hours were posted when I wrote this, but I'm pretty sure they're going to make provisions for the extra time the COVID processing will take. With any luck, they will open Will Call pickup on Tuesday. Hear that, TCM?

Hint!!!

You should be able to get a guide book at the Information Desk (ground floor) in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Information Desk hours from 2019 were: Thursday, 10 am-8 pm; Friday/Saturday, 8 am-8 pm; and Sunday, 8 am-6 pm. Presumably, they will be comparable this year. If you lose or forget your guide book at the hotel, the Information Desk should be able to get you a new one.

Travel

By now, you probably have already made arrangements for travel, so it's probably too late to change it, but for future reference, I would recommend coming in on Wednesday (or earlier) before the festival and leaving Monday (or later). There are lot of people who build vacations around TCMFF. You will make friends, and the extra time will allow you to hang out with your old movie cronies.

Earlier I said, read everything you can thing. Well, I know how you can get busy and time can get away from you, especially when preparing for a trip/vacation. Most people are going to have a good 5 or 6 hours travel time getting to TCMFF. Make some printouts or save copies to your tablet or whatever to read in the airport and on the plane.

Are you the type who likes to buy souvenirs? If so, are they going to fit in your suitcase? You might want to consider bringing a Priority Mail Flat-Rate box. If you’re worried about items getting lost or damaged in the mail, you can always mail home your dirty clothes. Post Offices:

1615 Wilcox Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028 (hours, 9 am to 6 pm, Mon to Fri; 9 am to 3 pm, Sat; closed Sun), about 6 blocks east of Highland and half a block south of Hollywood Blvd.

1425 N Cherokee Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028 (hours, 9 am to 5 pm, Mon to Fri; 9:30 am to 3:30 pm, Sat; closed Sun), about three blocks east of Highland Ave. and a block south of Sunset.

Other shipping options:

Mail and More on Hollywood, 7095 Hollywood Blvd. (hours, 10 am to 5 pm, Mon to Fri; 10 am to 3 pm, Sat; closed Sun), much closer, about two blocks west of the Roosevelt. It is a private shipping place, so you may pay more. Then again, it's much closer to the Festival than either of the Post Offices.

FedEx Office Print & Ship Center, 1755 N Highland Ave, Hollywood, CA 90028 (hours, 9 am to 5 pm, Mon to Fri; closed Sat/Sun), about a block north of Hollywood and Highland. You'll probably pass it multiple times on the way to and from the Legion Theater during the Festival.

It might even be worth calling your hotel and see if they can mail for you.

Use Social Media to Your Advantage

Me, I only do Facebook and Twitter, so I can only speak to those with any authority. On Facebook, I suggest joining the Going to TCM Classic Film Festival! group. It's a great place to meet people, make plans, and ask questions (link below). TCM has a very active presence on Twitter. Even if you have never been on Twitter, it might be worth the trouble of creating an account just for TCMFF. Make sure that you follow @tcm and monitor the #TCMFF hashtag. The immediacy of Twitter make it a good platform for interacting with others in close to real-time. I'm sure if you are on Instagram, Tumblr, or social media, you can find similar by searching for TCMFF. If you do meet people on social media who click with and think it might be fun to have lunch or something, make plans early. People's schedules fill up quick. Hmm, note to self: There probably needs to be a TCMFFr app, so you can swipe right for film festival hookups. Look into this for 2023.

Choose You Own Path

Different people enjoy TCMFF in different ways. Some people like to discovery new films or see special presentations that you can only find see at the Festival. Some people want to see every as many Film Noir or Pre-Code screenings as possible. Others want to relish in old favorites they have seen a hundred times before. In the past, I have attended with my daughter, and I tended to pick films that I know she would like or should see. She's working full-time and won't be attending this year. She's all grown up. I'm verklempt. I'll be adjusting things a bit this year. At least, I think so. You may run into others who have a different approach to TCMFF than you. Don't feel bad or think you need to reevaluate. There is no one right approach except for the one that works for you.

Be Flexible

To anyone who prefers Gentlemen, you're welcome.

Despite all of your planning, leave yourself a little wiggle room. Each year, they leave four or five TBA slots open on Sunday to repeat films that turned people away earlier in the Festival. The TBAs will be announced fairly late on Saturday. This could be your chance to see something that you had to skip or got locked out on earlier. On the TBAs, bear in mind that certain things probably will not be repeated. A silent film with a live orchestra may not be repeated just because the musicians would have to be available on short notice. Also, I don't see them repeating a film that overflowed the 900-seat Chinese IMAX. Showing it again in a 200-seat theater probably wouldn't make enough difference to be worth the trouble.

in 2018, we were about 20 people back from getting into a rare screwball comedy, but it didn't look like we going to make it into the theater. The TCM Festival staff announced that another screening of a French-language film noir still had plenty of seats. We switched gears and that turned out to be one of our favorite films that year. It’s perfectly okay to switch things around. You might be late getting to a screening and get shut out. Check the schedule, you might be able to get into something else. Maybe, you figured that you’d be too tired for any of the midnight movies, but you get out of that last screening and feel really pumped and want to keep going. Go for it.

Maybe, there is a block that you’re not particular enthused about. This is the perfect chance to get a real meal or even sneak back to the hotel for a nap. One year, my daughter and I watched a movie we were both psyched on, but ended up hating it. Neither of us, had to energy to watch another film afterwards. I dropped my daughter off at our AirBnB, and went back to the Roosevelt for a drink. I ended up hanging out with a friend Ruth at the Roosevelt bar at just the right time to meet and take a picture with Dennis Miller. Just remember, you’re there to have fun. It’s almost assured that you’re going to be running around a lot, but there is nothing that says you have to. It’s okay to take a breather.

Dennis Miller, Ruth Mundsack, and me

Try Something New

To a certain degree, this is going to vary from person to person to person. Maybe, you've never been to one of the midnight or poolside screenings, try to find a way to make that happen. Maybe, you've never seen a silent film with live accompaniment. Maybe, you're the type of person who puts a premium on seeing films you've never seen before over old standards that you've seen a bunch of times. Know that seeing something like Casablanca in the TCL Chinese IMAX in a packed theater with an audience who knows the film by heart like you do is a way better experience than seeing it on the big screen at the multiplex with Fathom Events with 30 people.

My second year at TCMFF, they did a special presentation on the history of Technicolor. I thought it sounded really cool, but I decided on something else instead. Afterwards, everybody was raving about how cool the Technicolor thing was. The next year I decided to not make the same mistake twice and went to the Vitaphone presentation. Vitaphone was the first technology to make talking motion pictures viable on a large scale, and the presentation was awesome.

Just try to step outside of your comfort zone at some point during the Festival. Maybe, it works out. Maybe, it doesn't doesn't work out so well. Just know that it's actually kind of hard to make a bad decision at TCMFF.

