The 60th Cinecon Classic Film Festival
Los Angeles may not have a Sundance or Cannes Film Festival, but it does have so many unique and fascinating festivals that you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else in the world. One great example is the Cinecon Classic Film Festival, which specializes in rare & hard to see films from the silent and early sound era, sometimes films that have never been released on home video or haven’t even been seen in 100 years!
60 years ago, the festival started as a small group of film lovers watching 8mm prints together. Now, it’s a 5 day celebration over Labor Day weekend, this time at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. Special guests this year included former child stars Tommy Cooke & Cora Sue Collins, as well as TV stars Stefanie Powers (Hart to Hart) and Tina Cole (My Three Sons). I was only able to attend on Sunday, but I still had a wonderful time.
We started the day with the thrilling 1926 drama THE DIXIE FLYER, directed by Charles J. Hunt. A railroad project is being mysteriously sabotaged, so the owner’s daughter infiltrates the construction sight to save the project, uncover the saboteurs, and fall in love with the foreman while she’s at it. Only an hour long, it’s a brisk, entertaining flick.
This happened to come out the same year as Buster Keaton’s THE GENERAL, and while it may not reach the heights of that classic, it does feature almost as many impressive train stunts, including a terrific finale involving a raised bridge.
Next, we saw the new documentary FILM IS DEAD. LONG LIVE FILM! by Peter Flynn. It’s a fascinating dive into the world of film preservation and film print collectors, many of whom have been saving prints their entire life, and now need to pass them on before they die. It joins a growing list of documentaries that celebrate physical media, and highlight the danger of abandoning them for digital & streaming.
After lunch, we were treated to three newly restored Laurel & Hardy short films. As is often said, comedies are better with an audience, and it was great hear everyone laugh along with these classic comedies, all these decades later.
Finally, our special guest of the day was Russ Tamblyn, with a screening of THE KID FROM CLEVELAND, his first major role at the ripe old age of 14. He plays a troubled young boy who is “adopted” by the Cleveland Indians (playing themselves) and George Brent, playing the team’s announcer. It’s a sweet, if somewhat sappy melodrama, and Tamblyn himself joked it’s not that great, but he had lots of great stories to tell about WEST SIDE STORY, SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, and being a child star, including being classmates with Elizabeth Taylor. His lifetime achievement award was presented by his WEST SIDE STORY costar George Chakaris.
I wish I could’ve stayed for the evening screenings, or returned for Monday’s program, but I still had a wonderful time. It’s a lovely experience, to watch film after film in a theater, sometimes films that haven’t been seen in decades, with fellow film lovers.
