Comet in Hollywood: Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival 2023

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At the 2022 TCMFF

I’ll be returning to the Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival to cover the 2023 event.

The 2022 festival was the first in-person TCMFF since 2019, and it was a happy occasion being back with friends in person.

This year’s festival has special guests like Russ Tamblyn, Frankie Avalon, Angie Dickinson, Ann-Margret and composer David Newman.

Eighty films will be screened during the festival, which will take place from Thursday, April 13, through Sunday, April 16.

Below are ways to follow my Hollywood adventures:
• Twitter: @HollywoodComet
• Instagram: @HollywoodComet
• Facebook: Facebook.com/CometOverHollywood

I’ll also be logging the films I watched on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/HollywoodComet/

tcmff 23

Musical Monday: Hollywood Hotel (1937)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

hollywood hotel3This week’s musical:
Hollywood Hotel (1937) – Musical #201

Studio:
First National Pictures, Warner Bros.

Director:
Busby Berkeley

Starring:
Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane, Hugh Herbert, Ted Healy, Glenda Farrell, Johnnie Davis, Mabel Todd, Alan Mowbray, Allyn Joslyn, Frances Langford, Grant Mithcell, Milton Kibbee (uncredited), Carole Landis (uncredited), John Ridgely (uncredited), Ronald Reagan (uncredited)
Themselves: Benny Goodman, Harry James, Gene Krupa, Louella Parsons, Perc Westmore, Ken Niles, Jerry Cooper, Raymond Paige and His Orchestra

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Musical Monday: Fashions of 1934 (1934)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Fashions of 1934 (1934) – Musical #233

fashions of 1934

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
William Dieterle

Starring:
William Powell, Bette Davis, Frank McHugh, Hugh Herbert, Verree Teasdale, Reginald Owen, Dorothy Burgess, Nella Walker, Henry O’Neil, Arthur Treacher

Plot:
When one business fails, Sherwood Nash (Powell) teams up with fashion designer Lynn Mason (Davis). The two of them set out to plagiarize haute couture fashions and sell them at a cheaper rate. When they are caught by American fashion houses, they set sail for France to create new fashions, which include ostrich feathers and a phony duchess.

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Musical Monday: Love in the Rough (1931)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

love in the rough3This week’s musical:
Love in the Rough (1931) – Musical #468

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Charles Reisner

Starring:
Robert Montgomery, Dorothy Jordan, Benny Rubin, J.C. Nugent, Penny Singleton (billed as Dorothy McNulty), Allan Lane, Tyrell Davis, Harry Burns, Catherine Moylan, Ann Dvorak (uncredited), Polly Ann Young (uncredited)

Plot:
When Jack Kelly’s (Montgomery) boss is on the verge of firing him, Jack learns that his boss’s demeanor is because of bad golf game. Jack says he can help him with his game, and gets into golf society at a country club.

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Musical Monday: The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

fastest3This week’s musical:
The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967) – Musical #726

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Michael D. Moore

Starring:
Roy Orbison, Sammy Jackson, Maggie Pierce, Joan Freeman, Lyle Bettger, John Doucette, Patricia Donahue, Ben Cooper, Ben Lessy, Iron Eyes Cody, Douglas Kennedy, Wilda Taylor, Victoria Carroll, Maria Korda, Domingo Samudio (billed as Sam the Sham)

Plot:
Johnny (Orbison) is a singing Confederate spy, who’s guitar also doubles as a gun. Johnny and his pal Steve (Jackson) are both working to rob the United States mint for gold in San Francisco to help the Confederacy.

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Musical Monday: Kid Galahad (1962)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

kid galahadThis week’s musical:
Kid Galahad – Musical #725

Studio:
United Artists

Director:
Phil Karlson

Starring:
Elvis Presley, Joan Blackman, Gig Young, Lola Albright, Charles Bronson, David Lewis, Robert Emhardt, Ned Glass, Edward Asner (uncredited)

Plot:
Recently discharged from the U.S. Army, Walter Gulick (Presley) returns to his birthplace with the hopes of becoming a mechanic. However, no one is hiring. Out of a job and in need of money, it’s discovered that Walter can pack quite a punch and starts working with boxing promoter Willy Grogan (Young). Though Walter does well as a boxer, he faces problems when Willy’s sister Rose (Blackman) arrives at the training camp and Rose and Walter fall in love.