Try to See Something Besides Inside of a Theater

Even if you only have a couple of hours to spare, take advantage. Maybe you can squeeze in one of the tours. If you keep going east on Hollywood Blvd, things start to get less cheesy and you'll find cool things like vintage clothing stores. Also it seems like more of the sidewalk stars that direction are Golden Age Hollywood people. Me, I want to try to have a meal at Musso and Frank's again and maybe a trip to Amoeba Records. (6400 Sunset Blvd). Occupying an entire block, Amoeba Records is arguably one of the best record stores in the country. They also have a great selection of DVDs upstairs, organized into categories that TCMFF people will appreciate, such as Film Noir and Pre-Code. I just found out Amoeba Records has moved to a smaller location at 6200 Hollywood Blvd . Reviews on it are mixed, good reviews from people who had never been to the old location, poor reviews from people who had. I have a feeling it's a shadow of its former self. It is close to a Trader Joe's (1600 Vine St) and a minor classic film landmark (Chateau Alto Nido Apartments, 1851 Ivar Ave, William Holden's apartment in Sunset Blvd). All very close to Hollywood Vine Metro station if you want to save the 1 mile walk. [Thanks again, Danny]

About 4 blocks east of Highland on Hollywood Blvd. is Larry Edmunds Bookstore, great bookstore, specializing in movies and theater.

If there is somewhere you want to go, it might be worth it to call and see that they are still there, or that their hours haven't changed, especially post-COVID. A couple of years ago, I did a series of posts on my favorite TCMFF Sidetrips. See links at the bottom of this post.

Talk to People

You probably wouldn’t know but I’m kind of an introvert. Oh, I’m fine talking to people if I feel have a reason to or if I think I have something in common with them, but in some social situations, I clam up or spend the whole time talking to the people I already know. Know that pretty much anybody wearing a TCMFF badge is someone you have something in common with, probably way more than most of your friends back home. This is your tribe. Revel in it. By Saturday, almost anyone you talk to has seen at least one of the same movies you have over the Festival. At any given time, there are about five things going on at once. If you’re standing in line, everyone else in that line has just passed up four other things that under normal circumstances they would love to see. If that’s not something in common, I don’t know what is. If you’re shy, try the following conversation starters:

What have you seen so far? A lot of the time it’s things you saw too or something you really wanted to see, but had to skip for something you wanted to see more. If it’s one of those rare titles, you can find out whether it was worth it. This may help you decide on those TBAs on Sunday.
What’s your favorite thing so far? You might get some great stories: Eddie Muller was very funny. Or I was standing in line for coffee with Ben Mankiewicz.
And don’t forget the standard ones: Where are you from? How was your trip?

Festival Boutique

No word at this at this time. I would imagine that there would be a place to buy Festival t-shirts etc. In years past, they have taken over part of a shop in the mall. I'm guessing they will do similar this year, but if the mall is under construction, they may be waiting to finalize the location. Then, again, post-COVID maybe prices have gone up to the point where it wouldn't be worth doing.

Swag

I like to think of TCMFF as Comic-Con for classic film fans. At Comic-Con, you can't walk 20 feet without having someone give you swag. For those not in the know, swag is cool free stuff, or sometimes just free stuff. There is not a lot of swag at TCMFF, but it does exist. TCM does hold events for things like the TCM Wine Club. Will there be swag there? I honestly don't know, but there might be. Of course, maybe you'll have to join Club to get it, but if you were planning to anyway, it might be cooler than what you would get otherwise.

Most years, Beth Accomando and Miquel Rodriguez of Film Geeks San Diego, do some sort of swag and/or cookies for the midnight movies, but you have to go to the midnight movies to get them.

Roughly 98% of the swag at TCMFF is buttons. Before TCMFF in 2019 , I made rather flippant remark on Facebook about buttons. I said, if you didn't get any buttons, it's because you didn't try. Of course, several people responded, I didn't get any buttons. How do you get buttons? Well, here you go.

A lot of people make buttons to give out at TCMFF. Maybe they are promoting their classic film blog or podcast. Maybe they're doing it because they like Eleanor Parker or secretly wish they had Warren William was their sugar daddy. Anyway, if you want buttons, find someone who has some buttons and ask where they got them. Maybe they ordered them online before the Festival (graphic designer Kate Gabrielle has been doing TCMFF button sets for years; you can order them here). Maybe they got them the year before. Maybe the got them the day before from a guy wearing a Buster Keaton hat. Then again, maybe they got one from the woman over there in the green dress, and she still has some. You go up and ask her, and she gives you one.

You may need to ask five people, ten people, twenty people, thirty people. Maybe you will get some buttons. Maybe, you won't, but what if you don't. Is it bad that you talk to 20 or 30 people you wouldn't have talked to otherwise? If you see someone with a lot of buttons, ask them. Often the reason people have a lot of buttons is that they are giving them out and got them in return. They probably have some on them and would be happy to give you one.

Another way to get buttons is look on social media. A lot of the people who order buttons to give out at the Festival will post pictures of them on Twitter, Facebook, or whatever ahead of time. "Hi everybody, my Cary Grant buttons came in today." When you see things like this, like them. Post comments about how cool they. Follow or friend them. Send them a direct message. When it gets closer to the Festival, figure out which events they are going to and find them and ask for a button. See what I did there? I just recommended that you cyberstalk someone to get Cary Grant button. Don't worry. In the realm of cyberstalking, this is about as benign as it gets.

Finally, if you really want buttons, go out and get some. Find an image you like, ignore the fact that you don't own the copyright. Yes, I know this is wrong, and illegal, but you're probably not going to get caught, though to be safe, I might steer clear of Disney. Then order some buttons. If you're not real tech savvy, find someone to help you. You probably know have a nephew who can help. If that is too much trouble, just do one with text. Most button making sites will allow you to type in the text, you want to put on the button. Say you like, Chico Marx, do buttons that say, "There ain't no Sanity Clause"

The reason everyone does buttons is that they're cheap and easy to do. The first place I looked at just now was charging $42 for 100 buttons. You can probably do better if you look around. That's about a 40 cents a piece. If you get a button-making kit, you can probably do them even cheaper, especially if you print the images at work. If you give out a hundred buttons, you're probably going to get some in return. Are you going to get 75? Maybe not. You might only get five, but likely you'll get quite a few. You're definitely going to get one, because you're going to keep one for yourself. And it's going to be one you like, because you picked out what to put on it. You got a button that you love, and it only cost you a 40 cents. Score.

Nowhere is the old adage it's better to give than receive more true than with buttons and TCMFF. The point is not getting buttons. The point is giving them. Where else can you make people happy for 40 cents. If you give a homeless guy 40 cents, he's going to look at you like you just took a dump in his sleeping bag. If you like buttons, order some. You'll get one, and you'll make 99 other people happy. It's the best 40 bucks you'll ever spend in your life. By the way, if you do make some buttons, it's probably better not to put the TCM logo on it. TCM is in the business selling stuff with their logo on it. They probably wouldn't confiscate them or anything, but it is their pool we're playing in. We should respect that.

If you decide to do swag, now, would be the time to figure it out. You need to allow time to get them ordered and delivered. You wouldn't have them arrive the day after you leave for Hollywood. I am doing swag this year, but it won't be buttons. No, I'm not telling. I just like going a different direction.

In 2019, I did temporary tattoos. I gave one to an older woman that I'd interacted with on Facebook. She said, "I have a tattoo." She then showed me this very fine black line in the crook of her hand between her thumb and forefinger. She said that she did it herself with a needle and india ink. "When I was a kid, all of the good-looking bad boys in the neighborhood had these crucifix tattoos on their hands there," she explained. She and a girlfriend tried to give themselves tattoos to impress them, but it hurt too much so she only got the one line done. When I sent her a message on Facebook to ask if I could share this story, she said I could and that the the bad boys were called Pachucos, a name for Mexican-American gang members in the 1950s. That's one of the most hardcore things I've heard in my life. This woman who looks like the perfect grandmother was giving herself a home-made tattoo to impress the bad boys in the neighborhood in the 1950s. I wonder if her kids/grandkids know.

