Saturday Day 3 |
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Saturday morning started off with the Society for Cinephiles annual business meeting, moved to Saturday from its usual Sunday slot. Club president Bob Birchard led the meeting. Various issues were discussed and officers were elected with the slate staying the same as last year: President Bob Birchard, Vice Presidents Robert Nudleman and Marvin Paige and Secretary Stan Taffel.
The meeting went so smoothly that it ended early and those who took the time to attend were treated to a bonus short starring a very young and vivacious Betty Grable.
The regular program began at 10:15 with the cartoon short, The Beer Parade from 1933 featuring Scrappy |
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The first of two celebrity screenings for Saturday began with the showing of Mirage a stylish 1965 psychological thriller starring Gregory Peck and co-starring our lovely guest, Diane Baker. The film was directed by former Cinecon honoree Edward Dmytryk. After the film Cinecon President Bob Birchard interviewed Diane and led the question and answer session. |
Diane spoke about how she got her start in films and which ones she enjoyed working on. She answered audience questions about working with different performers and directors during her career including Gregory Peck in Mirage and the experience of working with Hitchcock on Marnie. She also told of how she learnd a lot about being a professional from working with Joan Crawford in The Best of Everything.
Besides being an accomplished actress Diane has produced several projects most notably the TV mini series A Woman of Substance
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Still active as both an actress and a producer Ms. Baker is also currently the Director of Acting at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
After moving to a table in the theater lobby, Diane signed autographs and talked to fans. |
After signing many autographs Diane was joined by Edward Dmytryk's wife, actress Jean Porter who stopped by to see her late husband's film and visit with Diane. The pair posed for photos with Cinecon V.P. Marvin Paige.
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Saturday special event: the Hollywood Poster auction
The third annual Hollywood Poster Auction was held at the Renaissance Hotel as a special added attraction to our Memorabilia show. The bidding started at 1:00 pm and even though the pace was brisk with over 650 lots of exciting memorabilia the auction lasted for several hours into early evening.
The auction was a great success with sales exceeding $150,000. The top five posters were: 1.) It 1927 - one sheet $24,780, 2.) A Woman Rebels 1936 - one sheet $7,080, 3.) Son of Kong 1933 – window card $5,900  , 4.) Marked Woman 1937 - one sheet $3,245,
5.) The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951 - window card $2,360
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After lunch it was double the fun as comic great Charlie Chase played dual roles as the bad guy and the inept good guy who thwarts him in the 1932 Hal Roach short The Tabasco Kid.
Our next film was the 1933 pre-code drama Baby Face. This film featured Barbara Stanwyck in one of her best performances as an opportunistic young woman who sleeps her way to the top. The original version of the film was considered too suggestive even for the pre-code era and some of the more indecent scenes were cut or reshot before the films release in 1933. Recently the pre-censored version was rediscovered in the Library of Congress archives and the film was restored for public screenings. Cinephiles were looking forward to see this newly restored uncut version of the film.
1925 silent film The Danger Signal is a railroad tale of twin brothers separated as babies, one raised by his poor widowed mother and the other by his rich railroad tycoon grandfather. Both end up working for the railroad and vying for the same girl. There is a terrific motorcycle versus train race at the climax of the film. |
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The afternoon wrapped up with the second celebrity screening of the day, the heartwarming drama Marty from 1955 Starring Ernest Borgnine. Our special guest was the film's director Delbert Mann. Cinecon Secretary Stan Taffel interviewed Mr. Mann. |
As they introduced Mr. Mann and brought him to the front of the theater he was given a standing ovation. The stirring response of the audience and the excitement of seeing one of his favorite films on the big screen again proved to be quite overwhelming to Mr. Mann who was moved to tears by the experience. After regaining his composure he had a great time talking to the audience and sharing his experiences in filmmaking.
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Delbert Mann is one of the best known graduates of the Golden Age of Television, making the move to features when the TV drama Marty was remade for theaters. The film won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Director for Mann.
