Sue Sue's TCM Film Festival Tidbit Travel Blog

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Cheerful passholder in the lobby of the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles
with affable author and Brand Manager for TCM in Atlanta, Shannon Clute.


At the Turner Classic Film Festival 2012 in April at the Hollywood
Roosevelt Hotel, authors Shannon Clute and Richard Edwards were
interviewed at a passholders event in Club TCM about their latest collaborative
work, The Maltese Touch of Evil (Dartmouth College, 2011), which is a
thoroughly up-to-date reference work for all readers who love to ponder
the spectrum of film noir, and is a literate and highly documented
source for fans of movies like Gun Crazy, The Maltese Falcon,
The Grifters, The Killers, and the iconic Out of The Past.

A compendium of Clute's and Edwards' popular podcasts enitled Out of
the Past: Investigating Film Noir, selected by Australian Broadcasting
Corporation as part of their Top of the Pods series, and years of
scholarly research, the detailed reader includes chapters detailing the
void in film noir studies, conflicting definitions of what noir means
to different focus groups, specific examples of universally accepted
standard scenes, and how noir films appeal as constrained texts.

Black and white photos specifically illustrate topics like how a "noir childhood
ain't pretty" and what a flawed charater like Walter Neff ( Fred MacMurray)
in Double Indemnity can illuminate with his sweaty, imperfect voiceover.
Each entry is documented with number of the specific podcast episode for
current reference.

Both Clute and Edwards heartily agreed that film noir is a distinctly
American creation even though the process emerged from emigre European
directors like Jacques Torneur, Billy Wilder, Edward Dmytryk, and
Robert Siodmak, and Clute revealed his interest in film noir evolved
from his love of "hard-boiled" fiction.

The book signing was a popular even with noir buffs as passholders formed a
long line to have their texts personalized by Clute and Edwards, and was
the second official panel discussion on Thursday in Club TCM in the Blossom
Room, home of the first Academy Awards dinner on May 16, 1929.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Historian and costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis
(Raiders of the Lost Ark,, Animal House, Coming to America), and costume
designer Bob Mackie(The Carol Burnett Show, The Sonny and Cher Show,
Cher Tour Ensembles) in his understated best with bowtie to match,
launched the second formal film discussion on the Festival calendar on
Thursday evening at 9:30 p.m. in the Chinese Multiplex.


A gathering of Banton fans waited with anticipation in order to see those art-deco
inspired designs that might never have sprung to life if Claudette
Colbert hadn't stood her ground in her tiny little pumps and demanded
Banton and his muse as emperor of the bangle so Colbert could walk like
an Egyptian.

Claudette Colbert in one of her most iconic roles,Cleopatra (1934)


Mackie shared with audience members his recollection of the first time he saw Cleopatra as a 13-year-old youth in Ingewood, California, at a revival in the 1950's, and marveled at the slinky satin outfits from the 30's, which were much different than the molded, pointed forms of women in foundation garments popular in the 50's.

Nadoolman also revealed information about her upcoming exhibit that she is curating
for the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and reminded passholders that many of the
costumes created by Travis Banton were done in color. One of Colbert's gowns, appearing
as a white satin sheath onscreen, was actually rendered in a shade of mint green satin,
and both presenters agreed that many outfits completed in colorful shades like pink and
yellow often appear in various shades of gray in a black and white film. Nadoolman also
lamented the lack of an in-depth biography of Travis Banton, often seen as the stylist who
transformed Marlene Dietrich's image as much as director Josef Von Sterberg.

[Rita Hayworth]

I seen Claudette Colbert in Cleopatra (1934) while vacationing in New York City back in the early 80's and I love it. I would die to see it again and this is one of my favorite Colbert's movies of all times. Sue Sue ... you are very fortunate to hear more about this movie and again thanks for sharing this with us.

[JackFavell]

Love Cleopatra, love Travis Banton, and I would love to have Colbert's figure at that time.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Jackie and Kingme:

The freedom to enjoy seeing a print of his lovely film with a theatre full of like-minded, appreciative cinephiles was a treat.

What is so much fun about this movie is that Claudette is abstolutely stunning, and is so cute when she is enticing Warren Williams as Caesar into her little web. The clothes! The sets! The utter abandon! The milk bath with attendants who had perms from the 30's! It was all so luxuriously of the period, and thoroughly a guilty pleasure...

For more information on Deborah Nadoolman Landis' exhibit at The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, follow this link:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibition ... d-costume/

[JackFavell]

You've captured it perfectly!

