The 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival in Review

The 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival came to a conclusion last night, and I think everyone who attended would have been happy if the festival could have gone on much, much longer -- if only things like eating, sleeping, and earning a living weren't necessary!

Last year's festival was wonderful, and if anything the 2014 edition was even better. To say that this year's festival was a memorably happy experience is an understatement. It was pure joy from start to finish.

This year even more classic film bloggers and Twitter users attended the festival, and between reconnecting with friends met last year and meeting some people in person for the very first time, the festival had the feel of a big reunion.

There are friendly, familiar faces around every corner -- in line, in the theaters, even in Starbucks! Spending time enjoying wonderful movies with friends is the best part of the festival for me.

TCM puts on a very classy operation; as my Twitter pal Lou Lumenick Tweeted, "Some other film festivals I've been to could learn a lot about how to treat audiences from TCMFF."

I also particularly appreciate that TCM acknowledges the role bloggers and Twitter users play in covering and supporting the network and the festival, including providing many of us with credentials which allow us to cover the entire festival.

This year TCM even invited a number of bloggers and Tweeters to a small "Tweet-up" party the evening before the festival, and both Ben Mankiewicz and Illeana Douglas stopped by to visit with us.

The festival closed out last night with Robert Osborne and Ben Mankiewicz giving the network a 20th anniversary toast at the Club TCM party, after which many bloggers convened poolside for final photos and goodbyes.

This year I was able to catch the early morning screenings and increase the number of films seen in the festival's 3-1/2 days to 14, up from 11 in 2013. Four of the films were brand-new to me, and seeing THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) in 3D felt like a brand-new experience in some ways as well!

As was the case last year, I'll be breaking down my coverage into an overview of each day, along with individual reviews of films which have not been reviewed here previously. This year I saw twice as many never-reviewed films as last year, so this will take a while!

As my posts go up I plan to add links to the bottom of this introductory post, so all of the festival coverage can be easily found in one place.

I also have several non-festival posts in the works, some of which were previewed last week, so there will be lots of classic film coverage in the coming weeks!

In the meantime, here's a Los Angeles Times overview of the festival written last week by Susan King.

TCM 2014 Festival Posts: The 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival: Day One; The 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival: Day Two; Tonight's Movie: Cheaper By the Dozen (1950) at the TCM Classic Film Festival; The 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival: Day Three; The 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival: Day Four; The 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival: Day Five; Tonight's Movie: Stagecoach (1939) at the TCM Classic Film Festival; Tonight's Movie: Touch of Evil (1958) at the TCM Classic Film Festival; Tonight's Movie: The Jungle Book (1967) at the TCM Classic Film Festival; Tonight's Movie: Her Sister's Secret (1946) at the TCM Classic Film Festival; Tonight's Movie: Written on the Wind (1956) at the TCM Classic Film Festival; Tonight's Movie: Why Worry? (1923) at the TCM Classic Film Festival.

Previous 2014 coverage: Coming Soon!; The TCM Classic Film Festival 2014 Schedule; Film Festival Coverage Coming to Laura's Miscellaneous Musings; TCM Announces 2014 Classic Film Festival Dates and Theme.

Update: I have also written about the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival for the ClassicFlix site.

Related: The 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival in Review.