TCM Classic Film Festival 2021: Talking Ernst Lubitsch, Greta Garbo, Robert Osborne and More

Like much of the past 16 or so months of life on Earth, this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival is going to look different than what folks are used to. Instead of bringing classic film fans together in person in Hollywood for a few days of festivities, the entire line-up will be virtual, screening on both TCM and HBO Max. I sat down (at my computer, via Zoom) with several of the people involved in the festival, including TCM’s on-air hosts, some of the brains behind the programming, and a few legendary stars who are lending their reminiscences to the event.

Behind the Scenes

According to TCM SVP of Programming Charlie Tabesh, a big consideration in planning this year’s festival was that despite it being virtual, they did have two venues to work with in the form of TCM and HBO Max. On the latter, he noted, “That’s almost a different playground, in a way, then we have for regular TCM. Knowing the audiences are somewhat different informed a lot of the choices. For HBO Max, we came up with a structure that includes categories like the Masters and our Tributes and Essentials, things that work for a streaming platform, and the way that it’s organized.”

However, just because some aspects of the festival will feel very different doesn’t mean that other aspects won’t be familiar. For one thing, the programming itself: “One thing that we always try to do at the live festival that we definitely tried to do here is to get that right mix of the movies you know and love and want to see, and give you more context around them, but also give you those obscurities that you might not know about and give you a chance to discover things,” said Tabesh.

This year’s festival features the work of several women directors, from canonical classics like Agnès Varda’s Cleo From 5 to 7 to lesser-known gems like Nancy Savoca’s Dogfight. In addition, the Masters collection on HBO Max highlights the work of Mira Nair (The Namesake) and Barbara Kopple (Harlan County USA). When asked whether the number of women directors included in this year’s lineup was a conscious decision, TCM General Manager Pola Chagnon said, “I think three months of [documentary series] Women Make Film in the fall has become an ongoing sensibility for us in a good way. Especially as we’re featuring the Masters: who else is deserving of that place in the canon that doesn’t always get the spotlight?”

Another familiar (and much loved) feature will be the inclusion of legendary TCM host Robert Osborne’s introductions for certain films. “It’s an acknowledgment that he was foundational to this reputation that we have and the reactions that our audience has to these movies and these host presentations,” said Chagnon, adding, “He really established the format in terms of his generosity, his spirit, and certainly the expertise that he shared. One of the things that we really do think about is how do we honor him in an ongoing way and I really do believe that him being introduced to a new audience that might not even be aware of him through HBO Max is pretty special.”

Bringing Old Films to New Audiences

As a TCM fan, it was fun to get to pick the brains of the TCM hosts and hear their thoughts on this year’s programming, including the film I’m most excited to see: Ernst Lubitsch’s 1926 silent film So This is Paris, presented in a new restoration with a score created just for the film by silent film composer Ben Model. Ernst Lubitsch is one of my favorite directors, and according to Jacqueline Stewart, host of TCM’s Silent Sunday Nights, he’s one of hers too. “I always get excited when you can look at the work of a director in the silent era and then in the sound era. King Vidor is another example of someone who I think is just so interesting, to track some of the things that change and the things you see developing across that timeline,” she said.

Stewart continued, “So This is Paris is a wonderful example of that because Lubitsch famously directed musicals, and So This is Paris has this really lively, really remarkable Charleston sequence that has the same energy as what he would bring when he could really actualize something using sound. So I love that. I also love that the film has the same kind of witty repartee that you can not only read in the intertitles but also in the acting styles. It’s just a wonderful example of Lubitsch’s early work.”

When discussing the many merits of silent films, TCM host Dave Karger noted, “Two of the reasons I love silent films so much: you really focus on the music. I grew up as a classical musician and studied at the Manhattan School of Music, so music is very dear to my heart, and I love hearing what different composers do to update scores for these older films. And also, the acting style, for me, because you can’t use dialogue, is so mesmerizing. I just love seeing what these performers, and Greta Garbo, in particular, are just able to do with their facial expressions.”

Karger continued, “I love the TCM Film Festival because usually when it’s in person, we have one silent film with a live orchestra. I remember seeing A Woman of Affairs, featuring Greta Garbo, with a live orchestra that included the grandson of John Gilbert, one of the stars of the movie. I just thought that was so cool.” Stewart added, “Being able to see silent films as close as possible to their original image quality, with music that’s not canned and doesn’t fit the action but is mindfully created for it, helps us see the full artistry of these films.”