[Rita Hayworth]

You've captured it perfectly!

I agree too!

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Stylicon Travis Banton designed the gowns for the initial run of the
stage version of Auntie Mame, so the necessity for fabulous fashion in
the film version called for someone with a superior eye for detail who
wasn't afraid to gild the golden girl from the Broadhurst proscenium arch
antics, and Orry Kelly (Australian John Kelly) was elected.

After Auntie Mame's initial run from October of 1956 until June of 1958 at
the Broadhurst Theatre in New York, director Morton DaCosta helped
transition the play, written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, for the
screen, and the wonderful Betty Comden/Adolph Green script made the
play even more merry, even though "suckers" had to be censor-substituted for
"sons!#$@%^&**%" in the "Life is a Banquet" line, often voted as one of the most
favorite iconic film quotes of all time.

By the time Orry Kelly was presented with Rosalind Russell's 5'8" frame for the
exquisite clothes he designed for Auntie Mame, he had already draped
Shirley Jones in Oklahoma, Mitzi Gaynor and Kay Kendall in Les Girls,
Anne Baxter in I Confess, Joan Caulfied in The Lady Says No, Leslie
Caron in An American in Paris, and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca .



The beauty of the wonderful set designs in the film belongs to interior decor
consultant Don Alvarado, set decorator George James Hopkins, and art
director by Malcolm C. Bert. I couldn't wait to enjoy the entire vision of the
colorful, imaginative film sets, the first vision of Mame's Beekman Place Apartment
decked out in it's Chinese glory with the spookiest door I've ever seen, Yul Ulu's
one-of-a-kind hydraulic couches, and the colourful Christmastime set graced by
the salvation of Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside.

All this history about Auntie Mame was swirling around in my vast
internal landscape as I was having my last cup of coffee before dashing
downstairs at the Hollywood Roosevelt to see a film I have loved,
admired, and viewed for many years. (Why all this fasincation? All my
goddaughters think I AM their very own peronal Auntie Mame.) I felt so
exhilarated at the thought of actually being able to see this film on the big
screen with the director's view of sets, costumes, and characters. I knew that
being accompanied to see this film with a dear friend who felt
the same way about the iconic movie as I did would completely alter and
elevate my viewing experience.


On Saturday, April 14, at the Egyptian Theatre, Mameaholics were lined up
and ready to be mesmerized again, but this time by the lush colors, the bravado of
the original soundtrack, and the lovely depth of field we just don't see from a dvd.



Passholders buzzed with phrases from the film like "How vivid!","Nuts,
Mr. Babcock?," "Top drawer!", "Doyoulikeginfinethenwe'llplaysomeafterdinner " and
"Life is a banquet at the TCM Film Fest 2012!"

[knitwit45]

Christy, this is one film I can watch any time, from any starting point. I first saw it when I was 13, at a huge downtown theater. My girlfriend and I sat thru it twice, just to count the different 'themes' of Mame's apartment. My favorite was the very last one, dressed as an East Indian palace. The costumes, the wigs, the cast, all Top Drawer!!!

Thanks for sharing!!!

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Thanks so much, Knitty! I love this film so much. I think I started mentally hugging it when I became a single mom. There are still moments when I tear up because everytime I had a difficult time making ends meet or disciplining my son, I would find time to sit down and watch it, and it was always so uplifting and inspirational, and I'm still looking for Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside to come and sweep me off to a round the world tour and ask me to meet his horses.

(I have dated a cowboy once, but he just wanted to introduce me to his truck and his barbecue pit, never his horses!)

I think my favorite incarnation is the Christmas set with Patrick's Picasso reproduction from his "black and blue" period.

The continuity from the Broadway show included director Morton DaCosta, Jan Handzlik (Patrick), Peggy Cass (Agnes Gooch), and Yuki Shimoda (Ito).

Right after that wonderful introductory scene in the film when Rosalind Russell descends the staircase in that divine tangerine kimono with all the black sequins and beads, she broke her ankle, and it shut down production until she recovered sufficiently to continue her scenes.

Oh, Mamie!

[JackFavell]

I'm with you, I like the black and blue period....set, that is.

My favorite scene:

Patrick mixing a martini for Mister Babcock and on from there. In fact I love all the scenes with Mr. Babcock, especially when Mame gets a whiff of his prejudiced viewpoints.

"Exclusively what and restricted to whom?"

