A VERY TCM WEEKEND: WHY CLASSIC FILMS AND TCM MATTER MORE THAN EVER by Matthew Gentile

Every April since 2010, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) — the beloved cable channel and cultural institution that broadcasts classic films around the clock — has hosted a remarkable festival in the heart of Hollywood. While Los Angeles is never short on revival screenings, the TCM Classic Film Festival offers cinephiles something rare: the chance to experience classic films the way they were meant to be seen — on the big screen, in historic theaters, surrounded by fellow lovers of cinema. And if that’s not enough, many screenings feature special guests, from legendary filmmakers, stars, historians, and preservationists to TCM’s own knowledgeable and charismatic hosts.

Like many film buffs, I grew up watching TCM. When I work on my screenplays at home or am prepping a film or in post, I usually have TCM playing on mute in the background, as I never know when a clip will inspire me. TCM has meant a lot to me as a filmmaker, and film-watcher, as it’s made me aware (along with Criterion Channel and other venues that make older films accessible) of the vast ocean of great cinema that is out there waiting to be explored and learned from by future generations.

My first experience attending the TCM Festival was in 2015 — when I was a student at the American Film Institute, where they would give out a small number of free passes to students who were interested. Shockingly, the passes often would go unclaimed. In that first year, I caught two screenings: the first was the late William Friedkin introducing THE FRENCH CONNECTION at the TCL Chinese IMAX (on the largest screen in the world). The other was Sophia Loren introducing MARRIAGE: ITALIAN STYLE — when at the age of 80 - she walked across the stage in high heels to an uproarious standing ovation. The excitement in the room created a neural pathway that made me want that experience of seeing a film like that, with the filmmakers and an excited audience, again. Because seeing a film this way isn’t the same as seeing it on your television at home on a laptop or tablet. Case and point: I saw Saturday Night Fever when I was in college, on my TV in my dorm. I thought it was fine. Then I saw it in 2017 at TCM Fest, with the director John Badham in person. And when the opening track ‘Stayin’ Alive’ by the Bee Gees kicked on with that packed crowd, suddenly, I was transported back to Brooklyn in 1977 with that audience. I think we all were.

I make it a point to go to TCM Fest every year I can. It’s the best way to see these incredible films, restorations, rare prints, archival gems and hear from the people who made or shaped them or the historians who know the most about them. In a world that’s changing so fast, it’s a way to connect with this young art form’s roots.

Over the course of four days, TCM programs approximately 80-90 films across a few venues (the TCL Chinese Theatre, the Egyptian, the Multiplex, and the poolside at the Hollywood Roosevelt). This leaves a festivalgoer with many options, many films, conversations they can experience.

Here are mine from this year, and what I learned from each:

DAY 1— A CONVERSATION WITH GUILLERMO DEL TORO & THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE

I kicked off my TCM Fest strong with this remarkably inspiring conversation with one of our greatest directors of today. Celebrating the 90th anniversary of their national archive, the BFI’s contributions to cinema are immeasurable.

Ben Roberts, the CEO of the BFI, conducted an hour long conversation with Guillermo Del Toro about what the BFI has meant to him, and highlighted the upcoming restorations that will be unveiled this year, including the Hitchcock 9 (his silent films starting with THE PLEASURE GARDEN and ending with THE LODGER), the classic psychological thriller GASLIGHT from 1940 directed by Thorold Dickinson and starring Anton Walbrook (which preceded George Cukor’s more famous remake, which is only more famous because MGM set out when they purchased the remake rights to burn and destroy as many prints of the original British version as they could). Del Toro quipped: “For those of you that thought Hollywood didn’t always do remakes…they did.”

My biggest takeaway from listening to Del Toro speak about film, is that similar to Martin Scorsese — his passion for this art form is limitless. Despite how much Del Toro has accomplished — when asked by Roberts about himself or his own movies [the BFI is doing a restoration of Del Toro’s heralded debut CRONOS — which Del Toro is aiding], he genuinely did not want to talk about it. He was there strictly to shine a light on the films and filmmakers of the past. He spotlighted the work of Powell and Pressburger, and celebrated how much Michael Powell sacrificed as a filmmaker — putting himself on the front line, facing alienation and derision for his way-ahead-of-its-time PEEPING TOM. He also posited how success can be a poison for a creative person, because of the natural desire to try to replicate it after you achieve it.

