lzcutter

Heads Up! Just so everyone doesn't think Kyle and Chicagovet are hallucinating. *The Godfather* is listed on the regular Festival schedule but if you print the schedule out, it still says *Guns of Navarone*. Hopefully, that will get fixed soon!

CJ, I just wanted to follow-up with what Kyle said about recording your thoughts. I printed out the Festival schedule last year and carried it in my back pocket. I wrote down memorable moments at each event I attended on the back of each day's schedule. Last year, after the Festival, we had a running thread of recaps from the Festival and I was able to share my experience with others because of the notes I took during the festival. This year, I'm taking a small notepad for that very reason. Also, it makes it easier to remember how much fun you had once you get home and are more rested. Your friends at the CFU would probably appreciate you sharing your memories of the Festival with them as well!

*plus all those expensive restaurant meals and hotel bills on his expense account. Why don't they replace him with a host who already lives in Atlanta, such as Hank Aaron? That will save a lot of money that may be instead used to purchase film rights.* Robert O is much more than just the nightly host of TCM. He is the face of the channel. Whether we want to admit or not, he is one of the big reasons people watch TCM. They aren't necessarily watching *Casablanca* for the 25th time for Bogie and Bergman, they are watching for Bogie, Bergman and Robert O. He is the equivalent of a rock star for the classic film buff. (Eva Marie Saint and Anjelica Huston were right last year when they dubbed him that) You can laugh at the description until you see him at a public event from a book signing, film introduction or at the TCM Film Festival. The majority of viewers connect to the channel through their feelings for Robert O. They thank him for helping them make it through unemployment, major bouts with cancer, depression and all the things that life throws in their path. To them, he is TCM. Since April, 1994 when TCM debuted on the air, Robert O has been there. He has helped build the viewership of the channel over the last 17 years and when the majority of people outside of this message board think of TCM, they think of him. He has used his clout and friendships (when needed) to bring an array of guests to Private Screenings and as Guest Programmers. He works tirelessly (it seems) for TCM. In addition to his nightly hosting duties, he hosts a classic Film Festival in Athens, Georgia each year, presides over classic film screenings not only in Atlanta but across the country as well as radio and print interviews. Wherever TCM goes, Robert O goes. The staff of TCM is very aware of how much their viewership care about Robert O and relate to him. What happens when he retires, we will have to wait and see. I don't see them abandoning the host format if only because it is through the hosts that the majority of viewers form their connections to the channel. It also humanizes the channel in a way you don't get with the other movie channels. It sets the channel apart in that regard and that is part of TCM's charm and it, ultimately, will be part of Robert O's legacy. And finally, even if TCM were to abandon the host concept (good bye Robert O, Ben M, Guest Programmers, Private Screenings, the Essentials), there's no guarantee that budget would go towards more film rentals. It could get spread around all the Turner channels or be used to upgrade Turner broadcast facilities or pay increases for executives high up the food chain in the Time-Warner hierarchy. Just my two cents.

Here's a link to my Historic Sites in Hollywood (and Los Angeles): http://forums.tcm.com/thread.jspa?threadID=152178&tstart=0 JB, I think they clear the theater at the end of each screening. There was only once where I saw back to back screenings in the same theater ( *Singin' in the Rain* and the censored cartoons) and that was at the Egyptian and they definitely cleared the theater after *Rain*. Edited by: lzcutter on Apr 8, 2011 12:05 PM