Several years ago, I did these. I got a really great smirk from Ben Mankiewicz when I handed him one.

If they ever show A Place in the Sun, I'll do them again.

Swag You Really Don't Want

One last word of warning. As you wander Hollywood Blvd, people are going to try give you stuff. Don't take it. Once a young man came up to me and said, "Here, have a free CD." In a moment weakness and exhaustion, I accepted. He then proceeded to ask me for money for the free CD he had just given me. And then didn't want to take it back when I said no. Trust me, you don't need that kind of headache.

Shameless Plug

I broke down and order some enamel pins. They should arrive in the next two weeks. I am going to be selling them online as soon as they come in and in-person at TCMFF.

It dawned on me after I'd ordered them that maybe I didn't think this through very well. It's probably not the best idea to be selling something in little ziplok bags on Hollywood Blvd, but my darling wife assured me that I was white and could probably get away with it.

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Thanks for reading. I hope this was helpful. Don't forget to check the links below. Good info there as well. I will update these links as I see more.

Thursday, February 17, 2022

TCMFF Survival Guide Part 1 – How TCMFF Works

This is, I think, the sixth version of this guide I've done. I've tried to refine things over the years and have decided to split this post up into three parts:

Part 1 (this part) covers the nuts and bolts of how TCMFF works.
Part 2 covers making the most of your experience and will also contain links to other similar posts past and present. I will do my best to update with new links as I find them.
Part 3 covers preserving your sanity in the craziness of TCMFF

What This Guide Will Not Cover

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Most of the following is kind of a dumbed-down version of what's on the official TCM Classic Film Festival page, the definitive source of all of this information.

Date announcement

Most years, the dates of the next year festival are announced in the Summer. This year, they were a little behind, presumably due to COVID, and announced the dates in early October. The only reason I mention this is that really want to get a room at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, it's a good idea to act fast. The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is a very expensive hotel and has only a relatively small number of somewhat reasonably priced but still expensive rooms, you need to book almost immediately after the dates are announced. To give you an idea of what I mean, in 2015, I called the Roosevelt at about 4:30 Pacific time the day TCM announced the dates, and by that time, the cheapest available was a mini-suite at $700 plus a night, in 2015 prices no less.

Passes

Festival passes/badges for the 2022 TCM Classic Film Festival will be exclusively available for Will Call pick up beginning Wednesday, April 20th. No passes will be mailed for the 2022 TCMFF. While this may be an inconvenience, presumably it is necessary so that TCM can perform any needed COVID verifications.

Badges, we don't need not stinking badges.... Well, yes, you do.

Passes usually go on sale in late November. At the time of this writing, Spotlight and Essential pass levels are sold out, and Classic and Palace passes are still available. Currently, there is a waitlist for Spotlight and Essential passes. See the TCMFF web site for details. This year, TCM did early bird discount pricing for the first two or three weeks. I'm pretty sure the early bird prices were the same as for the [cancelled] 2020 TCMFF, and then in early December, Pass prices went up to the values you see below. From top to bottom, the pass levels break down as follows:

Spotlight Pass ($2549) – A few years ago this pass-level sold out very quickly. The following year, the price of this level was raised significantly, and now it sells out over a period of weeks, not hours/minutes. This level gets you all benefits of the Essential Pass plus the following:

Entry to the Opening Night Gala Party following the official Opening Night Red Carpet Gala screening
Meet-and-greet events
Priority entry to screenings (separate line that goes in first, does not guarantee you a seat if the theater is full)
Limited edition TCM Classic Film Festival poster

Essential Pass ($1099) – This level gets you all benefits of the Classic Pass plus the following:

Entry to the official Opening Night Red Carpet Gala screening at the TCL Chinese Theatre (but not the party afterwards)
TCMFF swag bag (gift bag)

Classic Pass ($849) – In all of the years I have attended, I have attended on a Classic Pass or a Media Pass (pretty much the same thing as a Classic Pass). This pass level gets you the following.

Access to all film programs but does not include the Opening Night Red Carpet Gala screening nor the Opening Night Gala Party afterwards
Access to Club TCM events, panels and poolside screenings at Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
Opening Night welcome reception in the early evening on Thursday at Club TCM in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
Closing Night party on Sunday at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel

Palace Pass ($399). Access to film screenings at all Festival venues, excluding the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres Multiplex and Club TCM (Note: This pass does not grant entry to the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres Multiplex, Club TCM events or official parties and receptions at any time).

Additionally, this Palace pass does not grant access to any Festival venue or event prior to Friday, April 22.

Individual Tickets. After all passholders have been seated, any open seats will be sold on a first come, first served, standby basis. Individual tickets are $20 for most screenings and events. Students with valid student ID will receive a 50% discount off all individual tickets. I seem to remember that they only took cash, but I can't say that for sure. I do remember seeing a tweet saying that sometimes individual ticket holders got in late and often missed the film introductions. Your mileage may vary. See the TCMFF web site lists more details on Individual Tickets.

I do want to stress that I make no claim that the above information is definitive. You should always consult the TCM Classic Film Festival web site for details on passes.

Line numbers

Not Those ...

These

When you get in line for a screening, you will be given a number in the order you enter the line, this means you can leave the line and go do something if need be, use the rest room, or grab a snack. I would check to see when they're going to move the line. Usually the people giving out the numbers have a good idea. That way you know how much time you have. You need to make sure you get back in line before your number moves in. They will not hold a seat for you just because you have a number. Take advantage of it when you can. It could be the difference between a sandwich for dinner and Jujubes.

It's really simple if the line doesn't get messed up, which does happen sometimes. Say you and the person you're with get line numbers and want to leave to get popcorn. You get back to the line and figure out where your number should be. Most people put the numbers in the pocket of their badge, so you can usually see where you need to go. If you need to ask someone what number they are, go ahead. People are really good about helping you out. Say you and the person you're with have numbers 75 and 76. You find the people closest to yours. It might be 72 and 77. So you get in line in front of 77 and behind 72, knowing that 73 and 74 have to get back in line in front of you.

If you get in line and decide to just stay in line, do not squish the line forward. There's are always going to be people who will need to get back in ahead of you. Sometimes the line will be really full, and you don't want to make it worse. Just figure out where you need to be and find out who has the numbers around yours. Then when the line starts to move you can get back in at the proper spot.

Venues

Chinese IMAX ceiling fresco

The important thing to keep in mind about the venues is where they are and how big they are. The schedule for TCMFF can be very tight. You generally want to get in line by about a half hour before a screening. Obviously, if you have to hoof it out to the Legion Theater, you need to allow time for that. Generally speaking, one of the theaters in the TCL Chinese 6 is relatively small. You probably need to get there even earlier for those, because they are the most likely to have to turn people away.