During the course of the interview he talked about the films he made and the actors he worked with. Although he is very proud of his film work he admitted that he loved live TV more than film.
When asked what his favorite filmmaking experience was he said it was the TV movie of All Quiet on the Western Front which he directed in 1979 |
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After dinner the evening session started with The Battle of Bull Run. This early 1913 short directed by Francis Ford was recently restored by the American Film Institute who provided this print to us
Silent film fans were looking forward to seeing Peggy Leads the Way a 1917 comedy starring Mary Miles Minter. This sparkling young actress was once considered a rival to Mary Pickford before her ties to the infamous murder of William Desmond Taylor sidelined her career. Of the more than 50 silent films that she made this is one of only a handful that are known to have survived.
Rounding out the evening was Chinatown Nights a very early 1929 talkie. The film was originally completed in late 1928 as a silent picture but went back into production to become a part talkie. It's the story of a society matron (Florence Vidor) who becomes involved with the white leader (Wallace Beery) of a tong gang in San Francisco's Chinatown with tragic results. |
Sunday Day 4 |
The Sunday screenings began with chapter 5 of The Iron Claw a 15 chapter 1941 serial about a reporter trying to figure out what's going on in an old house amid secret passages, sinister people and hidden gold. Hopefully everyone caught chapter 4 on Friday but we'll have a long wait until next year for chapter 6.
The 1914 silent film The Spoilers followed. This is the earliest version of the oft filmed Rex Beach novel, a rugged tale of the Alaska gold rush of the 1890s which stars William Farnum, Tom Santschi and Kathlyn Williams. |
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Just before lunch we had our final celebrity screening of the weekend the 1952 political drama Washington Story starring the great Patricia Neal. Ms. Neal plays a scandal mongering reporter who tries to get the goods on a new Congressman, played by Van Johnson, who seems too good to be true. |
Patricia Neal is an award-winning actress who has appeared in over 60 films. She is equally well known for her work on Broadway, in films and on television. She has won a Tony award for her performance in Another Part of the Forest, an Oscar for Hud and a Golden Globe for TV work in The Homecoming: A Christmas Story. |
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The exuberant Miss Neal had a great time talking to the audience and answering their questions. She seemed very open and didn't shy away from any subject. In response to a questions about The Fountainhead she volunteered that star Gary Cooper was the love of her life. She said that Paul Newman was great to work with in Hud and that she also loved working with child actor Brandon De Wilde in the same film.
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She also spoke very candidly about the massive strokes that she suffered in 1966 while pregnant. The strokes left her paralyzed on her right side. She and her husband learned a lot about strokes during her long road to recovery and they shared what they learned to help improve treatments for others.
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After lunch the silent Harold Lloyd comedy short Ask Father started the afternoon session. With this short we had the rare opportunity of seeing the debut of a new silent film accompanist. Already an accomplished pianist at the tender age of 13, Alexandra Rieger expressed an interest in learning to play for silent films. The Cinecon staff couldn't resist letting her get that chance with us. She played well and the audience gave her a rousing round of applause for her effort. |
Next was the dour silent drama Downhill. The rarely seen 1927 British film was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starred Ivor Novello as a young man from a wealthy family who faces one hardship after another as his life spirals downhill out of control after he takes the blame for a poor schoolmate's indiscretion.
Lloyd Nolan is perfectly cast as the fast-talking manager of a Brooklyn baseball team in the 1942 feature It Happened in Flatbush. He is abley assisted by Carole Landis, Sara Allgood, William Frawley and Scotty Beckett.
Edmund Lowe stars in The Gift of Gab (1934) a behind the scenes radio tale with Gloria Stuart. Radio stars of the day including Ruth Etting, and Gene Austin, plus cameos by Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff highlight this otherwise average tale.
After the film Cinephiles rushed back to the hotel to get ready for the cocktail reception and celebrity award banquet. |
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