Well, well, well. Here we are again.
For those of you unfamiliar, I was a regular attendee of the annual Turner Classic Movie Film Festival (TCMFF) held in April an May and often covered it extensively from my first 2015 to the last one I attended in 2019; you can find my full coverage here. I stopped attending thanks to COVID cancelling the festival for two years and then moving overseas to Germany, turning a three-hour trek into nearly a day and a half.
But this year, that trek will be undertaken! Things have changed a lot since the last time I attended, both for myself, this site and the network itself. Most notably, one unique thing this year as I cover the festival’s full schedule: I’m on it.
Yes, there is an author signing event and, in case you’ve somehow found yourself to this post and weren’t aware, Kim and I will be signing copies of our TCM release, Pre-Code Essentials, Sunday in Club TCM at 4:30 PM.
This is kind of surreal; after years of classic passes and line waiting, I have a VIP pass, and, there, on Sunday, I will be sitting there, with my book that took a decade of hard work and preparation, and marveling at the line in front of Leonard Maltin.
But it’s very cool, even if that’s all it turns out to be! (Please note that because I have to jet, I will be there for about the first 45 minutes of the event; Kim will be there the full time, and she’s much cooler anyway.) Of course, if you see me or Kim through the festival, as with previous years, I will have pins to give away featuring our book’s cover girl, Myrna Loy.
This year I’m trying to be flexible more than ever, besides just preparing for the jetlag from Germany, but also because I am simply out of practice for the whole event. Or actually talking to other adults, too; being a stay-at-home dad is weird, I tell ya.
So as for where I’ll be, there is obviously one important selection that everyone and their mother is already lined up for, the premiere restoration of 1932’s Letty Lynton, a Joan Crawford movie that has been sealed in the vault almost since its release due to a lawsuit accusing the film of being a little too much like another published work. Thankfully it only took them 94 years to sort everything out, and Letty will be shown for the first time outside of wishy-washy bootlegs in the Egyptian Theater on Friday.
Thanks to having the VIP passes that come with being an author, I assume I will be able to get into the screening, but in a pinch I have also packed an usher uniform and can pretend to be on the Egyptian Theater’s staff. Failing that ruse, I may have to resort to criminal activity including pretending to be Joan Crawford’s ghost haunting the venue, but whatever effort it takes to be there will undoubtedly be worth it.
There are several other great pre-Codes showing this year as well, including the lovely Blonde Venus, the fun The Mouthpiece, the sublime Trouble in Paradise. (All links here go to my reviews just so you know I’m not bullshitting those adjectives.) There’s also the unseen-by-me Looking for Trouble (1934) which I’m also planning to attend, with Leonard Maltin introducing it; I just can’t escape that man this year!
I will also be at Robocop. I love Robocop! I’m not ashamed to admit it!
Apparently years ago I wrote at TCMFF Trips & Tricks article for anyone who’s interested, and I promise to update it after my visit this year. Hopefully this year’s return is the renewal of a happy tradition. For myself, I still get a jolt out of remembering screenings from over the years; 42nd Street. Queen Christian. Cock of the Air. Seeing celebrities like Mel Brooks, Ann-Margaret, Sophia Loren, Angela Lansbury, and, of course, Mr. Leonard Maltin. I love that guy.
Hope to see you there! If not, I’ll be posting incessantly over on BlueSky and Kim will definitely have some cool stuff on the site’s Instagram, so you can at least get the vicarious thrill of me swooping through the Egyptian’s rafters in my Mildred Pierce cosplay. Cheers!