I’ve arranged the venues by how close they are to the Roosevelt Hotel, since that is the host hotel:

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel – Home to Club TCM and the Poolside screenings. Club TCM is where a most of the guest interviews and special programs will be. In years past, there was a fairly low stage, rows of chairs and a standing area behind the chairs. If you’re at the back of the standing area, you might not be able to see very well. If there is an event that is really important to you, make sure you get there extra early. The pool is just that, a swimming pool with a screen at the one end. Everybody says get there extra early if you want one of the lounge chairs. I've only been to a coupled of the poolside screenings.
Chinese Theatre IMAX (920 seats) – This is the old Grauman’s Chinese theater. If you cross Hollywood Blvd. from The Roosevelt, you’re there. Okay, it's down a little bit, but it is very close. For lines, they usually run some Disneyland-style switchbacks in front of the theater and then break the line and start up again up the stairs up into the Ovation Hollywood mall (formerly Hollywood and Highland mall). Don’t panic if the line goes back a long way. It’s a huge theater. In the past I've seen the line wind through the mall, out the side of the mall and almost all the way back to the front of the theater, and I still got in.
TCL Chinese 6 Theatres – Located inside the Ovation Hollywood mall. Currently, the TCMFF site only says that three screens are being used, but not the size of the theaters. I will try to update the theater sizes sizes when they are announced.
Legion Theater at Post 43 (484 Seats) – Located at 2035 N. Highland Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90068. This is a newly refurbished historical theater in the American Legion Post 43. Very cool venue. According to Google Maps, the distance from the Hollywood Roosevelt to Legion Theater is 0.6 miles (compared to 0.3 miles to the Egyptian, not being used this year, bummer) Google Maps calls it a 12 minute walk. The TCMFF web site calls it a 15 to 20 minute walk. It is possible to cut through Ovation Hollywood mall, and you might shave time off that, hard to say. If you were coming from the TCL Chinese 6, it definitely would be faster to go out the back of the mall. There is a way to exit the mall to the north that puts you out on Highland Ave. near the Loew's Hotel. Also by going through the mall you can go almost the entire way without dealing with Hollywood Blvd. craziness. That might save some time as well.
Other venues. In years past, TCMFF has held a small number of events at other venues. At this point, it's hard to say if that will happen this year. I'm guessing it will not. The Egyptian Theatre is undergoing renovations and is scheduled to re-open in 2022, but likely will not be open in time for TCMFF. The Cinerama Dome is currently listed online as permanently closed. However, there was an article posted in mid-December by the Hollywood Reporter saying that the company that owns the theater has applied for a liquor license and plans to re-open in 2022. Again, likely, this may happen too late for TCMFF. That said, it is possible the people at TCM will pull a rabbit out of their fedora and announce something about additional venues in the coming weeks. I'm not holding my breath, but it would be nice.

A word of warning about the Ovation Hollywood mall. It was designed to be explored. There are multiple levels, and it's not always easy to know what level you are on and how to get up or down, and more importantly where you are in relationship to the TCL Chinese 6 and/or the Chinese IMAX/Roosevelt. There are a few tricks to getting around which I will cover in Part 3 of this post. The abridged version is that if you have any time before TCMFF starts, go to the Ovation Hollywood mall and at the very least figure out where the TCL Chinese 6 is. It is very easy to get lost, and the time you get lost is bound to be the time you only have a very short window to get to the next screening.

Schedule

The full schedule is posted about three weeks out. For the most part, films are scheduled in blocks, with all five theater venues running films at the same time, not counting Club TCM events, poolside screenings, handprint ceremonies, etc. For example, on Friday and Saturday, there is usually a morning block, a mid-day block, an afternoon block, an early evening block, a late evening block, and one midnight movie each, on Friday and Saturday nights only.

There's roughly an hour between blocks, and you would think that leaves you plenty of time to get from one screening to the next, but it doesn't always work out that way. Let's say, one person goes to a screening of a 90-minute movie that starts at 9 am, and another person goes to 2-hour movie that also starts at 9 am. The 90-minute movie person has an extra half hour between blocks and probably won't have much trouble getting to a second screening at 12, whereas the 2-hour movie person might be scrambling. All films have someone introducing them. Sometimes, it's a simple 5-minute intro like we're used to seeing on the network. Other times, it may be a 20 minute presentation or interview with one the film's stars or director. You really need to pay close attention to start and end times.

Epics, like Gone with the Wind or Lawrence of Arabia will take up two blocks. Sometimes blocks will pair a longer movie, say a 2 1/2-hour movie opposite a pair of short movies, like a 70-minute Pre-Code and an 80-minute film noir. It can get pretty complicated, and that time window between blocks of movies do not always align perfectly well.

The TCMFF program is broken into a number of categories:

Essentials – Classics that pretty much every one knows, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, Double Indemnity
Discoveries – Lesser known classic and sometimes foreign films, Merrily We Go to Hell, When Worlds Collide, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Special Presentations – Films with more in-depth discussions/celebrity interviews, collections of short films, silent films with live accompaniment, and so on
Tributes – Films that also feature appearance by/interviews with high profile guests
A number of themes, in 2019, the themes included the following:

Bromance
Magnificent Obsessions
A Celebration of 20th Century Fox
Nitrate – Presumably, no Nitrate this year (I think the Egyptian is the only theater in the area with the equipment required to safety screen Nitrate prints)

Club TCM Events – Panel discussions, Hollywood Home Movies, etc.

Finally, on Sunday, there are four or five To Be Announced (TBA) screenings. These are repeat screenings of particularly popular films that had to turn people away, so if you do get locked out on something, there's still a chance you can see it on Sunday. The TBA films are announced by early evening on Saturday. A list will be posted at the Info Desk at the Roosevelt, on the App, Twitter, etc., and the film intros late Saturday will usually announce them as they become available.

So I know what you're thinking. How do you choose and when do you eat? Both are good questions. The answers are a bit complicated, but I'll do my best to answer in subsequent parts of this Guide.

Sunday, January 30, 2022

TCMFF Top Five

Last week, TCM announced new films for the upcoming Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival (TCMFF), being held April 21–24, 2022. My guess is that we probably won't get many more film announcements until the complete schedule drops about 3 weeks out from the Festival. Oh, there might be a handful more that'll squeak through. Usually. these will be ones that are tied to a guest or a special screening of something that is newly restored/newly available. I'm sure the good folks at TCM are trying to pin these down now. Still, if they follow the pattern of previous years, we probably won't get a big drop of films like we did last week until we get the full schedule.

Thus, welcome to my perennial top five list of what's been announced so far. This time, I'm going to include three honorable mentions at the end, all dramas. Bear in mind, that this is kind of an academic exercise. I know that when the complete schedule drops almost all of these are going to fall by the wayside. Inevitably, something you think is one of your top picks at this point in time ends up being scheduled against something that you want to see a whole lot more. With that in mind, let's get to the list.

5. The Flame and the Arrow (1950) – The Flame and the Arrow is kind of an odd film to show up on this list. It's an enjoyable film, I'll give you that. Who can argue with young Burt Lancaster in a period film doing all kinds of crazy acrobatics. That's not the reason though, this is going to be an Academy Conversations with Craig Barron and Ben Burtt. These guys are great, and their presentations are both entertaining and informative. I saw them do a incredible presentation for Adventures of Robin Hood on my first TCMFF and they did a very cool presentation on sound effects one year before a screening of War of the Worlds. On the strength of this, The Flame and the Arrow wins out over several films that I like way better.