I really wanted to know what movies from the virtual line-up the hosts would have most loved to have seen on a big screen, in a packed theater, with the atmosphere that entails. Stewart did not disappoint with her recommendation, as it’s another film I’m looking forward to seeing: “Bill Morrison, who makes these extraordinary films based on nitrate degradation of film prints, has made a really cool film called let me come in, which is like a meditation on the footage that was found from a film called Pawns of Passion, a German film from 1928. It has this orchestral score, and you kind of get the story, but it still moves into this gorgeous dreamlike space. Bill Morrison’s films need to be seen on the large screen and need to have that kind of sonic environment to them. People will appreciate it in the various ways they can watch it during the festival, I’m sure, but that’s one I really wish I could see in person.”

Karger’s choice was another one I could get behind, as it happens to be one of my all-time favorites – and I’ve never seen it on the big screen either. “The Red Shoes. That’s a film I love, but I’ve never seen it on a proper film screen. It’s shocking when you watch it that it’s from 1948 because the colors are so vivid…the dance sequences are so phenomenal and it’s such a great romance. I just think that what Powell and Pressburger do visually is really interesting.”

Later, I got the chance to ask Eddie Muller, host of TCM’s Noir Alley, which noir film in the festival line-up he would most recommend to viewers. “That would be They Won’t Believe Me, from 1947. I showed it not that long ago on Noir Alley but I showed the 80-minute version of the film, which for several decades has been the only version available. But the one we’re showing [at the festival] is the restored, 95-minute version of the film, which was thought to be perhaps lost. So I’m very excited about that. It was produced by Joan Harrison, who was one of only three women producers in Hollywood at that time. She was a protege of Alfred Hitchc*ck and a really significant figure in cinema history that is only now just getting her due.”

Living Legends

One of the main attractions at the TCM Classic Film Festival is the chance to hear from some Hollywood legends about their most iconic films. This year, that includes Jacqueline Bisset, who will be introducing Bullitt in conversation with Eddie Muller. This isn’t Bisset’s first time at the festival; in 2019, she appeared in person to chat with Muller about her experiences shooting Day for Night. On that previous experience, Bisset noted, “I had a lovely evening. It’s all part of being an actress…sometimes you feel the audience is more interested in it than other times, when people come to see something that they like.”

Bisset’s co-star in Bullitt, Steve McQueen, passed away in 1980, so it was great to hear Bisset discuss what it was like to work with him: “If I hadn’t known he was a movie star, I would have thought he was a regular guy. He wasn’t puffed up, he didn’t show off.” Commenting on McQueen’s “cool guy” image, she added, “Cool means different things to different people. I didn’t know what cool meant at the time, it wasn’t a word that was in my world. I would’ve used the word hot, actually.” Laughing, she continued, “He had that mysterious, smoldering thing, and there are not a lot of guys who do that. He was like a good, regular, handsome man—rather how I feel about Brad Pitt, when I met him. A good, healthy, handsome man. That regular quality, in a good way. I like that.”

The festival is kicking off with a 60th-anniversary celebration of the classic musical West Side Story, featuring a conversation with cast members Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, Russ Tamblyn, and TCM host Ben Mankiewicz. Despite revisiting the film many times over the past several decades, the stars have lost none of their love for West Side Story and what it did for their careers. Said Tamblyn, “It was definitely the highlight of all the musicals I did. I was so glad to see my friends George and Rita win Academy Awards, I thought that was pretty remarkable.” Chakiris added, “It’s very gratifying and very validating to be remembered for anything. But to be remembered in connection with this film…this film is very beautiful for many reasons. The basic story is about prejudice, and that’s something that has always existed. We feel it now. We hear it in the news all the time, and we can respond to a story that addresses that.”

As a huge Twin Peaks fan, I had to ask Tamblyn about what it was like to be reunited with Tony himself, Richard Beymer, while shooting the cult television program. Tamblyn told me, “One day we had lunch together and I brought up West Side Story, and Richard said to me, ‘I have to tell you, my honest feeling is that I think I was miscast.’”

Chakiris couldn’t resist the opportunity to interject: “Whenever the subject of Richard comes up I feel defensive. Those of us who worked on the film know the circumstances he was working under. His first day of filming was the day after [co-director] Jerome Robbins was fired, so he never had the benefit of Jerry’s direction, ever. [Co-director] Robert Wise was a wonderful man, but he didn’t actually verbally direct people. I’ve often thought if Jerry was still there, would Richard’s performance have been somewhat different? In spite of that, I don’t think he was miscast. I do think he was wonderful as Tony. The important part about Tony is the love, and that’s what this story was about.”

Conclusion

It’s been hard to be sequestered at home for much of the past year, but I’ve taken advantage of that time to watch as many classic films as possible at home. Needless to say, I’m excited to continue doing that at this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival—but hopefully next year we’ll all be able to get off our couches and experience movies like this on the big screen again.

What do you think? Will you be watching any of this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The 2021 TCM Classic Film Festival airs May 6-9, 2021. You can find the full TCM schedule here and the full HBO Max schedule here.