Theme: You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
Celebrated Enduring Film Legacies

April 13-16, 2023

 Thursday, Apri l3 Opening Night Film:
Rio Bravo (1959 Warner Bros.)
World Premiere of the 4K Restoration in Partnership with The Film Foundation

Special Guests: Actress Angie Dickinson
Film Foundation Board Members Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson

Highlights From The 14th Annual TCM Festival

Thursday, April 13:

    Opening Night of the 14th annual TCM Classic Film Festival kicked off with a screening of Rio Bravo (1959) in celebration of Warner Bros.' 100th anniversary, featuring a conversation with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and The Film Foundation Board members Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson. They talked about the world premiere of Rio Bravo's 4K restoration completed in partnership with The film Foundation and the mission of The Film Foundation.Rio Bravo star Angie Dickinson, was also present at the screening.

                                                                          (L-R) TCM host Ben Mankiewicz; General Manager, Turner Classic Movies Pola Changnon; Director and Film Foundation Board Member Steven Spielberg; Actress Angie Dickinson; and President and Chief Executive Officer of Warner Bros. Discovery David Zaslav attend the opening night gala and world premiere of the 4k restoration of "Rio Bravo" during the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival at TCL Chinese Theatre on April 13, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for TCM)

Friday, April 14 Highlights:

    TCM host Ben Mankiewicz joined special guests George Clooney and director Steven Soderbergh for a screening of Ocean's Eleven (2001). Other special screenings included:

• 70th anniversary poolside screening of Beach Party (1963) hosted by TCM host Dave Karger with special guest Frankie Avalon.
• World premiere restoration of Penny Serenade (1941) with director and screenwriter Alexander Payne and George Stevens Jr., writer/director and the son of Penny Serenade director George Stevens. 
  
• 50th anniversary of American Graffiti (1973) with actors Richard Dreyfuss and Candy Clark.
• 30th anniversary screening of Groundhog Day (1993) with actor Stephen Tobolowsky and TCM Host Ben Mankiewicz.
• 40th anniversary screening of Risky Business (1983) with actress Rebecca De Mornay and TCM Host Dave Karger.
  

George Clooney, Ocean's 11 Interview. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for TCM)

Excerpts from Stephen Tobolowsky's Groundhog Day Interview

    Groundhog Day is a 1993 American fantasy comedy film starring Bill Murray, Stephen Tobolowsky, Andie MacDowell and Chris Elliott. It tells the story of Phil Connors (Murray), a cynical television weatherman covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, who becomes trapped in a time loop forcing him to relive February 2 repeatedly.
    In the film, Stephen Tobolowsky’s character, Ned Ryerson, is an acquaintance of Bill Murray’s character, Phil Conners, from 20 years before. Phil keeps running into Ned on the street each morning. At first, Phil doesn’t remember him, then later finds him totally obnoxious. Ned is an insurance salesman.
    There is an impromptu scene later in the movie where Phil rushes out and gives Ned a big hug. You can tell by the startled expression on Ned’s face that he wasn’t expecting it.
    In Tobolowsky’s interview with TCM Host Ben Mankiewicz before the screening, he said that during the last couple of weeks of filming, they decided they wanted more scenes featuring Ned. He also said that no one could come up with a script. They wound up using a script that Tobolowsky had written. He commented that he wasn’t given any screen credit or financial compensation for it.
    Since its release, Groundhog Day has been interpreted in different ways. Tobolowsky said he had been told that the film is about becoming a more perfect soul.

Rebecca De Mornay
(Photo by Linda McCord, Classic Film Watch Contributor

Excerpts from Rebecca De Mornay’s Risky Business Interview

    During her interview with TCM Host Dave Karger, Rebecca De Mornay talked about her role in the 1983 film, Risky Business. Tom Cruise played a teenager, Joel, whose parents thought he was responsible enough to leave at home while they went on vacation. Rebecca played Lana, a prostitute in the film, who Joel hired for a night.
    Rebecca said that sometimes life imitates art in referring to her two and a half year relationship with Tom Cruise following the production of Risky Business.
    She talked about Tom Cruise’s iconic dance scene in the film. Two songs were considered for the dance. One was a Rolling Stones’ song and the other was Bob Seger’s Old Time Rock and Roll. The Bob Seger song was chosen because Tom, who was a great dancer, could move more easily to that music.
    Rebecca has recently completed three films.

Saturday, April 15 Highlights:

• TCM honored American film historian and author Donald Bogle with the Robert Osborne Award before tha screening of Carmen Jones (1954).
• Award-winning actor, writer and director Danny Huston joined TCM host Ben Mankiewicz for the 75th anniversary screening of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).
• 60th anniversary screening of Bye Bye Birdie (1963) hosted by TCM host Dave Karger and award-winning actress Ann-Margret.
• TCM host Jacqueline Stewart and award-winning actor, producer, and director Shari Belafonte introduced The African Queen (1951).
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) presented in tribute to actor and director Russ Tamblyn.
• 50th anniversary screening of The Exorcist (1973) featuring director William Friedkin and Randy Haberkamp, executive vice president, Library, Archive and Scitech for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
• Amadeus (1984) presented in tribute to production designer Patrizia von Brandenstein.