4. Baby Face (1933) – Baby Face is one of my favorite Pre-Code films. Nothing beats Barbara Stanwyck sleeping her way to the top, with Friedrich Nietzsche philosophy running around in her head. It also has a really great performance by Teresa Harris, a beautiful, talented African-American actress who never got enough good roles. This was one of them.

3. The Legend of Drunken Master (1994) – Legend of Drunken Master is kind of an odd film to be showing at TCMFF, but once you think about it, maybe not so much. Jackie Chan made his first film appearance uncredited in 1962 at about the age of 8. By the 70s, he was working steadily in the Hong Kong doing Kung Fu movies. He learned early on that there was no way to compete against the ultimate Kung Fu movie star, Bruce Lee, so Jackie took a different approach, he made Kung Fu comedies, and nowhere is that on better display than in Legend of Drunken Master. Yes, the plot, what there is of it, is kind of nonexistent, but it's a pretty incredible movie in terms of stunts and physical comedy. I saw him speak in the mid-90s and he cited Gene Kelly as one of his big influences. Gene Kelly often uses very long takes so you can see the choreography as a whole. Jackie Chan approaches his fight and action scenes in much the same way. Like Kelly, he's a master of integrating props into the choreography. If he's in a fish market, you're going to get Fish Fu. His mother tries to hide her gambling from his father, you're going to get Mahjong Tile Fu. You'll find both in Legend of Drunken Master. I swear, I'm not making this up.

2. After the Thin Man (1936) – After the Thin Man is not my favorite Thin Man movie, but it is still quite good. They all are. I'm not even sure where it would place among them. Still, how often do you get to see any Thin Man movie on the big screen with a TCMFF audience. They did screen The Thin Man in 2014, and with the sequels all being as good as they are, it doesn't make sense to reshow the first one. After the Thin Man is a natural pick, especially since it is one of James Stewart's first good roles.

1. The Sting (1973) – My top pick is The Sting. I haven't seen it in the theater since I saw it on its first run when I was about 11 years old. It is probably the best con-man movie of all time. It is probably also George Roy Hill's best movie and arguably both Paul Newman and Robert Redford's best movie. This is a great great film. There were many many good films made in the 1970s. The Sting ranks up there with any of them. Of all the films on this list, this is the one I feel most likely that it will stick.

As promised, I give you the following Honorable Mentions:

Lilies of the Field – Great feel good movie, would be awesome to see on the big screen. Amen. Ayyyyy-men Ayyyyy-men Ayyyyy-ayy-ayy-ayy-ayy-ayy-men.

Angels with Dirty Faces – One of Cagney's best, and for a gangster movie with a heart, this is a gangster movie with a heart. Yeah, I know that doesn't make any sense.

The Slender Thread – I only saw this once. Very good film, and it's a great pic for TCMFF.

The films announced for TCMFF so far are as follows:

After the Thin Man (1936)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Annie (1982)
Baby Face (1933)
Counsellor at Law (1933)
The Flame and the Arrow (1950)
Force of Evil (1948)
The French Way (1945)
The Gay Divorcee (1934)
Giant (1956)
The Gunfighter (1950)
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)
It's Always Fair Weather (1955)
Jewel Robbery (1932)
Key Largo (1948)
The Last of Sheila (1973)

Legend of Drunken Master (1994)

Lilies of the Field (1963)
A Man Called Adam (1966)
The Pajama Game (1957)
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
Polyester (1981)
Portrait of Jennie (1948)
The Slender Thread (1965)
A Star Is Born (1937)
The Sting (1973)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Monday, January 17, 2022

TCMFF, The Good, The Bad, and The Pandemic

This post is going to look at what we might have to look forward to with an in-person post-COVID TCM Classic Film Festival (TCMFF). I am going to focus on what you might be able to expect for the COVID requirements for the upcoming TCMFF.

Disclaimer 1: Most of what follows is based on what I like to think is educated speculation on my part. I am basing this on the way another similar but different event I did volunteer work at, which ran late last year. I have volunteered for Comic-Con International (the huge show in San Diego every July) for more years/decades than I care to admit. In November 2021, the good folks at Comic-Con International (myself included) ran Comic-Con Special Edition (CCSE). The idea was to have a much smaller show, say a third to half the size of a normal Comic-Con. Mostly, it was to get people together for an in-person event, but also it was a test case for how the organization would manage running a much much larger in-person event post-COVID. In addition, I did look at a number of Los Angeles movie theater web sites, and their guidelines seemed consistent with what happened at CCSE.

Disclaimer 2: Bearing in mind Disclaimer 1, CCSE was run under the conditions that existed in San Diego in November 2021. TCMFF is being run under conditions that we don't know about at this point in time. TCMFF is being held in Hollywood, which falls under the city of Los Angeles/county of Los Angeles, which may have stricter requirements than San Diego. Ideally, the conditions will be better in April than they are now, but there is no guarantee of that, and even if the conditions are better in April, I don't think it's likely the restrictions that were in place at CCSE (and currently in place in LA now) will be more relaxed at TCMFF.

Disclaimer 3: I have been vaccinated (full, two-dose Pfizer vaccination in May 2021 and booster in December 2021). I believe in science. I believe that organizations like the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control know more about virology and the COVID-19 virus than I do, and I trust their judgement. In my lifetime, I have benefitted from vaccination. I have never seen an iron lung, except in Classic Movies. I have never known anyone who has died from Typhoid or Tetanus or Small Pox. There is a Cary Grant movie, Room for One More. In this film, Cary Grant and his both real-life and fictional wife (Betsy Drake) adopt older children who are not the most-desirable candidates for adoption. One of the children they adopt, Jimmy-John, has braces on his legs. They don't say it, but I assume that Jimmy-John has braces on his legs because of Polio. I've never known anyone who had Polio. This is because of vaccines.

Note 1: If you are on the fence about getting vaccinated, you probably should do so, while you still have time to do it before TCMFF starts. It's probably going to be much easier to show proof of vaccination than proof of a negative COVID test come April. Think about it, do you really want to have to schedule a doctor's appointment the day before you leave on vacation? If you have a legitimate health or religious reason for not getting vaccinated, I do understand that and hope that you can stay safe. I hope that my getting vaccinated will help keep you safe.

Note 2: If you don't believe I'm vaccines, I don't want to argue with you about it. You are not going to change my mind, and I am not going to change yours, so why waste each other's time? If you post comments about how vaccines are dangerous, or that COVID is fake, I will just delete your comments. Yes, I do believe in freedom of speech, but you can exercise that freedom on your own blog and freely speak about how Pfizer is injecting us with tracking devices or Jewish space lasers caused the California wildfires to your heart's content. Just don't do it here.

Now first let's look at what TCM currently says about the situation (the following was copied from the TCM Film Festival web site (About > FAQ) after 4 pm Pacific time on January 17, 2022:

WHAT COVID-19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS WILL BE IN PLACE AT THE 2022 TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL?
The health and safety of Festival attendees is our number one priority. Attendees will be subject to all applicable federal, state and local safety precautions in place at the time of the event. In addition, TCM may, at its sole discretion, implement additional safety precautions to be determined. Mandatory compliance for Festival attendees could include, among other requirements, mandatory masking, social distancing, capacity limits, negative test results verification, and/or proof of vaccination. As we continue to monitor best practices and adhere to any required safety measures, we will release a more detailed plan closer to the Festival.