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Saturday evening, April 14, was one of the events I had been looking forward to since the announcement of the full schedule. At 9:45 in the Chinese Multiplex #3, Seconds was going to be introduced by veteran actor Richard Anderson and historian Kari Beauchamp. 6'3" Anderson strolled onstage looking fit and tan as if he just stepped away from the clay court after his last victory volley.

The low-key, but informative introduction allowed Anderson to reveal some of his Hollywood rise to prominence as one of the most visible supporting cast players from the decline of the studio system to his berth as solid Oscar Goldman in The Six Million Dollar Man, and its feminist spawn, The Bionic Woman. The first actor to play concurrent roles in two different series on two different networks, Anderson was recommended for the role of Henry Malvine in Dream Wife by none other than Cary Grant as Grant's wife at the time, Betsy Drake had noticed Anderson in one of his theatrical appearances in the 1950s when Anderson was a contract player at MGM.

Anderson once claimed that "when people ask me where I received my education, I tell them it was at MGM-U. The biggest lessons I learned is that acting is a talent. You can't teach it. And even if you have the talent, you have to get a part." So when the call came from Cary Grant, he was a little startled, but eventually secured one of his breakthrough roles in Dream Wife after appearing in scores of MGM films in the early 1950s, thanks to the intervention of the Grants, and Anderson even entertained passholders with an imitation of Grant during the explanation of his acquisition of the Henry Malvine role.

Anderson's role as Dr. Innes in Seconds came after his appearances in the final season of Perry Mason and before his guest-starring stints in The Man From Uncle, Twelve O'Clock High, The Big Valley, and Dan August, continuing his popularity as the king of supporting roles in major film and television series. With Seconds, both he and Cari Beauchamp acknowledged that Rock Hudson's portrayal of Tony Wilson was one of his best moments on film.

Before the cameras rolled, Hudson spent time with John Randolph learning his mannerisms and preparing to imitate the man who would embody the character of Arthur Hamilton who chooses to relinquish his former life dedicated to what he believed was a hollow dream of unfulfilled hopes. By accepting the Faustian offer of old friend Charlie Evans, played by a post Anatomy of a Murder, pre- Jaws Murray Hamilton, Randolph's character agrees to visit the firm that promises to orchestrate his death, and resurrect him with a new face and a new identity.

Actors John Randolph, Will Geer, Nedrick Young, and Jeff Corey had all been on the Blacklist, and Seconds became the first film Randolph had completed in fifteen years. John Frankenheimer's direction of Seconds, part of what is considered his 'Trilogy of Paranoia' along with The Manchurian Candidate and Seven Days in May, was also an overt political statement as well as a psychological tale that so affected the likes of Beach Boys' Brian Wilson under the influence of psychedelic drugs that he didn't see another movie until E.T., the Extraterrestial premiered in 1982. Audience members seemed much more emotionally stable and appreciative of the collaborative screen efforts, and were visibly moved by scenes depicting the emotional depths of self-delusion and self-destruction. The passholders attending Saturday's screening all seemed to enjoy Anderson's discussion, and gave him, and Cari Beauchamp, a big round of applause before he exited the stage.

Personally, Anderson's second marriage to Katharine Thalberg, daughter of Norma Shearer and Irving Thalberg, produced three daughters, and according to his website biography, he is "a sports buff, a car enthusiast," and an " insatiable traveler." He certainly looks like he has been taking very good care of himself.

For more about the career and accomplishments of Cari Beauchamp, follow this link:
http://www.caribeauchamp.com/index.html

For more about Richard Anderson, visit his website:
http://www.bionik.com/biography.html

Anderson's career also paralleled that of Seconds costar Salome Jens. More about her busy professional life in the next installment.

Check out the wonderful thread here at the SSO about Seconds started by Mr. Arkadin, with more first-person comments about the TCMFF 2012 screening by one of our newest administrators, kingrat: http://silverscreenoasis.com/oasis3/vie ... f=1&t=4076

I thoroughly agree with his apt comment that "Anderson always gave the impression of being a nice, intelligent man you'd like to have as a friend. He still does."

Don't forget to have fun!

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Richard Anderson's introduction to Seconds also revealed that he felt
Salome Jens was a wonderful actress. And viewing that film at the
Turner Classic Film Festival 2012 peaked my interested in a woman whose
career encompassed many film, television, and stage successes. Her face
is familiar to many because of her myriad of guest starring roles in series like
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, appearing as the Female Shapeshifter,
or Melrose Place as Joan Campbell.

