The 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival: Day One
The first official day of this year's TCM Classic Film Festival was on Thursday, April 10th, but for me it really began the day before, on Wednesday, the 9th.
The fun started when I met "KC" of the blog Classic Movies for lunch at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. KC and I have known each other online for years, and it was such fun to finally get to know each other in person! Having her at the festival made this year even more special.
We shopped in the TCM Boutique, and then my husband joined us for sodas in the historic Pig 'n Whistle. Later on we met up with Raquel and her husband Carlos to enjoy shopping at Larry Edmunds Bookshop, a favorite destination of film fans for decades.
I left Larry Edmunds with two great new additions to my library of books on film, UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL WESTERNS 1947-1963: THE COMPLETE FILMOGRAPHY by Gene Blottner and LOS ANGELES'S BUNKER HILL: PULP FICTION'S MEAN STREETS AND FILM NOIR'S GROUND ZERO! by Jim Dawson.
Larry Edmunds had a nice window display featuring many of the films scheduled to play at the festival:
My husband and I had never eaten at Musso & Frank so we enjoyed checking out one of Hollywood's historic restaurants...
...before moving on to the social media gathering TCM threw at Sadie Kitchen and Lounge, located next to Miceli's on Las Palmas. It was great to meet Nora, TCM's social media manager who is the "voice" of TCM on Twitter.
It was absolutely wonderful reconnecting with old friends and meeting several people in person for the first time. Despite the fact we live all over the country, we feel that we know each other well and have an instant connection, united by our love for classic films.
I was honored to be invited by TCM to speak at the gathering, along with TCM Guest Programmer contest winners Tiffany Vazquez and Peter Tubla, and Twitter's #TCMParty founders Paula Guthat and Trevor Jost.
The way things worked out, the party was such a rip-roaring social success, especially with much-appreciated appearances by Ben Mankiewicz and Illeana Douglas, that we agreed with our TCM hostess that additional entertainment wasn't really necessary, other than helping with a trivia contest. (My husband enjoyed pitching in with a question!) TCM very kindly gave each of us beautiful travel bags as a thank you.
Some of the gang with Ben and Illeana:
The whimsical caption was my husband's contribution!
There was one more stop to make that evening, a party hosted by the Warner Archive and Marya of OldFilmsFlicker at the historic Formosa Cafe. It was great fun for me to transport a bunch of my favorite people from all over the country to the party in my van!
We were packed into every inch of the little cafe, which dates from 1925. I'd never been inside before so I enjoyed the chance to check it out.
To make things even better, Matt of the Warner Archive passed out free movies, and I brought home two Marsha Hunt films: MUSIC FOR MILLIONS (1944), starring June Allyson and Margaret O'Brien, and THE PLUNDERERS (1960) with Jeff Chandler and Dolores Hart. I'll be reviewing them here in the future!
There's more on the day's events from Raquelle at Out of the Past and Kristen at Journeys in Classic Film. I'm sure there will be even more posts as bloggers gradually return home this week.
For more links to my coverage of the festival, please visit The 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival in Review.
Coming soon: An overview of the festival's official opening day, including a TCM press conference and personal appearances at Club TCM by two beautiful ladies, Kim Novak and Jane Seymour. Also in the works for the near future: a review of the first of the 14 films I saw at the festival, CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN (1950), with Clifton Webb, Myrna Loy, and Jeanne Crain.
posted by Laura @ 10:03 PM
8 Comments:
Awesome, not sure whether or not I got a chance to meet you, but I was at both the Sadie Kitchen and Lounge and Formosa events. I'll probably be doing a day-by-day blow-by-blow review of the festival as well, but with Wonder Con only a day or two away, it may be a while.
Chris @ChrisSturhann
Hi Chris! Thanks so much for your comment! I recognize you from your Twitter photo -- am now following you! -- but I think you were one of the few people I didn't actually meet! We'll have to rectify that next year!!
I'll look forward to your posts when they're ready. :)
My daughter will be at Wonder Con Sunday. Enjoy!
Best wishes,
Laura
Enjoyed this, and all the TCMFF posts and tweets.
I visited Hollywood some years ago and being able to visualize the venues and where everything was probably helped to experience the festival vicariously through the exciting descriptions and enthusiasm of the bloggers.
I did eat at Musso & Frank too.
Looking forward to the rest of your roundup.
Cool. I did an initial post late yesterday. Others will trickle in as time and energy allows.
I enjoyed meeting your husband and talking with you in the "conversation corner" at the tweet-up! Did anyone every tell your hubby that he looks like David Letterman?
Thanks so much, Jacqueline, I really appreciate it, and I'm glad you were able to picture everything in your mind's eye -- including Musso & Frank!
Chris, thanks much for the link. I've included it in my Day Two roundup of articles on the festival.
Thanks, Will! That's funny, I asked my husband if he'd ever been told that and he said he has. But it was the first time I'd heard the idea! I can kind of see it (grin).
Best wishes,
Laura
Love the caption your husband added to that photo. LOL! A wonderful recap Laura. I'm slowing starting to catch up on everyone's TCMFF posts and I had to make sure I stopped by here. It was wonderful to get so many more opportunities to spend time with you at this festival. I treasured every moment.
Thanks so much, Raquel. The time we were able to enjoy together meant a great deal to me as well. What an amazing time we had!
Best wishes,
Laura
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