To be honest, I would say that this is purposefully vague. This is not to say that TCM is not watching the situation and creating a plan. They say they are monitoring best practices, and I'm sure they are, but they probably do not want to release a detailed plan at this point only to have to change it later. Still, looking at what is said here, it doesn't look all that different than what happened at CCSE, so using CCSE and a little research as a guide. Let's look at the different parts:

Mandatory Masking – This one is kind of a given. Figure that you will need to wear a mask anytime you are indoors, unless you are actively eating or drinking. At least, that's the way it worked at CCSE. Possibly, this would be relaxed inside a screening or Club TCM, but don't count on it. I looked at TCL Chinese Theatres, the Legion Theater, the New Beverly Cinema, and Academy Museum of Motion Pictures web sites (links at the end). Consensus is that masks are required in screenings, unless you're in your seat and actively eating or drinking. The Academy Museum theater has no snack bar, so they make no provision for eating and drinking. Let's face it, no one likes wearing a mask, but if you really can't handle wearing a mask for a long periods, maybe this is not the year you want attend TCMFF.
Social Distancing and Capacity Limits – I combined these two because they are closely related.

Social Distancing – Rule of thumb for social distancing is 6 feet space between people. I'm not sure how you would do social distancing in a movie theater, unless you have two empty seats between people and stagger the rows maybe. That means theaters would be at 1/3 capacity. I don't seen that happening, and that's not what they are doing at movie theaters in Los Angeles now. realistically, I don't see how they can do social distancing in Club TCM or in lines:

Club TCM is held in the Blossom Room at the Hollywood Roosevelt. Well, that room is not getting any bigger. In theory, you could limit attendance to events in Club TCM, which possibly works for things like panel discussions, but the biggest event, the closing night party is packed, and the only way you could socially distance would be to turn a lot of people away. TCM knows that Club TCM is part of the experience. I don't think TCM wants people upset about not being able to get into events and the parties, unless there is a very compelling health reason to do so. Again, you may need to wear a mask when you're not eating or drinking like in the theater. I'm not saying it will happen, but it seems likely.
In theory, you can socially distance in a line, but logistically, you need to have somewhere to put it. First, off we're not talking about one line, We're talking about three lines, Spotlight, Other Passholders, and Standby. Also in the TCL Chinese Multiplex, you have three sets of three lines. Let's look at largest theater, the TCL Chinese IMAX (920 seats at full capacity). The worst I ever saw it was The Manchurian Candidate (with Angela Lansbury introducing). The other passholders line had Disneyland switchbacks in the courtyard in front of the theater, started again up the stairs through the mall, out the side of the mall, and ended about where the wax museum is. I was about line number 400 and I was just past the point where it was completely out of the mall and turned the corner going back toward the wax museum. That line was two or three people abreast (people tend to attend screenings in small groups) and still goes that far back. Even assuming people still can stand in small groups, put six feet space between groups and that line goes half way to Burbank. That's probably an exaggeration, but it is going to be a lot longer and at some point you need to worry about crossing streets, waiting for Walk signals etc. It's a logistic nightmare, and that's just one line. Maybe because social distancing in lines seems unrealistic, masks again may be required while standing in line when you're not actively eating or drinking. Again I'm not saying it will happen, but it seems fairly likely.

Capacity Limits – Traditionally, capacity limits for events are imposed by the venue itself. The Super Bowl is being held in SoFi Stadium next month with a capacity of just over 70,000. Currently, there are no plans to limit attendance at the Super Bowl. Once those 70,000+ tickets are sold, that's it. Full capacity is met. Movie theaters work the same way. There are only so many seats. When those seats are full, you are at full capacity. Other venues are a little more difficult to manage. For a venue like Club TCM, the organizers have a rough idea of how many people attended events like the closing night party in the past, and know that limiting attendance probably means telling people they can't come in. Technically, there is another way to limit capacity, sell fewer passes, but then you make less money, and TCM is a for-profit company, owned by WarnerMedia another for-profit company, owned by AT&T still another for-profit company. While I do think TCM cares about classic movies more than profits, AT&T cares much less and wants to see a profit. Considering that TCMFF only made modest price increases on passes, Early Bird prices were the same as 2019, with non-Early Bird prices roughly 10% higher, yes, I know Palace and Classic were more than 10% higher, but Essential was almost exactly 10%, and Spotlight was less (probably all comes out in the wash). Possibly, they are selling fewer passes, but I doubt it. You would need to sell a lot less passes to make enough difference for social distancing. Obviously, if the situation gets worse, and they have to limit capacity, TCM will do so. I'm sure they are making contingency plans they hope they never have to use.

Negative Test Results Verification, and/or Proof of Vaccination – A couple of months ago, I heard someone complain about passes being only at Will Call and not being mailed out. Verifying negative test results and proof of vaccination is the reason. They need you to pick up the badge in person, so they can do this.

Proof of Vaccination should be relatively simple. You show your vaccination card or possibly a photo of your vaccination card or possibly some sort of standard digital proof of vaccination, like a QR Code from a site similar to https://myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov/. They check this against your photo ID, and you should be good to go. However, note that fully vaccinated is usually interpreted as 14 days after you receive second shot on a Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 two-shot vaccine or 14 days after receiving the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 one-shot vaccine.
Proof of Negative Test Results is more complicated. There will probably be a window of time before the event where the test has to be done. For CCSE, that window was 72 hours, which is what some of the theater websites are asking for. CCSE started on a Friday, so the negative test had to be done on the Tuesday before the event or later. For TCMFF, 72 hours before would work out to the Monday before TCMFF or later. Also, it's very likely that the test will need to come from a health care provider, not an at-home test (if you do a home test, how do they know you were the one person who took the test). You will likely need some sort of written proof of the negative tests from a health provider in your name that matches the name on your photo ID. I'm guessing this may take longer to process, because the paperwork for different healthcare organizations all looks different, and it may take longer to find what they are looking for. There are at least two different types of test available, antigen and PCR/NAAT tests. I think most events accept either at this point, but if you are going this route, you should make sure you do the correct type of test, as the situation might change.

This is the way the situation looks right now. It is possible that things will get way better in the next three months, but I wouldn't count on it. It is possible that the situation will get worse, but we probably won't know that until we get there. I am not going to sugarcoat things. The situation is going to be challenging. I do believe that TCM is up for the challenge, and if we cooperate and be patient, I think that this year's TCMFF is going to a safe and fun event for all.

Special Thanks are due to Ruth Mundsack for giving me the skinny on how screenings work at the Academy Museum.

Saturday, December 4, 2021

What a Character Blogathon: Theresa Harris

This post is part of the 10th Annual What a Character Blogathon, hosted by, Outspoken and Freckled, Once Upon A Screen, and Paula's Cinema Club.

Theresa Harris had a career spanning four decades and appeared with the likes of Barbara Stanwick, Marlene Dietrich,Bette Davis, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Ruth Hussey, Greer Garson, Rosalind Russell, Robert Mitchum, and Ginger Rogers, and worked filmmakers Josef von Sternberg, John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, Busby Berkeley, Michael Curtiz, Woody Van Dyke, Roy Del Ruth, William Wyler, George Cukor, Jacques Tourneur, Orson Wells, Robert Siodmak, Otto Preminger, Jean Negulesco, and Alfred Hitchcock (episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, directed by Hitch), not too shabby considering the limited roles she played.

