Saturday, April 30
The midnight movie was a 3D viewing of the newly restored sci-fi flick Gog. I’ll admit, I nodded my way in and out of consciousness throughout the entire film, so I can’t give you any details except Herbert Marshall, and Richard Egan are in there and it's very campy. I wish I wouldn’t have fallen asleep but I know I’ll end up buying it on DVD.
Sunday, May 1.
The last day of the festival started off a bit rough for me. I was up early after only three hours of sleep with an upset stomach. I knew I had played it fast and loose with the fast food and now I was paying for it. I had planned to see M*A*S*H with Angie but decided a light breakfast may be a better idea. I found a Starbucks with the most beautiful view of the Hollywood sign. I bought a paper and just sat and enjoyed my last day in California. I had quite a few events scheduled, but as I sat enjoying the view and my lemon bread. I decided to cut back on what I had planned and just take it easy for a beat. I didn’t want to rush through my last day. I tried to enjoy every last moment of it.
I wandered over to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel to watch the ‘Entertainment Memorabilia Exhibit and Appraisals from Bonhams’ and wasn’t disappointed. One young man about my age had stumbled across hundreds of correspondence between his grandmother and Joan Crawford. They were examined and determined to be authentic. After listening to some of the contents of the letter and watching them being examined, I realized that I was supposed to meet Angie after her film got out.
I raced over to Grauman's Chinese theater and finally took some time to find the handprints of the
people I so admire. I compared my feet to Norma Shearer’s and realized that women’s size four feet in 1929 make my size 10.5 feet look ridiculous. I put my hands into the handprints of Harold Lloyd, Robert Redford, William Powell and Cary Grant. I imagined how the scenery had changed from the moment they signed their names to what I was looking at today. I’m sure no film characters were walking around charging $5.00 to take a photo with them. There was no Starbucks around the corner, no men holding up signs advertising $5.00 on everything in their store.
I know that life was a bit slower, more glamorous back then. Women were in heels and men wore suits everywhere they went and had a newspaper tucked under their arm. I never imagined myself to be the cheesy type who would put my hands on a dirty sidewalk just to see how they measure up to Joan Crawford’s but I did, and I don’t regret it for one second. For a moment in time, I was in the same spot as these wonderful people, and it was pretty cool.
It wasn’t long before a crepe stand caught my eye and I had to grab a quick Nutella crepe before I met Angie. As I sat and tried to eat, a man started yelling at me. There was a significant crowd, and they all turned to see why this man was yelling. The gentleman proceeded to call me a few names for a while until I decided to change my location. I got up, and he promptly ran over to me and asked for the rest of my crepe. So I handed it to him, and he inhaled it. Luckily he started in on another guy eating and let me be on my way. How or why that all started is beyond me, but handing over my crepe was worth getting away from that mess.
I met Angie so we could head down to the Montalban Theatre. It was about a 25-minute walk from where we were. I was excited to get to see a live taping with Faye Dunaway and see a small area outside of the three blocks I had inhabited for three days.
We saw Musso and Frank’s up close, the gorgeous Capital Records building and the legendary Montalban Theater. When it was announced that Faye Dunaway would appear to record an extended live interview, I changed all of my Sunday afternoon plans. I would end up missing Charlie Chaplin in The Kid, and the Marx Brothers in Horse Feathers but it was going to be so worth it, and I had seen each of those movies before.
We had a bit of time to kill before we had to be in line, so we stopped at some hole in the wall restaurant along the way. Again the best thing about California is the way they put avocado on everything. I had a fantastic BLT with avocado and a slice of pizza. The pizza ended up being bigger than my head, and I opted to just take it with me. I knew the best way to make friends while in line is to show up with food. It worked because when we showed up two hours early to get in line, there were already 37 people ahead of us. We were thrilled to be in low enough numbers to secure a spot in the theatre for the interview. I promptly put it out there that I had untouched pizza to give to anyone who was hungry and within 30 seconds the first person in line Kristen sent me a message that she was starving. I took the pizza to the front of the line and chatted with Kristen and our mutual friend Paula. They had been waiting an hour and a half before we had gotten there. They were so excited to be down in front, but as I found out later-Kristen had to sit in the back due to her wheelchair and the lack of handicapped seating in the theater. She was not happy about it, and I don’t blame her.
For two hours we sat and watched life happen around us. It was a typical Sunday for everyone who woke up late and stood out on their balcony sipping their coffee watching us wait in line. We watched the new host on TCM, Tiffany Vasquez interview people in line all around us. Previously a fan, Tiffany had won a fan contest hosted by TCM. From there she worked her way up to becoming only the third host in network history and the first female host in network history. We all kind of dislike Tiffany because she is living our dream. She asked where everyone was from, why we loved the festival and to give Robert Osborne a special birthday/get well message. I have watched TCM for weeks since we returned wondering if that will ever air.
Soon our line was moving, and we were on our way to see the excellent Faye Dunaway, aka Bonnie Parker; aka Mommie Dearest aka: notoriously ‘difficult’ and prone to say exactly what she’s thinking.
This was going to be interesting.
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