Sounds like Disney's Hardy Boys, *The Applegate Treasure*

Cj, Hope this helps! *What is one thing that you did that you wouldn't do again?* Fly out on Monday and return to work the same day. The Closing Night party lasted until midnight and we closed out the place. By the time I got to work the next day, my boss took one look at me and suggested I go home and get some rest. I was toast by then and appreciated the fact my boss noticed. This year, I fly back on Monday and return to work on Tuesday. *What one thing did you NOT do that you would do this time?* Spend more time at Club TCM. It's a great way to connect with other film buffs. I regret missing the live band that played Club TCM on Saturday night last year. I caught the last few minutes of their final set and they were great. I hope they return this year. If so, I will spend more time listening to them. *ONE thing (not including movies) you must see? (can be hollywood landmark or a special presentation done by TCM)* Being an Angeleno, I didn't have a Hollywood landmark that was a must see. I do have a Historic Sites in Hollywood thread in this forum to help out-of-towners learn more about the history of Tinseltown. I passed on the Luise Rainer interview for one on Sequels last year and am still happy with that choice. I saw the interview on TCM and John Carpenter and Prof. Rick Jewell made the Sequel panel a hoot! The one Must See panel last year (and again this year) is the *TCM Meet the Staff* panel. It's a great look inside to how the channel and the festival work! *Would you spend all day in the theater or take breaks and not see a segment of movies?* I took a break from the constant movie-going/panels on Friday night and treated myself to a nice dinner at the burger restaurant at the Roosevelt. It was the one good meal I had the entire weekend and I enjoyed the chance to recharge my batteries as Saturday was a day of constant moving from theater to theater from early in the morning until almost midnight. *And Finally....One piece of advice to all the newbies...* Don't try to see everything. It's impossible and you can drive yourself nuts trying to. I opted for the discussions with the Hustons (Anjelica and Danny) and Eva Marie Saint and Martin Landau but didn't stay for the films ( *Treasure of Sierra Madre* and *North by Northwest* ) because there were other films to see. It's okay to just stay for the discussion. I stood in the back or sat on the aisle in the back (I had recently had knee surgery and standing was not always an option) so I could duck out without having to inconvenience an entire row of people or take a seat from someone who wanted to stay for the film. I'll do it again at least once this year! The best piece of advice I can give, Have Fun! It's great to be able to see all these films on the big screen but at the end of the day, having fun is the best memory you can take home with you! Don't be afraid to talk to fellow filmgoers and to make new friends. I met a couple of message board posters who I only knew by name and now consider them good friends. That's one of the joys of the Festival - connecting with others who share your passion for films.

Hey Lisa! Congrats to you and your mom on being the first Mother/Daughter guest programmers! I agree, it would be great if we could all get together again! Maybe one of these days! Good luck with your move!

*I've been to the Walt Disney Family Museum in SF and it's amazing what they did there design-wise and showcasing Walt's life so well.* Soulsalsa, So glad you like the Museum. We are over the moon at the opportunity of being a part of the TCM Film Festival this year. I hope we get to meet at the Festival!

I am thrilled beyond words that TCM chose the *Laugh-O-grams* to kick off the festival. Everyone here at the Museum is thrilled. I do hope that many of you going to the Festival will be able to come to the *grams* on opening night. The program only runs an hour at the most and film historian and Disney author, JB Kaufman, will be introducing the shorts and talking about why they are so important. They are the earliest known animation by Walt and his crew in Kansas City in the early 1920s. The Walt Disney Family Museum and MOMa partnered with TCM to make this screening possible. There will be live piano accompaniment by musician Ben Model. It should be a great way to start the Festival! I hope to see you there! Other good news, this morning it looks like another lost film of Walt's, *Hungry Hoboes*, an Oswald the Rabbit cartoon from 1928, was located in a film archive in the U.K.

*Did they remove this option or am I just missing it?* We think it's being retooled for a variety of reasons. The moderators assure us it is coming back but no return date has been announced.

*I hope these panel discussions have Q&A with the audiences.* Jezzy, They did last year. They usually happen towards the end of the discussion. I can't imagine they would do it differently this year.

*I wonder if they'll fill in the schedule more yet...* JB, If last year is any indication, there will be more additions to the schedule- probably not any more films- but stars and those introducing films as well as some additions to panels and maybe entertainment-in the days to come. Stay tuned. I doubt this schedule is the final word. Yet.

It feels like a long wait but boy, was it worth it! Here's the link: http://www.tcm.com/festival/index.html#/events/schedule0428 Let the planning (and the hard, hard choices) begin!