DAY 1 — MISERY (1990) WITH ROB REINER AND KATHY BATES

Somehow, I’d never seen MISERY, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. I couldn’t be happier, however, that it took me this long to see it, as I had the opportunity to experience it for the first time on the big screen with a packed crowd. After it ended, Rob Reiner and Kathy Bates came to the stage, and Reiner professed how happy he was to hear the gasps and the laughs, and to see how well it played.

TCM Host Dave Karger talked with Reiner and Bates in an insightful interview, where they discussed the casting and production process. Throughout their conversation, you get a clear sense of what makes Reiner such a good actor’s director. As Kathy Bates was taking on this role, and finding herself drawn to the character and intimidated by it (as she bravely noted her similiarties to Annie Wilkes) — Reiner comforted her by saying: “You have to trust you have one of the great acting instruments of all time and you can leave that character here at the studio and go home and be yourself and don’t be worried that you won’t be able to pick it back up again.” That sensitivity and understanding of the acting process is so crucial.

They also talked about the lengthy process to cast James Caan’s role and the actors who passed on it before he accepted: William Hurt (two times), Kevin Kline, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Richard Dreyfuss, Gene Hackman, and Robert Redford before Warren Beatty — who developed the script with them. Written by the great William Goldman, Beatty helped Reiner with a major breakthrough when he helped them realize that MISERY was not a horror movie, really, or a thriller — but in fact: a prison movie. After they tweaked the script and elevated it with that through-line, Beatty dropped out. But then they landed Caan, and the rest is history.

Caan and Bates came from different places — Caan a movie star, Bates at the time a successful theatre actress making a transition into film. She wanted to rehearse a lot. He didn’t at all. Reiner found a middle ground, and the performances speak for themselves.

I found myself also struck by Barry Sonnenfeld’s bold cinematography: the low angles, the moody lighting, and I can see even similarities with the Coen Brothers’ debut BLOOD SIMPLE (which he also lensed) with some of the tight claustrophobic close-ups and how they’re used to build tension.

DAY 1 — THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT (1995) WITH ROB REINER & AARON SORKIN

Ben Mankeiwicz kicked off the interview with Rob Reiner and Aaron Sorkin to discuss and celebrate the 30th anniversary of this beloved film starring Michael Douglas and Annette Bening. The project originated with Robert Redford, who had apparently had many scripts written on the premise of three words: ‘the president elopes.’ When Reiner was given the directing job, he brought in Sorkin after a successful and rewarding collaboration on A FEW GOOD MEN. The way Sorkin tells it, he went into Redford’s office, and Redford presented him with the multiple scripts that had already been written and said: “pick one of these to rewrite.” With self-described chutzpah, Sorkin requested that he not rewrite someone else’s work — and instead start from scratch.

They agreed, and weeks later — Sorkin delivered to Reiner a draft that was well over three hundred pages. The two worked together to cut it down, and while Sorkin didn’t want to kill his darlings — he wouldn’t have to — as a lot of what was cut out of that original draft ended up being used in THE WEST WING (which, after seeing this film, isn’t hard to believe).

After Redford dropped out, the only two actors they discussed as being right for the part were Michael Douglas (whose track record was unparalleled in the 1990s) and Warren Beatty (who they realized on stage probably left because his wife was the lead).

My takeaway from Sorkin’s anecdote about crafting this screenplay is that you can’t write enough. Even as you inevitably end up cutting material and revising, what you lose from one draft may give birth to something else. So, always keep writing.

Watching the film today with a packed audience and seeing its themes and messages resonate so deeply (the audience broke into applause multiple times during the triumphant and idealistic speeches in the third act) made me miss this kind of mid-budget range studio movie for adults, and also reminded me how much comedy needs to be experienced on the big screen — as few things beat laughing out loud with a crowd.

