For four days in Hollywood, classic film fans the world over converge to enjoy a series of film screenings and panels as part of the TCM Classic Film Festival. The festival recently wrapped up its sixth annual festival March 29th and I was there to enjoy the fun, films, and insanity that comes from watching movies on very little sleep and a diet consisting of Crispy M&Ms and coffee. Everyone who attended experienced something different, but here's a brief rundown of screenings and panels I got the chance to enjoy this year.

Of course it wouldn't be a film festival without watching movies, right? I didn't get a chance to watch as many films as I'd anticipated compared to last year (a large chunk of my time consisted of working alongside TCM as one of their Social Producers). However, I was fortunate to see a trio of new titles I wouldn't have watched otherwise: Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), and Kiss Me Kate in 3D (1953).

I'm not as well-versed in silent cinema as most - I tend to avoid them entirely - but my travel buddy dragged me to Steamboat Bill, Jr. in the hopes of 'educating' me on Buster Keaton. New for this screening was an original orchestration conducted live by Carl Davis (and which will be included on the new Blu-ray coming out from Cohen Media this year). The story follows two-star crossed lovers (Buster Keaton and Marion Byron) who have to deal with their squabbling fathers. The joy of watching a silent film with an audience allows the comedy to shine through, and, I hate to admit, it's harder to ignore a silent film in a packed movie house. Keaton's antics were charming, and it's surprising how witty silent film scripts are, considering no one's talking.

Immediately following Steamboat Bill, we went to see On Her Majesty's Secret Service, probably the fifth James Bond film I've ever seen. The introduction by former Bond actor, George Lazenby, was hilariously inappropriate, filled with anecdotes that weren't for children's ears. As for the film itself, the Bond franchise just isn't for me. The late 1960s atmosphere painfully dates the film, and while Diana Rigg is gorgeous, her sole purpose in the film is to be killed by story's end (from what I've been told that's not a spoiler).

The film highlight of the festival was watching Kiss Me Kate in 3D. I'll do a full review later, but this was a great impulse viewing. The color was rich and crisp, courtesy of Warner Bros. recent transfer, and the 3D, although a gimmick, is implemented with as much subtlety as possible. The acting, particularly Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, and Ann Miller made this a movie that's both of the era and obtrusively outside of it. There are moments in the film that are just plain weird...and yet I adored every minute of it.


I know a film festival is predominately about squeezing in as many films as possible, but no one can deny the panels this year were phenomenal! There were so many once-in-a-lifetime moments that I'll never forget. The opening night film was 1965's The Sound of Music, where I was fortunate to cover the red carpet and talk to legends like Shirley Jones and Julie Andrews. (Full disclosure, I talked to Julie Andrews for less than a minute...but it was 60 seconds of pure joy!)

Day two saw me with ringside seats for Christopher Plummer's hand and footprint ceremony - wherein he immortalized his prints in the forecourt of the TCL (formerly Grauman's) Chinese Theatre. Shirley MacLaine and William Shatner were on-hand, razzing and praising the Sound of Music star. After that, it was on to the Films and Facts?: Who's Responsible panel, where historian/author Jeanine Basinger explored how Hollywood portrays history in cinema. As someone who watched a lot of historical films, this was revelatory with its examination of where history stars and Hollywood takes over.

The third day was all about Hollywood Home Movies, a panel where actress Jane Withers, Neile Adams (wife of Steve McQueen), and Bob Koster (son of director Henry Koster) came together to show their old home movies. The trio provided commentary, both humorous and informative, detailing the minutiae of their life captured on home video. It was entertaining watching Withers swim in a pool with her animals or Steve McQueen cavort on-set with his various motorcycles.

The best panel, though, had to be Conversations with Shirley MacLaine, over an hour with the actress recounting her wild life and career. For such an important panel, this was relatively informal with audience members shouting out actors and movies to get MacLaine's input. MacLaine had no shame in telling the audience exactly who she loved and hated, even dropping bombs the audience didn't expect, like her three-year relationship with Robert Mitchum. MacLaine's written many books already, but she really needs to write a book just telling anecdotes about people in the industry.

Maybe I should have watched more movies, but the items above are unique to me and will forever hold a place in my heart. I'm already planning for the 2016 festival which I'm sure will have plenty of panels and movies to keep me busy.

Kristen Lopez writes about film nearly 365 days a year and is the Associate Editor at ClassicFlix. Her undying love for classic film and Veronica Lake can be found on and at Journeys in Classic Film.