The 61st annual Cinecon is this weekend at the Writer’s Guild Theater in Los Angeles. This is the granddaddy of all the classic film festivals, programmed by the president of the organization, currator Stan Taffel. This is where archivists, authors, collectors, and film fans come together for four days of classic film & TV screenings, celebrity guests, and special programs. This year’s festival will be filled with some of the rarest and most unusual material they have ever presented.
The festival organizers have put together an outstanding four day lineup Aug. 29 to Sept. 1. The event includes a chance to meet such Hollywood luminaries as Ann-Margaret (her career achievement award will be presented by Pat Boone), sex symbol Mamie Van Doren (subject of an upcoming documentary), and Nanny and the Professor star Juliet Mills (whose award will be presented by her husband, actor Maxwell Caulfield). Ann-Margaret’s 1964 romp “The Pleasure Seekers” costarring Carol Lynley, Pamela Tiffin and Anthony Franciosa, will be shown at the festival.
Festival goers can also meet Nancy Kwan. The Chinese-American actress, now 86, will be signing copies of her new book “The World of Nancy Kwan.” The title of her book refers back to her breakout film, 1960’s “The World of Suzie Wong.”
This is the ninth year for Kinecon at Cinecon, a program of rare kinescopes of early TV shows. This year Cinecon is celebrating the birth, 100 years ago in 1925, of two immortals of show business — Sammy Davis Jr. and Dick Van Dyke. From the film archives of Stu Shostak and Stan Taffel come rare kinescopes of Davis, who passed away in 1960 at 64, and Van Dyke, still with us as he closes in on 100 this December. The Van Dyke goodies includes the beloved entertainer’s original audition reel, performed at a taping of The Gary Moore Show in 1955.
Also this coming Sunday, Cinecon has scheduled premiere restorations of two classic Laurel & Hardy silent comedies from 1929: Big Business and Double Whoopee. The first is one of their funniest two-reelers, with Stan and Babe trying to sell Christmas trees in sunny Los Angeles until they make the mistake of knocking on the door of frequent foil James Finlayson. These newly-restored film prints are being shown in advance of their release on BluRay later this year.
Plenty more to recommend at the fest, including a screening of several newly-restored Max Fleischer cartoons (including Betty Boop’s Judge for a Day); a salute to Paramount two-reel Technicolor musical shorts from the 1940s; plus a 90th anninversary salute to one of the greatest Universal monster movies, “The Bride of Frankenstein” (1935).
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One Day and full festival passes are still available. For tickets and more information follow this link to the Cinecon 61 site.