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Watching 1939: Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939)

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In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, that’s difficult.

three smart girls51939 film:
Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939)

Release date:
March 24, 1939

Cast:
Deanna Durbin, Charles Winninger, Nan Grey, Helen Parrish, Nella Walker, Robert Cummings, William Lundigan, Ernest Cossart, Felix Bressart, Grady Sutton (uncredited),

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Henry Koster

Plot:
With their parents (Walker, Winninger) back together, the Craig sisters (Durbin, Grey, Parrish) are all together as a family with their parents. Everything is happy when Joan Craig (Grey) gets engaged to Richard Watkins (Lundigan). However, the good news brings heartache to Kay Craig (Parrish), who also was in love with Richard. Seeing her sister unhappy, youngest sister Penny (Durbin) sets out to find Kay a boyfriend, which brings about family misunderstandings.

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Musical Monday: Love Me Forever (1935)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

love me forever 1935This week’s musical:
Love Me Forever (1935) – Musical #720

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
Victor Schertzinger

Starring:
Grace Moore, Leo Carrillo, Robert Allen, Spring Byington, Michael Bartlett, Luis Alberni, Douglass Dumbrille, Thurston Hall, Olin Howland (uncredited), Arthur Hoyt (uncredited),

Plot:
Margaret Howard (Moore) comes from a wealthy family, who have lost everything. Opera loving hood Steve Corelli (Carrillo) hears Margaret sing and wants to make her a great opera star. Steve makes Margaret a great singing star, while falling in love with her; knowing she doesn’t reciprocate the feeling.

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Musical Monday: Ballad in Blue (1965)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Ballad in Blue (1965) – Musical #733

ballad

Studio:
Alsa Productions, distributed by 20th Century Fox

Director:
Paul Henreid

Starring:
Themselves: Ray Charles, The Raelettes
Actors: Tom Bell, Mary Peach, Dawn Addams, Piers Bishop, Betty McDowall, Joe Adams, Anne Padwick, Monika Henreid,

Plot:
While Ray Charles (himself) is performing at a school for a school for blind children, he meets and befriends David (Bishop). David’s mother Peggy (Peach) is overprotective of her son, which makes her constantly at odds with her boyfriend Steve (Bell), who thinks the child should have more independence. Ray tries to show Peggy that David can live successfully without his sight, but also recommends a surgeon who may be able to help them. Ray also offers a job to Steve as a music arranger and composer. Steve wants Peggy and David to travel with them, but Peggy is reluctant to uproot David.

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Watching 1939: Susannah of the Mounties (1939)

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In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, that’s difficult.

susannah21939 film:
Susannah of the Mounties (1939)

Release date:
June 23, 1939

Cast:
Shirley Temple, Randolph Scott, Margaret Lockwood, Martin Good Rider, J. Farrell MacDonald, Maurice Moscovitch, Moroni Olsen, Victor Jory, Lester Matthews, Leyland Hodgson, Herbert Evans, John Sutton, Jack Luden, Eddie Big Beaver, Chief John Big Tree, Charles Iron Breast, Chief Victor Coward, Chief Thunderbird, Tom Spotted Eagle

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
William A. Seiter

Plot:
Set in the 1880s, the Canadian Pacific Railway was being built, which upset the Native Americans as the railroad threatened their land. The Northwest Mounted Police had to keep the peace between the Native Americans and the railroad. After an attack on a wagon train, Susannah (Temple) is the only survivor. She is rescued by the Mounties and cared for by Inspector Angus Montague (Scott). While staying with the Mounted Police, Susannah befriends Blackfeet Native American, Little Chief (Rider).

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