TCM’s Road to Hollywood Tour
TCM is taking some movies on the road to five cities nationwide with the Road to Hollywood tour, a slate of special free screenings building up to the launch of the first-ever TCM Classic Film Festival (which I wrote about here)
TCM will travel to Boston (March 18); New York (March 23); Chicago (March 30); Washington, D.C. (April 8); and San Francisco (April 21) for presentations of five films, each set in the city in which it will be screened.
Most of the films will be introduced by TCM host Robert Osborne or weekend daytime host Ben Mankiewicz. In addition, TCM is planning celebrity appearances for each screening. Actress Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront) is scheduled to appear in Chicago for the presentation of the Hitchcock classic North by Northwest (1959). Broadway legend Elaine Stritch (Company) will be on-hand for the screening of All About Eve (1950) in New York. Filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show) and popular San Francisco film critic and show business reporter Jan Wahl of KRON, will introduce the Orson Welles thriller The Lady from Shanghai (1948) in San Francisco. Producer George Stevens Jr., founding director of the American Film Institute, will take part in the screening of his father’s film The More the Merrier (1943) in Washington, D.C. And Boston Herald film critic James Verniere will take part in the Boston screening of The Verdict (1982).
Now here’s the cool thing, screenings are free to the public, but don’t forget that you still need to get a ticket for entry. Tickets will be available beginning March 1 at http://www.tcm.com/roadtohollywood.
Below you can find a complete schedule of TCM’s Road to Hollywood screenings:
The Brattle Theatre in Boston – Thursday, March 18, at 8 p.m. – The Verdict (1982)
Ben Mankiewicz and Boston Herald film critic Jim Verniere will introduce this emotionally powerful legal drama directed by Sidney Lumet and written by David Mamet. Paul Newman earned an Oscar nomination for his performance as an alcoholic lawyer who is having difficulty keeping clients. He lands a dream case, however, when he is hired to sue a hospital for negligence.
The Ziegfeld Theatre in New York – Tuesday, March 23, at 7:30 p.m. – All About Eve (1950)
The legendary Elaine Stritch (Company) will join Robert Osborne in the Big Apple to present one of the greatest films ever made about life in the theater. Anne Baxter stars as a young actress determined to weasel her way into the world of top Broadway actress Margo Channing, played with gusto by Bette Davis. Celeste Holme, Thelma Ritter, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Marilyn Monroe and an Oscar-winning George Sanders add relish to this outstanding comedy-drama by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
The Music Box Theater in Chicago – Tuesday, March 30, at 7:30 p.m. – North by Northwest (1959)
Robert Osborne will by joined by Oscar and Emmy winner Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront) in Chicago for this presentation of one of Alfred Hitchcock’s biggest and most enduring hits. Cary Grant plays an everyman mistaken as a double agent and chased across the country by people on both sides of the law. Saint plays the woman unwittingly roped into helping him. James Mason, Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau co-star.
The Avalon Theatre in Washington, D.C. – Thursday, April 8, at 8 p.m. – The More the Merrier (1943)
Ben Mankiewicz and producer George Stevens Jr., founding director of the American Film Institute, will introduce this highly entertaining film directed by Stevens’ father. Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea star as a pair forced to share a D.C. apartment during a wartime housing shortage. Charles Coburn won an Oscar for his deliciously comic performance.
The Castro in San Francisco – Wednesday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m. – The Lady from Shanghai (1948)
Filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show), who is an expert on the films of Orson Welles and was a close friend of the director, will be joined by popular San Francisco film critic and show business reporter Jan Wahl of KRON as they introduce this memorable thriller. The story involves a fake murder plot that turns out to be all too real. Welles stars along with Rita Hayworth, Everett Sloane and Glenn Anders. The film’s extraordinary imagery includes an exciting hall-of-mirrors sequence that remains a cinematic masterpiece.
