TCM Festival, Day 3: Delusion, Danger, and Disco

Another great day at the classic film festival and another day closer to the emergency eye clinic. I’m not sure the human body was designed to watch over 12 hours of projected images in one twenty-four-hour period. The movie fans on Hollywood Boulevard were starting to look a little green around the gills on Day 3. We’re all such devoted movie lovers that we couldn’t possibly miss a slot where we could be watching one of these fantastic films.

I unfortunately arrived late for my first film of the day, the magnificent “Sunset Boulevard,” and missed the talk by Nancy Olson who played Betty Schaefer, the young writer who falls in love with doomed William Holden. I remember Olson in a few Disney movies of the 1950s (“Pollyanna” and “The Absent-Minded Professor”) but her career never seemed to match the glory of “Sunset Boulevard,” her first major part. She married lyricist Alan Jay Lerner right after this film came out and became more involved in his New York theatre world. I already raved uncontrollably about the brilliance of Gloria Swanson in the part of Norma Desmond. Has any actress in Hollywood ever been better suited for a role? What atwist of fate that she was up against such amazing performances that year for the Best Actress Oscar. They should have thrown away the tallies in 1950 and just awarded Oscars to Swanson, to Bettte Davis for “All About Eve,” and to winner Judy Holliday for “Born Yesterday.” Talk about an embarrassment of riches! As we left Grauman’s, Leah found Gloria Swanson’s hand and footprints in the famous forecourt of the Chinese Theatre and we gaped at the tiny size of the prints. Did such a powerful performer really have hands and feet the size of a seven-year-old?

Next up was the frothy and oh-so-much-fun “Pillow Talk” at the Egyptian Theatre. This 1959 film, which opened when I was one-month old, was the first of three collaborations between Doris Day, Rock Hudson, and Tony Randall. I’ve seen it a million times but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to watch it on the big screen, like a salve for my tired eyes. I’ve already written about the under-appreciated acting chops of Doris Day and the flawless if late-starting career of Thelma Ritter. TCM host Ben Mankiewicz introduced the film and talked about the studio’s reservations about the pairing of Day and Hudson (they thought both were over the hill). But of course the film became the benchmark for the “sex comedy” genre, even though, as Mankiewicz pointed out, the leads were rarely having any sex in these films. This film contains the ironic sequence in which Rock Hudson plays a straight man pretending he’s gay just to get Doris Day in bed. Of course it was played without a hint of irony at the time, even though I’m sure everyone on the set knew that Hudson was really gay. There are so many great moments in “Pillow Talk” but the end of the film continues to infuriate me. Rock drags Doris out of bed and down New York city streets in her pyjamas while she’s screaming for help. All of the bystanders simply wink and give Rock the thumbs-up. This is hardly the film to call out the P.C. police for (they’d have to work around the clock!) but the ending never fails to shock me. Even though she claims to despise Hudson for all the lies he told her, the second he mentions marrying her, Day drops all of her concerns, as if a marriage proposal trumps any previous crimes. Ah, the movies.

I then zoomed back to Grauman’s Chinese for a screening of Hitchcock’s near-perfect “North by Northwest.” Robert Osborne called up stars Eva Marie Saint (still absolutely gorgeous at 85) and Martin Landau and the three had a wonderful conversation about the film. Eva Marie said that when she was called to Hitchcock’s house for an interview, her mother made her wear white gloves and a beige suit, saying that’s what the director likes. She did, and she got the part, but I doubt it was because of the gloves. Has there ever been a sexier spy than Eve Kendall? The film, also a 1959 release, was so laden with sexual innuendo I’m amazed they got it past the censors. Actually, not everything got through. Saint had us watch out for a bit of looping she had to do because of the censors. In the famous scene between her and Cary Grant in the train’s restaurant car, you hear Eva Marie say, “I never discuss love on an empty stomach,” while her lips are clearly saying, ‘I never make love on an empty stomach.” Martin Landau pointed out another thing we watched for. A few seconds before Eve Kendall pulls out a gun from her purse and shoots Cary Grant in the Mt. Rushmore cafeteria, a little boy sitting at a nearby table puts his fingers in his ears, as if anticipating the loud noise of the gun going off. They had obviously rehearsed this scene with the extras and the little boy knew what was coming! Landau talked about how it was his idea to imply that his character Leonard was gay, that wasn’t in the original script. Hitchcock liked the idea and even had screenwriter Ernest Lehman add a line in one scene in which Landau refers to his “woman’s intitution.” This film is a true masterpiece, they just don’t make ‘em this way anymore.