*Exchange between John Wayne and Ben Johnson...........* Hey Roy! I love the relationship between Nathan and Sgt. Tyree. Flint Cohill may be the figurative leader that Nathan hands the reigns to but Sgt. Tyree is the one that Nathan most identifies with. And it makes perfect sense that Tyree is the one who goes after Nathan with orders to return to the fort at the end of the film: Captain Nathan Brittles: What? Sergeant... my appointment: chief of scouts! With a rank of Lt. Colonel. And will you look at those endorsements: Phil Sheridan, William Tecumseh Sherman and Ulysses Simpson Grant, President of The United States of America! There's three aces for you, boy! Sgt. Tyree: Yeah, but I kinda wish you'da been a-holdin' a full hand. Captain Nathan Brittles: Huh? Full hand? Whaddaya mean: full hand? Sgt. Tyree: Robert E. Lee, sir. Captain Nathan Brittles: Oh. Heh... wouldn't a been bad. Let's go. Dale

Sounds like *The Corn is Green* starring Bette Davis: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037614/ or Katharine Hepburn (tv movie version): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079000/

*Debbie Reynolds evidently has quite a collection of movie memorabilia & had been trying to establish a museum but has given that up now. She has said that she has Audrey Hepburn's Ascot Race outfit from MFL among lots of other stuff.* Unfortunately, it looks like Debbie is declaring bankruptcy and is auctioning off her beloved collection. From what I understand, had she not made an issue of her son, Todd, getting a rather astronomical salary for being the Executive Director of the Museum, it probably would have been at Hollywood and Highland. But, Todd Fisher is said not to be the best of businessmen. Unfortunately for classic film fans, that means the loss of this wonderful collection staying together under one roof.

*12:30pm - 1:30pm* *"A Conversation With Kevin Brownlow"* *Come Pay Your Respects. Kneeling not required. But who could blame ya if ya did.* Chief, I would not only kneel, I would kiss his ring! Having seen Mr. Brownlow twice before, he is a terrific speaker and quite the gentleman. No matter how times you may have seen him or heard him, he always has new info to share! Depending on the sophie's choices ahead of us, I know where I will be that Saturday afternoon! (Please Lord, let it be so!) And another round of *Meet the TCM Staff* !!!!! I suspect I know where we will be! I hope Tom Brown is on the panel again as he and Charlie make a great tag team! And I think JackBurley and Suex2 are going to bond over the *Voice Doubles* and *Debbie* presentations! And a band on Saturday night! YAY!!!! Thank you for posting the link! I wonder if all the panels are being presented in Club TCM this year? Will it be a larger space this year?

Chris, My second favorite line from a John Wayne film (at this moment, like all my choices even *Yellow Ribbon*, it could change tomorrow): "What do you want me to do? Draw you a picture? Spell it out? Don't ever ask me! Long as you live, don't ever ask me more." Ethan Edwards, (John Wayne), *The Searchers*.

"Men, I won't be going out with you today and I won't be here when you get back." Captain Nathan Brittles (John Wayne), *She Wore a Yellow Ribbon*

*Well, you know. "Popular" is a really subjective term* Chief, I totally agree. Last year, I had no problem getting in to see *Sunset Blvd*, *Treasure of Sierra Madre*, *Leave Her to Heaven* and many others. Some like *Madre* and *North by Northwest* I only stayed for the introduction because I had to hurry to another film. The only film I stood in line for more than a half hour was *Singin' in the Rain*. The rest of them, I arrived at least 15-30 minutes early and had no problem getting in whether it was a film or a panel. For the record, I had a Classic Pass. Like everyone, I had to make some hard, tough sophie choices in terms of which films did I really want to see on the big screen, which introductions were must sees (Anjelica and Danny Huston, Eva Marie Saint and Martin Landau) but I could pass on the films and which panels were important (Meet the TCM Staff, Norman Lloyd) and *Moguls and Movie Stars*. It wasn't easy and I don't expect it to be this year but with some planning, there should be no reason to miss those films, introductions and panels each of us deem important. For me, *To Kill a Mockingbird*, *Reds*, *The Laugh-O-grams*, *Night Flight* *Goldfinger*, *Becket* and *The Cameraman* are musts with the Peter O'Toole interview as well. But, the panels haven't been announced, so as always, my choices will get tougher.

