TCM's 2017 Classic Film Festival

TCM's 8th annual Classic Film Festival is set for April 6 - 9 in Hollywood, and this year's central theme is Make 'Em Laugh: Comedy in the Movies...if there was ever a year we needed some laughs...

Joel McCrea, Claudette Colbert and Rudy Vallee in The Palm Beach Story

Among the comedy classics to be screened are two of my favorites from writer/director Preston Sturges, The Palm Beach Story (1942) and Unfaithfully Yours (1948), with Rex Harrison and Linda Darnell. Also on the program: Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Born Yesterday (1950), The Front Page (1931), Red-Headed Woman (1932), Harold Lloyd's Speedy (1928) and Twentieth Century (1934). A special presentation, Beyond the Mouse: The 1930s Cartoons of Ub Iwerks (2017), will feature several rarely seen short animation films by Iwerks, an early collaborator and partner of Walt Disney.
But the festival will include more than comedy. Special guest writer/director/actor/film historian Peter Bogdanovich will be on hand for screenings of two of his finest, the screwball homage, What's Up, Doc? (1972), with Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal (and Madeline Kahn!), as well as the Oscar-winning drama The Last Picture Show (1971), Jeff Bridges' first major film. Other non-comic fare to be showcased will include the 1925 silent version of Stella Dallas and the film noir crime thriller, The Underworld Story (1950).

Ryan O'Neal and Barbra Streisand in What's Up, Doc?

As in previous years, the Hollywood Roosevelt will be the center of activity for the event and home to "Club TCM," where fans are treated to a series of special events and presentations throughout the festival. Feature films are set to screen at nearby venues: the TCL Chinese Theatre, the Egyptian and the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres multiplex.

The Hollywood Roosevelt

For more information, click here. Hope to see you there!