The 2019 TCM Classic Film Festival: Day Two

Thursday, April 11th, was a beautiful, sunny day in Hollywood!

I enjoyed the now-traditional Thursday morning breakfast at Mel's with my roommate KC.

It was great to have a chance to quietly catch up for an hour in the midst of all the other goings-on...

...and breakfast at Mel's is always good!

Next we walked down the street, where the Egyptian Theatre courtyard was temporarily blocked off to the public...

...and visited Larry Edmunds Bookshop. We ran into Casey along the way and also had the delightful chance to see Jandy and her baby.

The shop's window displays were ready to welcome the festival!

It was my second visit to Larry Edmunds in less than two weeks, but it's no surprise to anyone who's been there that I still managed to find some treasures! Happening on this Fay Wray memoir was wonderful timing, since I just read her daughter's wonderful book on her parents.

I also picked up a terrific book of photos, HOLLYWOOD THEN AND NOW by Rosemary Lord.

Back in Club TCM at the Hollywood Roosevelt, I took a closer look at the costume exhibits than had been possible on Wednesday. I found it rather awe-inspiring seeing costumes worn by Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn close to eight decades ago.

I loved being able to examine the details up close.

Errol Flynn's uniform:

A picture of the scene in which these costumes were used:

Also on hand was a Darth Vader costume from the best STAR WARS movie of them all, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980):

I very happily accepted a George Sanders button for my pass lanyard from Julia!

It usually hasn't worked out for me to be in past TCMParty group photos as they were taken when I was at other events, such as the red carpet bleachers. This year's photo was taken earlier in the day so I was glad to be there. An official TCM photographer, David Byrne, took photos in Club TCM and gets credit for this picture:

Outside on Hollywood Boulevard, preparations were underway for the opening night red carpet ceremonies at the Chinese Theatre:

I grabbed an early dinner and then headed back to the Egyptian for my first movie of the festival...

...a digital screening of GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953)...

...where we were welcomed to both the film and the festival by TCM host Alicia Malone.

The print was beautiful, and it was grand fun seeing this comedy with an enthusiastic crowd. I'll be reviewing as many TCM Fest films as time allows and hope to review this here in the near future.

Next up, another comedy, THE BACHELOR AND THE BOBBY-SOXER (1947), the first of three Cary Grant films I saw at this year's festival. There were even more Cary Grant films shown this year which I couldn't fit into my schedule, making 2019 a mini-Grant festival.

The 35mm nitrate print was from Shirley Temple's personal collection!

The one discordant note in the evening was the introduction by journalist Tara McNamara, which focused almost entirely on negative points about both the film and film history -- not exactly the best way to get the audience in the mood for a delightful comedy. 

The movie itself is as funny as ever, played by a cast of great pros, and as I Tweeted just after the screening, the print was "completely gorgeous"! Starting off this year's festival with back-to-back comedies made for a great Thursday evening.

Coming soon: A look at Friday, when I saw four films and one clip show, along with visiting the Legion Post 43 Theater for the first time.