The past several days has been a star-studded one if you’ve traversed Hollywood Boulevard thanks to the TCM Classic Film Festival. Film lovers from all over the world have attended this fest to check out silver screen classics on the big screen as well as meet some of cinema’s artistic luminaries.
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Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer were on hand with the opening night screening and gala of “The Sound of Music,” with Plummer getting immortalized Friday morning at Hollywood’s Chinese Theatre. Another personal favorite of Plummer’s, “The Man Who Would Be King”, screened Saturday morning at the Egyptian Theatre.
Ann-Margret, looking radiant as ever, was on hand to present Friday afternoon’s showing of “The Cincinnati Kid,” and Sophia Loren is also slated to introduce tonight’s TCL Chinese Theatre screening of Marriage, Italian Style.
If you ever visit Hollywood and love movies with a passion, try Starline Tour #9, which is presented with TCM. I was one of the lucky media members to check out the tour on Friday, morning, and along to being treated with video clips from TCM host Ben Mankiewicz as he talked about the various locations we traversed, we also stopped at Los Angeles’ famed Bradbury Building and Union Station.
Both sites have been the location for numerous movies (Blade Runner, 500 Days of Summer, and Wolf are just a few to shoot in the Bradbury, with This Gun For Hire and The Driver among the films shot in Union Station).
My favorite element of the three hour tour is its emphasis on spotlight downtown Los Angeles’ effect on Hollywood filmmaking. Although Culver City is rightfully known as the “heart of screenland” and Burbank is synonymous with Walt Disney Studios, DTLA also has a rich history in cinema.
Since I previously lived int he Bunker Hill section of DTLA, I was familiar with the environment. Still, it’s always great to shoot a few interiors of the Bradbury Building, a place that swims in film noir aesthetics.
Another personal highlight of my week was finally getting the chance to see “Lawrence of Arabia.” I still can’t believe it took me years to catch this classic, but watching the epic for the first time, plus listening to esteemed editor Anne V. Coates share her recollections of cutting the movie, was a definite pleasure.
The TCM Classic Film Festival concludes today. Check out its official site for details. I’ll be off to see the 9:45 a.m. TCMCFF screening of Tyrone Power’s “Nightmare Alley,” and will post more TCM material later today.