TCM Classic Film Festival

A silver lining to this Covid thing resulted in the cancelled Turner Classic Movie Festival placing many of their materials onto the network over a long weekend.  It allowed common folk like me to see a huge number of interviews, commentary and classic films (many of which I had inextricably missed).  Weeks of thoughtful, impactful viewing followed.  Though I knew her story, I was struck by the luminous fragility of Marilyn Monroe in two different films.  I shook my head at the towering vocal gifts of Judy Garland.  I added a third “A Star is Born” to the versions I’ve seen – a timeless tale reflecting three massively different periods of time.  I smiled at the brilliance of Peter Lorre, who could be horrific yet sympathetic in the same instant.  I was transfixed by the massive scope of “Metropolis”, brilliant long before anyone knew the power of this complex film.  I was surprised by “Lawrence of Arabia”, which was massive in scope but ultimately a very personal story.  I also found “Casablanca” to be unexpected – not as “great” of a film as I thought but oh, the cast, the cast, the cast.  I loved how Cary Grant brought humor and charm to a Hitchcock film.  I was awed by the physicality of the silent film era and Gene Kelly, a guy who looked like a boxer but moved like a supple ocean wave.  I giggled at the salacious content of films before a restrictive Hollywood Code took over and laughed again at how subversive sexual themes wiggled into post-code films.  I cringed at the racism, sexism and stereotypes which were considered “normal” in the first half of the 20^th Century.  I was intrigued by the complex, messy realities of “Floyd Norman:  An Animated Life”.  I watched the fall from pinnacles over and over, from “Grey Gardens” to “The Magnificent Ambersons”.  I marveled at how Orson Welles used light, and dark, as characters in his films.  I found myself riveted in front of a screen instead of zoning out, breathless at the scope of film history in the first 50 years or so of the medium.  I gained insights from those who hit it big but found stability in an unstable business (or left it entirely), including Luise Ranier, Eva Marie Saint, Norman Lloyd, Kim Novak and more.  Yes, I watched “Grey Gardens”, “Safety Last!”, “Double Harness”, “Mad Love”, “Some Like it Hot”, “A Star is Born” (1954), “Metropolis”, “Baby Face”, “The Magnificent Ambersons”, “Singin’ in the Rain”, “The Passion of Joan of Arc”, “Red-Headed Woman”,  “Lawrence of Arabia”, “North by Northwest”, “Floyd Norman:  An Animated Life”,  “Night in the City”, “Jezebel”, “Casablanca”, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, “The Lady Vanishes” and finally, with the weirdest opening credits ever, “The Women”.  It was all-encompassing.  And now, onto the very end of “Star Wars” …