I had every intention of then attending a screening of “Singin’ in the Rain” with 86-year-old director Stanley Donen in attendance. I loved the film and looked forward to Leah seeing it on the big screen. But at the last second we hightailed it back to Grauman’s Chinese to see “The Graduate.” Oy, how to choose between these films? That’s the only agonizing part of such a festival. And while Leah had recently seen the wonderful “Singin’ in the Rain,” she didn’t remember when I made her watch “The Graduate” as a toddler and was eager to see it. Screenwriter (and Taft Hotel clerk!) Buck Henry was on hand to share his thoughts about the film. He said that he and director Mike Nichols were assuming that all of the Braddocks would be blonde and sun-kissed Californians but that as soon as Dustin Hoffman was cast, that all changed. I wrote about my love for “The Graduate” on this blog and this probably marked my hundredth viewing of the film. It’s just too good to miss, especially at a stellar venue like Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. But let’s face it—if it were playing in the produce section of my local Ralph’s, I’d be there. 

Last up was the 1977 movie that catapulted John Travolta to superstardom, “Saturday Night Fever.” Director John Badham talked with Robert Osborne before the film about the very first public screening of the film right there at Grauman’s Chinese. Apparently the industry audience hated the film and the first reviews were awful. Variety said that the movie wouldn’t make it past the first weekend. Badham left L.A. the next day for the New York premiere, fairly dejected. When he returned a few days later, he asked the driver to take him past the theatre to see what business was like. There were lines around the block, and that was for the midnight show! The film became a huge hit and should be placed in a time capsule as the representation of the short-lived but powerful cultural phenomenon known as disco. I was 18 when this film came out and actually owned several silky Qiana shirts like the ones Travolta’s Tony Manero wears to the disco. Not the high-waisted beltless pants, though. This is an iconic film and nothing beats some of Travolta’s dance numbers, but to be honest, I don't think this film stands up to the test of time as well as the others I mentioned. On the other hand, by 10 pm last night, my eyes were pools of vitreous humour and I may have been nodding out at key moments.

And now, the final day of the festival is upon us and I’m starting out this morning with the four-hour roadshow version of Liz Taylor’s “Cleopatra,” the film that nearly sank 20th Century Fox. Yes, you heard me—four hours! What am I, nuts?

Time to jump back into the Buick LaCrosse and head to Hollywood!

Comments

[John]

Eva lives in beige. I know if I had Buick LaCrosse I'd take my friends on a tour of Hollywood with it.

[Helena]

An other great post. TMC should hire you. It's great to read about film written by someone who really loves it. Buick should do some web commercials with the La Crosse put into famous movies. It could be he car that almost hits Hoffman in "Midnight Cowboy" or Travolta's ride in "Saturday Night Fever."

[NeCole Scott]

I'm with Helena, I hope TCM is reading; they need you. I could watch all of these movies repeatedly and never tire of them. I can't really say that about most of the movies of this past decade. There is such disparity between the "classics" and much of the drivel that is being produced now.

Ah Qiana, I had a blouse and matching full-length skirt in sea green. It felt filmy and floaty when I walked or danced. Crap, I'm old but I can close my eyes and still feel that fabric.

[DebbieW]

Sounds like heaven! I hated, hated, hated disco, but I was Tony's age and living in Brooklyn at that time,and though perhaps not in the league of some of the other classics you've been seeing, Saturday Night Fever is so true it hurts.

Disappointed that you missed seeing Stanley Donen. I was hoping to find out what he had to say, given that in other interviews he seems to behave as though Gene Kelly had nothing to do with his career and I wondered if he would deign to mention his name in this venue.

[Kirk]

Eva looked great in North By Northwest, but I thought she was just as pretty, maybe even more so, playing the relatively drab characters in "On The Waterfront" and "A Hatful Of Rain"

[Dorothy Byrne]

How is Charlie and why no recent photos? We miss seeing pictures of your cutie.

[Connie Burke]

Danny, I am SO enjoying your posts from this film fest! I am beginning to think I should never again watch a movie without consulting you first ;-)
You are doing such a great job with your reviews. Clearly, you are in your element.

I am a little biased (as your Buick sponsor) but I think your readers recognize that this was, indeed, a great fit/assignment for you.

I hope you are paying off a sleep debt today!

[Julie R.]

"North by Northwest" is one of my favorite movies. I would have loved to witness the conversation with Eva Marie Saint and Martin Landau. A number of years ago I saw something on TV about the boy covering his ears before the gunshot--it might have even been Robert Osborne who pointed it out while introducing the film on TCM. The train heading into the tunnel always makes me laugh because of the blatant sexual innuendo.