At the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival, Hollywood stars and filmmakers gathered for a weekend to celebrate the legacy of film and the impact they have had on cinema.
To kick off the festival at Los Angeles’ TCL Chinese Theater, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and the Hollywood Legion Theater at Post 43, Angie Dickinson chatted with TCM host Ben Mankiewicz on opening night Thursday Rio Bravoher role as Feathers and starring John Wayne and Dean Martin.
Speaking about what it was like working with director Howard Hawks, Dickinson said, “He was a man of few words”, and during filming he told her and the crew to “just relax, and he and I sat there talking about Nothing it was just to relax me and get me to the point where he wanted me to be for the scene.
Directors Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson also joined a panel on Thursday with Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav. Discovery, to talk about the importance of preserving movies that are in danger of deteriorating. The Fables director said their efforts saved more than 990 movies after they “all joined (Martin Scorsese) to go all over the studios to try and fund this bailout to save our cultural heritage.”
(L-R) Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson speak onstage at the opening gala and world premiere of the 4K restoration of ‘Rio Bravo’ at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival
Charley Gallay/Getty Images for TCM
Day One ended with the premiere screening of Hawks’ 4K restoration Rio Bravo (1959), in association with The Film Foundation, founded by Scorsese, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros.
On Friday, TCM host Mankiewicz joined special guests George Clooney and director Steven Soderbergh for a screening of their film Ocean’s Eleven (2001). Before the display, the actor and director told how the film came about and Clooney said at the time, “Steven had the idea of bringing all this kind of independent film stuff that all these young filmmakers were learning back into the studio system. … It would go back to the things they did between 1964 and 1975, and bring that kind of style and feel back to the storytelling in the studio system.
George Clooney and Ben Mankiewicz speak on stage during the screening of ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival
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Prior to showing Groundhog Day (1993) for his 30th birthday, Mankiewicz also spoke with actor Stephen Tobolowsky.
Later on, Ricki Lake participated in a panel to discuss working with Divine Hairspray (1988) and why John Waters is such a special filmmaker. Amid the film’s success in the wake of Divine’s passing, Lake said, “To think what his career would have done after Hairspray, I’m still not over it.” It was such a bittersweet moment for her, adding, “I was suddenly this big star and I made all my dreams come true and it was also just attached to this tragic part of it.”
(LR) Managing Director of TCMFF Mark (LR) Managing Director of TCMFF Mark Wynns, Ricki Lake and Mario Cantone attend the screening of ‘Hairspray’ at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival
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Director and screenwriter Alexander Payne was also joined by writer and director George Stevens Jr., the son of Penny Serenade director George Stevens, for the world premiere restoration of Penny Serenade (1941).
(L-R) George Stevens Jr., Alexander Payne and TCM host Ben Mankiewicz attend the screening of ‘Penny Serenade’ at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival
Charley Gallay/Getty Images for TCM
Other films shown during day two of the festival included a 60th anniversary poolside screening of Beach party (1963) with TCM host Dave Karger and special guest Frankie Avalon, as well as a 50th anniversary performance of American graffiti (1973) with actors Richard Dreyfuss and Candy Clark.
The 14th annual TCM Classic Film Festival, celebrating film legacy, including a spotlight on the legacy of Warner Bros. to celebrate the studio’s 100th anniversary ends Sunday. Find videos from the festival’s panels and events here.