Is there any chance that the Beauty Salon offer from last year is returning to the Roosevelt again this year? Free hair-dos for Festival goers.... And any chance the wonderful band that played Club TCM on Saturday night last year will be returning this year??? Here's hoping, hoping, hoping.....

Renee, I wanted to let you know that the lightbox feature for viewing publicity material for a film in the TCM database is not working for everyone. I am using Firefox 3.6 and can see the photos in the lightbox without a problem. Others, however, only see their screen dim and the lightbox frame does not come to the forefront with the pictures loaded. I have no idea why this works for some and not everyone but, like so much of this upgrade, it should. I understand that it takes time to get info about our problems but really, it has been almost a month. Does no one in the Web department in Atlanta realize that this is customer service nightmare in terms of the time they are taking to reply? People are already going to other websites to obtain the daily and monthly scheduling info (all time zones, times, synopsis) that they used to get here. With each day that passes with no update from you and no new info from the Web team is another day that they get used to using that other site's schedule. At some point, probably sooner than you or the Web Dept. realize, they stop coming here to TCM for that info and don't return. People are creatures of habit. If they have a site that they can get the info they need in the manner they are used to, that's the site they will use. And right now, that site for schedules isn't TCM.

*"****!? Why would they do that???* Because forty years ago, studios-especially one on the ropes like MGM (thanks Kirk Kerkorian- more interested in a hotel/casino bearing the regal name than making movies) didn't think any of that had any value. Lucky for all of us, they realized that their film library did and they maintained control of that for another ten years until Ted Turner came calling. Because Kerkorian kept the film library, when he opened the original MGM Grand Hotel in 1973, it had a movie theater downstairs. They ran MGM classic films (silents and talkies) and changed the bill every few days. A few times a year they would run their big four *Gone With the Wind*, *Dr. Zhivago*, *2001* and *Ryan's Daughter* in 70mm (though not *GWTW* ). It was a great theater with plush love seating not the typical theater seating. A cocktail waitress came around and brought sodas or cocktails (if you were over 18). There was a little table in front of each love seat and had a button. You pressed the button and she would come and take your order. $2.50 was the admission price and you received a nice hand-out with a synopsis of the film and the cast and crew listing. It was movie heaven and those of us who got to experience it first hand still remember it and appreciate it.

*Like this?* Fred, Sort of . The Lightbox feature usually allows the main page (in this case, the database page for *Mrs. Miniver* ) to dim (but still visible to the eye) and move down a layer (so to speak). The lightbox sits on top of that main page that has now dimmed but can still be seen. Using the arrows, you can click through the photos as they all fit the frame of the lightbox. When you are done, you close the lightbox by clicking the X in the upper right corner and the lightbox disappears and the main page (the page for *Mrs. Miniver*) turns back on (so to speak, whatever the opposite of to dim is) and returns full screen on your monitor so that you can continue to explore the other treasures on the main page of *Mrs. Miniver* (or any other database page with publicity photos). Like this: http://www.huddletogether.com/projects/lightbox2/

*Looks like the TCM part of the page is covered with a black see-through gauze.* It's called a Lightbox feature. It allows photos to be shown with the text data next to it on the right hand side of the frame. The main page with all the database info for the film dims so that the photo in the lightbox becomes the focal point. Often this is used so that the photos conform to a size and a higher resolution so that when you cycle through them, the size stays consistent and the information presented uniform. The photo should appear in the frame. At the bottom of the frame, there should be a forward arrow and a backward arrow, so that the viewer can view all the available photos in the set in the lightbox format. When finished, there is an X in the upper right corner of the frame that, when clicked on, closes the lightbox and returns you to the database page underneath the lightbox. I am using Firefox 3.6 and had no problem cycling through the photos in the lightbox. But, if you are using a different browser, your mileage may vary and if you are not seeing the photos as you click through the lightbox, you should let Renee and Pete know in the "Upgrade" thread.