DAY 2 - THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII (1934)—

In continuing their collaboration with TCM — the BFI’s Kieron Webb introduced THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII from 1933 starring the icon Charles Laughton and directed by Alexander Korda — a Hungarian-born British director and producer (a mogul in the traditional sense of the word). When Korda took the brilliant script by Lajos Biro and Arthur Wimperis to financial backers — not many were interested. Korda however persevered and eventually obtained financing from United Artists and an Italian impresario. Finally, they were able to make this period film, but only a shoestring budget. You can argue that THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII was a prestige indie before the term existed in Hollywood.

The risk paid off, and this film became hugely successful at the box office internationally and the performance by Charles Laughton won him a much-deserved Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role — which made this film the first foreign film to win an Oscar. Watching this film reminds me of how commanding a presence Laughton is. I was also taken aback by Korda’s sensible direction, as the film navigated the tonal shifts from character-based black comedy to tragic melodrama brilliantly.

DAY 2 - GUNMAN’S WALK (1958)

Czar of Noir Eddie Mueller introduced a new restoration of this vastly underrated Western directed by Phil Karlson (a great noir director), starring Van Heflin and Tab Hunter in incredible performances, and written by the great Frank S. Nugent (who also wrote THE SEARCHERS among many other classics).

Like THE SEARCHERS, this film tackles complex themes of family, legacy, and race relations in a way that must have been ahead of its time. Both Van Heflin and Tab Hunter are — to put it lightly — antiheroes. Heflin plays a wealthy and respected rancher whose arrogant and hottempered son (Hunter) kills a man and must deal with the consequences as well as his own guilt over how he raised him. I was blown away by the depth of this film and this script, which shows Heflin’s character as an enabler — yet he makes you feel compassion for him because he’s so blind to the errors of his ways.

Hunter is equally excellent in a performance that feels reminiscent of James Caan in THE GODFATHER and Toshiro Mifune (with the elaborate physicality and ability to go to 100 in seconds). The cinematography by Charles Lawton Jr is also remarkable, the Technicolor is gorgeous with wide sweeping vistas. The film was noted for having made Columbia studio head, Harry Cohn — by all accounts a tough son of a bitch — burst into tears. The climactic sequence, which I won’t give away, is one of the best I’ve ever seen.

DAY 3 - THE TALK OF THE TOWN (1942)
Ahead of this restoration of the George Stevens classic — TCM’s Alicia Malone interviewed none other than George Stevens, Junior. Starring Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, and Ronald Colman all at the top of their game — the film focuses on a wrongly accused fugitive (Grant) who hides out in a house in a small town owned by his fomer schoolmate (Arthur) that’s to be occupied by a legal scholar (Colman). At its core, this is a romantic comedy that also poses philosophical questions about the head versus the heart.

What impresses me most about George Stevens’ work is the pathos he has for his characters, and how he treats comedy and suspense very similarly. According to George Stevens Junior, Stevens didn’t particularly like the term ‘screwball comedy’. His approach to it came from his origins working with Laurel and Hardy, where he learned that comedy could be graceful and grounded in believable characters.

The film resonated with a packed house, making them laugh and — not unlike Friday’s screening of THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT — making them burst into applause during profound speeches. At 82 years old, this film also speaks directly to today.

Before the interview, Stevens Junior said to Malone:

“My father always had this idea about films…that what was important was not how good or popular they were in the year they came out…but would they stand the test of time?”

I believe all of these films have, and perhaps it’s only seeing them now as they span across generations, in packed theaters, where we can really begin to grasp what this art form’s reach is actually capable of. This is why it’s so important for us to stay connected to classical Hollywood cinema, and why TCM is more than a channel or a festival — it’s a cultural institution.

MATTHEW GENTILE is a director and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. His first feature, AMERICAN MURDERER, stars Tom Pelphrey, Ryan Phillippe, Idina Menzel, and Jacki Weaver and was distributed by Lionsgate/Saban and Universal. You can follow him on Instagram at @matthewgentiledirector or his website: www.matthewgentiledirector.com