She also appeared in Tales From the Crypt, Falcon Crest, Mary
Hartman, Mary Hartman, Medical Center, Stoney Burke, The Outer Limits,
The Untouchables, and one of the more unusual episodes of Gunsmoke,
entitled "Captain Sligo," with Richard Baseheart in the title role, staple character
player Royal Dano, and director William Conrad, who was the original Matt Dillon
on the CBS radio show. McMillan and Wife, Seconds' costar Rock
Hudson's popular detective series, also afforded Jens the opportunity to work
with Hudson again in the episode entitled " Reunion in Terror," as a character
named "Boom Boom" Parkins in the 70s.

Jens' quirky, often off-beat characters did much to advance her in
certain non-traditional roles, but her portrayal of Nora Marcus as the
free-wheeling, grape-stomping paramour of Rock Hudson's reformed Arthur
Hamilton enjoying his new found "freedom" in the up-and-coming Malibu
counterculture, is one of her signature roles. As Nora Marcus, she is
mysterious, passionate, and willing to lead Arthur Hamilton into all
kinds of adventures, some of which occur on screen in the actual Malibu
home of Seconds director John Frankenheimer.

Her 1961 starring role in Paul Wendkos's Angel Baby is considered
Wendkos' best directorial effort, and a cult favorite with fans of Salome Jens.
Wendkos, famous for the Gidget franchise, The Legend of Lizzie
Borden, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, and A Woman Called Moses,
starring Cicely Tyson, was hard-pressed not to release Angel Baby, and
it was "shelved" for a year to help ensure the success of a similarly plotted
Columbia effort entitled Elmer Gantry, which propelled Shirley Jones
to her Oscar win as Lulu Bains.

Angel Baby not only marked the debut of Ms. Jens as a woman who believes she has been
selected by God to alleviate the suffering of others with her healing skills, but it also allowed a
young Burt Reynolds his first film credit before his stint as "Quint" on Gunsmoke a year or
so later. George Hamilton, as Paul Strand, is a greedy promoter who supposedly cures Jens of her
affliction, and Mercedes McCambridge is his wife who also exploits the innocent.



Salome Jens will star with Andrew Prine (Bandolero, The Miracle Worker,
Chisum ) in Glendale Centre Theatre's On Golden Pond, July 12-August 11. Jens
has previously appeared in many productions, and the New York Times called her
one-woman show About Anne, incorporating the poems and words of Anne Sexton,
" a magnificent moment of theater" and states that her "rich and brilliant performance
gleams in the memory." (Anyone living near Glendale, California, might
want to order tickets to see Jens and Prine emote in On Golden Pond at 818-244-8481.)

Watching Seconds made me so curious about Salome Jens because I had
seen her in so many movies and television classics, and I had to find out a little more
about this fascinating feature player. Discussing her performance with
Geraldine Page in Barefoot in Athens, a play about the death of
Socrates, which first appeared on Broadway, and aired in 1966 on NBC, Jens
claimed Page was "fierce" and always worked "on the edges." She also
reveals she was "moved, moved humanly" by Page's performance. Barefoot
in Athens also starred Peter Ustinov as Socrates. After watching the
print of Seconds at the Turner Classic Film Festival in April, I feel
that Jen's performances move viewers humanly and motivated me to find out
a little more about her and her performance in Seconds, which helped
make it a classic, cult or otherwise.

Maybe Salome Jens will be asked to appear at the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival 2013
to introduce another screening of Seconds, or even Angel Baby.

[JackFavell]

What a great writeup, Sue sue! I admit the only think I know about Salome Jens is her name, but I am betting I would recognize her in a show or movie.

[CineMaven]

SALOME JENS?!! The most mysterious actress to me this side of Zohra Lampert!

I guess her persona's wrapped up in the ten-year old brain I had as a kid. "ANGEL BABY" was shown on Million Dollar Movie the entire week along with commercials for the movie "MONDO CANE" which frighteningly aired and freaked me out. Somehow, she is mixed up with all of that in my memory. Years later, when years ago I first saw "SECONDS", my knee jerk reaction was "Oooh, that's the scary lady." Can't explain it why I associated her with something scary. Jens is in the category of a Geraldine Page and Kim Stanley; not quite "A"-list, not wholly accessible to the fan-magazine taste of the public. She's an actress who takes chances. Jens' sensual allure is also in the deeper end of the pool from the other two actresses. Thanxx for spotlighting her. Your post finally removes my last cobwebs of fear. You've put her squarely in the light as being a talented actress. Nothing scary at all.