If the world was fair, Theresa Harris would have been a star, not a character actress, but as we all know, the world is not fair. As unfairness goes, people of color bear brunt of unfairness far more than their white counterparts. Theresa Harris had the looks of a movie star and could sing and act like a movie star, but she was African-American, which meant she usually played maids, often without screen credit.

Theresa Harris was born on New Year's Eve, 1906, though some sources say 1909, in Houston, Texas. She studied music as a child in Houston, before her family moved to Los Angeles when she was 11. After graduating from Jefferson High School, she studied music at the UCLA Conservatory of Music and Zoellner's Conservatory of Music, before joining the Lafayette Players, an African American musical comedy theatre troupe. Originally, she had aspirations of becoming a concert singer, but then switched to acting after being cast in an uncredited singing role in Thunderbolt (1929), video available here.

Theresa Harris' first credited and arguably her best role came in the Pre-Code Baby Face (1933) opposite Barabara Stanwyck. Harris plays Chico and works in the small-town speak-easy owned by Stanwyck's abusive father. After Harris is fired for breaking dishes (and Stanwyck's father is killed when his still explodes), Stanwyck and Harris take to the road together. What makes this unique is that is that throughout the film they remain friends and confidantes. Though later in the film, Harris appears in a maid's uniform, she is probably the best dressed maid in all of classic film, and the two still maintain an equitable friendly relationship, very unusual even by racy progressive Pre-Code standards. The song "Saint Louis Blues" is used throughout the film with Harris providing vocals twice, including the scene where Stanwyck seduces a railroad bull in a boxcar to gain the pair passage to New York.

Hollywood has always had a habit of repeating themselves, especially when something is a hit. Three years after Baby Face, in another Barbara Stanwyck film, Banjo on My Knee, Harris again got to sing "Saint Louis Blues," this time in a full production number backed by the Hall Johnson Choir, video available here.

Often in the classic era, actors of color were required to speak in an unrealistic uneducated black dialect, and Harris could "Sho' nuff" do this with the best of them as she did opposite Bette Davis, in Jezebel (1938). However, Harris often stood out from other African-American actors by speaking perfect English in her film work. I have nothing to support this, but I'm convinced that when given a role, she first read her lines in standard English to see if the director would let her could get away with it. Imagine the gall at the time, a colored woman speaking correctly. I also imagine that she lost work due to this. Again, I have nothing to support this, other than a very strong feeling that this was the way it went down.

All, I know is that she when was allowed to do so, she put her own personality in what otherwise would be throw-away roles. The racist stereotypes of the time played for easy laughs with the racist audiences. Actors of color almost always played an exaggerated version of how white people thought black people should act. By having the courage and conviction to play herself, Theresa Harris came off as natural, and her charm shone through, even in tiny roles. In one all-time of my favorite films, The Big Clock (1948), she appears briefly letting her light shine as the Stroud's family maid. Obviously, director John Farrow (Mia's father) didn't have a problem with this. Me, I much prefer this tiny uncredited role to her "better" credited performance in Jezabel.

I read somewhere that when Theresa Harris films would play in black neighborhoods, theater owners would list her name on the marquee with title of the movie, because in her two minutes of screentime, she was more of a draw to black audiences than anything else Hollywood could offer. Her importance to the African-American community is also evidenced by a cover story which appeared in Jet magazine, September 11, 1952, available here.

Three of Harris' best roles came under the direction of Jacques Tourneur in the 1940s, two back-to-back performances in the Val Lewton horror films, Cat People (1942) and I Walked with a Zombie (1943) and four years later in Out of the Past (1947). All were relatively small parts, which more or less sums up here entire career.

In Cat People, she plays a waitress, Minnie. Although she speaks slang in this role, it's not the Sho' Nuff colored slang, but standard American slang, as you would expect from a waitress in greasy spoon restaurant. It's only a few short scenes, but her interactions with Kent Smith and Jane Randolph, regulars at the restaurant, are natural and flawless, she even gets a witty rotort.

In I Walked with a Zombie, she plays a servant on a sugar plantation on Saint Sebastian in the Carribean. Francis Dee plays a nurse hired to care for the mistress of the plantation, whose illness has left her near comatose. Again, playing a servant, Theresa Harris has great scenes with the Dee, in particular, the one where she introduces her to her infant nephew, and afterwards, the conversation takes a dark turn to voodoo.

Possibly, the most unique role in here career is her small part in Out of the Past. Theresa Harris plays, you guessed it, a maid, Jane Greer's ex-maid to be specific. Robert Mitchum has been hired to find Greer, and he tracks down Harris in an all black bar. The scene lasts only a minute or two, but it's one of the few times I've ever seen black people relaxing in a club, in an otherwise all white movie. It's actually quite refreshing (image below taken from the Jet article mentioned above).

I've saved the best for last, a film I had never seen until just today, The Flame of New Orleans, a period comedy from 1941. Theresa Harris plays Marlene Dietrich's, I'm not going to mince words, slave. Marlene Dietrich's character had been in Europe before the start of the film, and you could argue that she was a servant, not a slave, but being set in New Orleans in the 1840s, I'm going to go with slave. Putting that issue aside, it's a great film and a great role for Harris.

Marlene Dietrich plays Countess Claire Ledoux, a glamous woman who manipulates all the men around her. Though a servant/slave, Theresa Harris is more of cohort. She lies for her, spies for her, and helps manipulate Dietrich's would be lovers. In Baby Face, Theresa Harris and Barbara Stanwyck are more of less equals, but Harris is just along for the ride. In The Flame of New Orleans, Harris is less equal in terms of society, but more of a partner in crime in the context of the film. She even gets a love interest in the form of Clarence Muse, another slave/manservant. This very funny film. Theresa Harris is in it a lot, and she steals every scene she's in.

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Theresa Harris retired after an uncredited appearance in The Gift of Love (1958). Per several sources, she invested her income from acting well and was able to live comfortably until her death in 1985. As a footnote to her long career and her struggle to get decent roles in a Hollywood that had no place for her, playwright Lynn Nottage, inspired by Harris' performance in Baby Face, wrote, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark. This off-broadway play is a take on 1930s Screwball comedies, featuring a strong willed African-American maid who is also an aspiring actress. By the Way, Meet Vera Stark was nominated for several Drama Desk awards in 2012.

Sunday, May 2, 2021

TCMFF 2021 Virtual Madness

This year, there was a lot more going on at the TCM Classic Film Festival (TCMFF) virtual edition. With the addition of more programs on HBO Max, and Club TCM events on Zoom, it made the choices much much harder this year.

For those of you new to the Festival or my blog or my Festival picks, I normally do them in the format of NCAA tournament brackets. In an in-person TCMFF, I would do them by times, as you normally have about five things going on at the same time, and you have narrow it down to one. And try to find time to eat and sleep during all of that.

Obviously this time, it's less of an issue. You still need to find time to eat and sleep. But with roughly half the material being on HBO Max, you can watch them or less at your leisure and with a DVR, I should get to see pretty much everything I want to.

