Weekend Movie Fun: Out and About in L.A.

We've had a fun start to the holiday weekend, seeing a trio of classic films in Los Angeles over the past two days as well as visiting some equally classic Los Angeles eateries and landmarks.

Friday morning started off at the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy, where my husband had an appointment to do some film score research. It was my first visit, and it was great fun to look around at all the fabulous posters decorating the building and check out the impressive library stacks.

I also spent some time reading my advance copy of the new Fay Wray/Robert Riskin bio just steps from a giant poster of MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (1936) which prominently featured Riskin's name. That was a nice bit of serendipity! Alas, photos are only permitted in the lobby (above).

For lunch we headed to The Apple Pan, which we first visited last summer. As some of yesterday's photos reflect, it was another rainy weekend here, but the wet weather is most welcome in California.

The restaurant was recently sold but the new owner is a longtime customer who pledges to keep it exactly "as is."

As we stood waiting for seats at the counter to open up, my husband started chuckling and nodded toward the counter -- where none other than Ben Mankiewicz of Turner Classic Movies was eating lunch! I'd call that an "only in L.A." kind of moment -- except that we've also eaten in the same restaurant as Ben in Lone Pine!

After lunch we had some time before we needed to head to UCLA so we visited the Los Angeles National Cemetery and paid our respects at the final resting places of a pair of actors we particularly enjoy.

Actor-director Richard Carlson, to whom I paid tribute in 2015, served in the Navy during World War II.

He's buried on a hill with a lovely view overlooking much of the cemetery.

John Russell, the star of TV's LAWMAN, was a decorated Marine veteran of the Guadalcanal campaign.

Not surprisingly, the cemetery is organized with military precision and it was easy to find both sites. We hope to return and vist Jack Holt's gravesite at a future date. Russell Hicks, who was in one of the yesterday's films, THE MORTAL STORM (1940), is also buried at the cemetery. (July 2019 Update: A few months later we paid our visit to Jack Holt's gravesite.)

Soon it was time to head to UCLA's Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum for the first of two screenings we saw at the 2019 UCLA Festival of Preservation.

Local L.A. TV legend Tom Hatten was leaving the theater as we arrived, so it was neat to see him in person, if only for a minute. (March 2019 Update: Tom Hatten passed away just a month later at the age of 92.)

It was also great to see several friends who were on hand for the festival! I loved having the chance to see THE CROOKED WAY (1949), which I reviewed here back in 2013, in a gorgeous 35mm print.

The plot can be a bit clunky at times, especially as the initial exposition is laid out in the opening scene, but John Alton's cinematography is absolutely stunning; I had noted that in my previous review and it's really the word which fits. Over and over I caught myself thinking "That looks so neat!" It's a movie which can be enjoyed simply for the way it looks -- though I also find it quite entertaining for other reasons.

We went to dinner at BJ's after THE CROOKED WAY; we find the Westwood location consistently top-drawer for that chain. Incidentally, we were very surprised to learn that 800 Degrees Pizza around the corner from the museum had closed in October, as it was always packed when we visited, and the Westwood Pieology had closed as well. (April 2019 Update: 800 Degrees has reopened!)

We then returned to the Billy Wilder Theater for THE MORTAL STORM (1940). It was my first time to see it and I found it quite memorable; I'll be writing about it in a separate post in the near future.

What a difference a day makes! Saturday was sunny and crisp; the rain of the last few days left the L.A. skies a sparkling clear blue, as can be seen from this freeway shot below:

We had brunch at The Original Pantry Cafe, which opened in 1924 and is famous for never having closed in the last 95 years.

I couldn't believe it had been over a decade since my last visit!

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal at this L.A. landmark. Below are a few more shots of the restaurant, and please visit my 2008 post for additional photos.

Early this afternoon we returned to The Autry Museum of the American West, which we visited last month to see CANYON PASSAGE (1946).

Today's film in the museum's ongoing What is a Western? series was the classic Randolph Scott Western THE TALL T (1957), which I hadn't seen since 2006.

This was my first time to see it on a big screen; the 35mm print shown in the Autry's Wells Fargo Theater was quite nice, a little grainy at times but sharp and crisp in many scenes, and I should note that the sound was vastly improved over last month's screening, which apparently had a soundtrack issue.

I liked the film the first time I saw it, though I found the (mostly unseen) violence early in the film difficult, and I liked it even more today. In the intervening years we have visited where the movie was filmed in the Alabama Hills outside Lone Pine, which made seeing it again even more special.

Like last month's movie, the film was introduced by historian Jeremy Arnold; Jeremy knew director Budd Boetticher and shared some brief audio clips of Budd's interview comments as part of his talk. It was a wonderfully informative way to kick off the screening.

Below, Jeremy (center) greets film fans in the lobby after the film. I hope he'll program future films at the Autry, as I really enjoyed his selections and introductions.

It's been a wonderful weekend, with the kind of experiences which really make me appreciate the opportunities available where we live.

Coming soon: A review of THE MORTAL STORM (1940). Update: Here is my review of THE MORTAL STORM.

Related Posts: Weekend Movie Fun: Canyon Passage (1946) at the Autry (and Philippe's!) (January 2019); What is a Western? Film Series at the Autry.

Also: Weekend Movie Fun (February 2018); Weekend Movie Fun: Design for Living at the Egyptian Theatre (July 2018); Weekend Movie Fun: Counsellor at Law (1933) at UCLA (and the Apple Pan!) (July 2018).