Actress and Singer Shari Belafonte, TCM Host Ben Mankiewicz, Film Historian Donald Bogle (recipient of the Robert Osborne Award), Actor Louis Gossett Jr., Film Producer Debra Martin Chase, and Actor and Singer Lawrence Hilton Jacobs attend the screening of CARMEN JONES (1954) at the Hollywood Legion Theater. (Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for TCM.)

Sunday, April 16 Highlights:

• TCM host Dave Karger joined actress Nancy Dussault and filmmaker, writer, and actress Penny Peyser for a screening of The In-Laws (1979).
• 35th anniversary screening of Stand and Deliver (1988) featuring actor and director Edward James Olmos, actor and director Lou Diamond Phillips, and film historian Luis I. Reyes.
• Screening of the 1962 musical, The Music Man with Actress Shirley Jones in attendance.
• Official closing night film and 40th anniversary screening of The Big Chill (1983) with discussion by actor Tom Berenger and actress JoBeth Williams.
     

Actress Shirley Jones and her family attend the screening of The Music Man at the TCM Festival.
(Photo by Linda McCord, Classic Film Watch Contributor.)

Excerpts from The Music Man Interview

    Ms. Shirley Jones, along with her sons and grandchildren, watched the film together as a family. Her youngest granddaughter wore an original band jacket from the film.
    Shaun Cassidy, singer-actor-screenwriter and television producer, talked with TCM Host Dave Karger and reminisced about his time on the set of The Music Man. As a four-year-old, he recalled visiting the set often and becoming friends with child star, Ronny Howard, who was also in the film. He remembered getting a tricycle during this time and learning to ride it on the set.
    Shaun said that his brother, Patrick, was also on the set in a manner of speaking, because his mother was pregnant during the filming. After filming started, she had to meet with the director to tell him of her pregnancy. She was assured that they would be able to hide it with costume adjustments, such as bustles and layers. When the scene on the bridge was filmed near the end of the movie, actor Robert Preston was able to feel a kick from the unborn child when he embraced Ms. Jones. Years later, Robert Preston saw Patrick backstage at a performance and commented, “We’ve already met.” Patrick, who was unable to be present at the screening, is an actor who is best known for his roles in musical theatre and television. In 2012, he played the role of Harold Hill in a stage production of The Music Man opposite his mother, who played the role of Mrs. Paroo.

—Linda McCord, Classic Film Watch Contributor

TCM Host Ben Mankiewicz and Film Historian Donald Bogle
(Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for TCM.)

Donald Bogle Received 2023 Robert Osborne Award at TCM Festival 

    TCM's 2023 Robert Osborne Award was presented to film historian, author, and professor Donald Bogle for his pioneering studies of African American cinema and his tireless efforts to elevate the achievements of Black performers and filmmakers. This honor is presented annually at the TCM Classic Film Festival to an individual who has helped keep the cultural heritage of classic film alive for future generations.  
    Bogle, whose landmark book Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films was first published 50 years ago, was presented with the Award prior to a screening of Carmen Jones (1954), the Dorothy Dandridge musical that ignited his fascination and analysis of Black artists in the movies. 
    Leonard Maltin, last year’s recipient of the Robert Osborne Award, has said, “No one knows more (or has written more extensively) about the history of African American contributions to cinema than Donald Bogle.”
    Bogle’s celebrated work also includes the TCM book Hollywood Black: The Stars, The Films, The Filmmakers, as well as definitive biographies of actresses Dandridge, Ethel Waters, and Lena Horne, the last of which will be released in October 2023. 

TCM Film Festival honored Patrizia Von Brandenstein and Russ Tamblyn 

    Academy Award-winning production designer Patrizia von Brandenstein and actor, dancer, choreographer, director, and artist Russ Tamblyn were this year’s tribute recipients during the Festival.
    Each year the TCM Classic Film Festival pays tribute to a select group of individuals whose work in Hollywood has left a lasting impact on film. Von Brandenstein earned critical acclaim for her work on Six Degrees of Separation (1993) and the Academy Award for Best Art Direction for Amadeus (1984).
    Tamblyn’s early training as a gymnast prepared him for one of his earliest roles in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) and he subsequently earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Peyton Place (1957).
     All four films were screened at the Festival with introductions from von Brandenstein and Tamblyn. Both participated with TCM hosts in Club TCM at the Roosevelt Hotel for extended conversations about their lives and work.