To make this work, you really need to have round numbers. I counted 77 individual events, not counting three Club TCM events I'm unable to attend. I may have miscounted, don't quote me on this. That's the number I came up with. That's the number I'm using, so there. I did combine two related pairs, because it made sense to do so the SF Sketchfest Plan 9 from Outer Space and Plan 9 from Outer Space and Tex Avery King of Cartoons and Tex Avery at MGM. This brought the total down to 75 events of which I dropped 11. Mostly these are films that I've seen a lot of times or I really don't care about or possibly have never been able to make it through the movie.

In no particular order these movies are:

The Goodbye Girl
China Syndrome
Ocean's 11
Diner
Lady Sings the Blues
Annie Get Your Gun
A Star Is Born (1954)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Antwone Fisher
The Decline and Fall of Western Civilization
Scarecrow

Also, I did drop off three of the club TCM events, because they were unavailable or I had a conflict. Meet TCM was still available but it was scheduled the same time I'm getting my first COVID vaccine, so I'll do the responsible thing for society and get vaccinated and miss this. You're welcome. Opening Night Toast with the Hosts and Curating The Classics are things I definitely would have wanted to see but both were full by the time I got around to registering for them. I'm really bummed here. That'll teach me to procrastinate. I'll blame working too much, but the truth is I waited too long.

This left 64 films and other event, which I broke into four brackets of 16, named after venues at a normal TCMFF. I did take the liberty of taking my top four picks and putting them in the top each the bracket of 16, so that they would have a good chance of making it to the final four. My picks, my rules. Then I drew the names of the films randomly to fill in the brackets, trying to put up TCM films against the HBO Max films, as much as possible

For the sake of simplicity, I'm only going to talk I'm only going to talk about the most interesting lineups in each group.

TCL Chinese Group

One of the toughest battles in the first round was From Broadway to Hollywood versus Danny Glover. From Broadway to Hollywood sounds really interesting, but I really do like Danny Glover. The reality of the situation here is they're playing from Broadway to Hollywood in the wee hours of the morning. I probably will record it and watch Broadway later.

The other big battle in this group is in the second round with L.A. Rebellion about Indy African Film-makers against the Bill Morrison film, let me come in. Never seen either one here, but Bill Morrison does really cool stuff with lost/damaged silent films. It's playing really late, even at Pacific time so I might end up recording it. I'm going to do my best to watch L.A. Rebellion on HBO Max anyway.

For the rest of the brackets, it really comes down to Tex Avery. By the way, TCM, you're killing me on the Tex Avery thing, I know you think it's cute to put it on Saturday morning, but 6:00 a.m. eastern time is 3:00 in the morning here in San Diego. Even though this is one of my top picks, I may end up recording it, although I might just go without sleep and get up at the in the wee hours and watch it, anyway. The other surprise here is I Love Trouble. I've never seen it, premiere on TCM, and that's strong enough to carry it into the Elite 8.

Egyptian Theater Group

The story here is Sound and Sound Makers (strikethrough is They Won't Believe Me playing at the same time). It's one of my top picks, mostly because I've seen Ben Burtt and Craig Barron at the live festival, and their stuff is always way cool, and as an interactive Zoom presentation, that just makes this a must see, especially since I missing most of the other Zoom presentations.

The toughest decision in the first round comes down to two essential films On the Waterfront and West Side Story. Going with West Side Story mostly because they're calling it the Opening Night film of the festival, which I don’t normally get to see because the level of pass I have. Would be a very tough call if there were opposite each other at the same time, and you had to decide which one you wanted to see more on the big screen.

The other tough call in the first round is Nichols and May vs The Searchers. If it was a real festival I would probably go with The Searchers. I've never seen it on the big screen and it would bound to be playing at the Egyptian or the Chinese, and that would be spectacular. The thing is I've seen The Searchers a bunch of times and Nichols and May, these behind-the-film-makers films TCM selects are usually really cool, so Nichols and May goes on and oddly it makes it all the way to the Elite 8, another surprise.

Club TCM Group

In the Club TCM Group, the only real surprise is Whistle at Eaton Falls taking out The Maltese Falcon. Normally The Maltese Falcon would trounce the floor with a film like Wizard of Eaton Falls, but I've seen The Maltese Falcon several times in the theater and bunch on TV/DVD and it comes down to the film I haven't seen before.

The big surprise in this bracket, however, is Hawks & the Art of Comedy. I love Howard Hawks movies and that's strong enough to take Hawks & the Art of Comedy all the way to the Final Four past my original fourth pick of She May Be a Movie Star (Places in the Heart, strikethrough, is running at the same time), another Club TCM Zoom presentation.

Hollywood American Legion Group

The story here is SF Sketchfest Presents Plan 9 from Outer Space. This is my second pick for the entire festival behind Tex Avery it dominates in this whole group.

I really need to see The Méliès Mystery. It gets knocked out by Plan Nine but I'm going to watch this one no matter what on HBO Max. The other shocker in this group is Streets of New York. Anything Bruce Goldstein has his hand in is pretty cool and looking at the history of film in New York from the Silent Era to the 1970s, that's got to be a treat.

Final Four

Probably not too surprising that Tex Avery takes out Sight and Sound Makers. I will watch both but Tex Avery is just so cool, so cool I probably will get up at 3 am for it and be totally wasted for the rest of the weekend. The shocker here is in the other bracket. Hawks & the Art of Comedy taking out SF Sketchfest Plan 9 from Outer Space. I didn't see that one coming myself but if it came down to the two I think I'd rather see the Hawks & the Art of Comedy. Again, I will watch both, but that's what the pick would come down to.

Unfortunately Hawks & the Art of Comedy cannot stand up against Tex Avery, so Tex Avery stays my number one pick, followed by Hawks & the Art of Comedy, and then we have the consolation game between Sight and Sound Makers and SF Sketchfest Plan 9. Plan 9 Takes it for third place with Sight and Sound Makers coming in fourth. Just to round it out, I'm going to pick one film from earlier in the Festival to be my number five pick, so you get my top five. That would be The Méliès Mystery.

Effectively this is fairly typical of an in-person TCMFF. You often have to skip films you really want to see because it's up against something you want to see more. With being able to watch things on HBO Max on my own schedule and DVRing the stuff I really need to see on TCM, I stand a good chance of seeing pretty much everything I really want to. Good job, TCM. I will see you all in Hollywood in 2022.

Reel Gags

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

What This Guide Will Not Cover

Etiquette

Don't!!!

Planning

Ovation Mall (Formerly Hollywood Highland Mall)

Hollywood Blvd

Getting Around at TCMFF

Going to TCL Chinese 6

Going to Chinese IMAX

Going to Hollywood Legion Theater

Research

Smartphone App

TCMFF Guide Book

Hint!!!

Travel

Use Social Media to Your Advantage

Choose You Own Path

Be Flexible

Try Something New

Try to See Something Besides Inside of a Theater

Talk to People

Festival Boutique

Swag

Swag You Really Don't Want

Shameless Plug

Related links

Thursday, February 17, 2022

What This Guide Will Not Cover

Date announcement

Passes

Line numbers

Venues

Schedule

Sunday, January 30, 2022

Monday, January 17, 2022

Saturday, December 4, 2021

Sunday, May 2, 2021

TCL Chinese Group

Egyptian Theater Group

Club TCM Group

Hollywood American Legion Group

Final Four

Saturday, April 17, 2021