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Tuesday, April 23, 2024

The 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival in Review

The 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival has now come to an end, and it's possible that this was the best festival yet!


This was the 15th edition of the festival, which was held from Thursday evening, April 18th, through Sunday night, April 21st.

Turner Classic Movies is also celebrating its 30th anniversary this month, and it was wonderful to gather in Hollywood and celebrate! Reuniting with friends from across the country, Canada, and beyond is always the very best part of the festival.


Screenings were spread across five main theater venues this year, plus the Hollywood Roosevelt pool and a special "one-off" screening of ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS (1961) at Disney's El Capitan Theatre.


As is always the case, there are many difficult viewing decisions to make at the festival, and I made more changes to my tentative schedule than is typical for me, including completely changing my opening night plans!

On opening night friends persuaded me that seeing WHITE HEAT (1949) in 35mm was the way to go, which ended up being a great choice, and then I stayed at the Egyptian Theatre to watch the new-to-me GAMBIT (1966), which I found amusing.


Friday there wasn't time to get to the Egyptian for THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! (1974) so I went with my backup plan and saw IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU (1954), which I hadn't seen since I watched it on TV as a child in the '70s.


I followed that with John Ford's THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND (1936) in 35mm, which particularly intrigued me as I recently reviewed a new biography of Warner Baxter. It was incredibly special to have costar John Carradine's son Keith there to discuss his father's work.

I was shut out of a sold-out screening of THE BIG HEAT (1953) on Saturday, but I managed to see it when it was one of the films chosen to replay on Sunday!


On Sunday I finally made my choice between CHINATOWN (1974) and THE SEARCHERS (1956), choosing the world premiere of the restoration of THE SEARCHERS, shown in 70mm; it was one of the best festival decisions I've ever made. That sold-out screening was a majestic, profound experience which left me awed and deeply moved.

Another wonderful experience for me this year was the presentation of the Robert Osborne Award to film historian Jeanine Basinger, who has been one of my favorite writers on film for the majority of my life. That emotional moment, combined with her chosen screening of WESTWARD THE WOMEN (1951), was very special.


I enjoyed everything I saw, with additional highlights being the Ben Burtt and Craig Barron special presentation of THEM! (1954), featuring a surprise appearance by former child actress Sandy Descher; DIRTY HARRY (1971), with Eddie Muller hosting a terrific interview with Andy Robinson; and a partial cast reunion at a 30th anniversary screening of LITTLE WOMEN (1994), which I continue to feel is one of the finer films of the last few decades.


I saw 15 films again this year, the same number as I've seen at the last few festivals. Five films were in 35mm, one in 70mm, and the other nine films were in DCP format. Five of the films were new to me, and four of the repeat films were first-time big screen watches. The short THE GOAT (1921), which preceded a screening of SHERLOCK JR. (1924), was also new to me.


I'll add as an aside that I've gathered a small stack of a few movies I didn't get to see at the festival, including THE SMALL BACK ROOM (1949) along with the previously mentioned THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! and CHINATOWN. I'm hoping to catch up with those in the near future.

As always, I'll be sharing daily recaps in the coming days, offering more thoughts on the movies seen, along with additional photos. I also hope to write at least a couple of full-length film reviews, as time permits. There's lots more about the festival coming soon!


Previously reviewed films seen at the 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival, listed in the order viewed at the fest: WHITE HEAT (1949), THE GOOD FAIRY (1935), THEM! (1954), IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934), THE MAD MISS MANTON (1938), WESTWARD THE WOMEN (1951), LITTLE WOMEN (1994), and THE BIG HEAT (1953).

As usual, I'll add future 2024 coverage links to this paragraph, so that all of this year's festival reports may be easily found in one place: [Coming soon!]



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2 comments:

  1. DKoren8:19 PM

    So exciting! I love reading your recap of it. I'll bet the restored Searchers was amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jacqueline T. Lynch6:54 AM

    So glad you had a great time. Your chosen films are splendid! (I agree the 1994 LITTLE WOMEN is wonderful film.)

    ReplyDelete