TCM Festival to Celebrate Old Hollywood

Spring is jam-packed with film festivals in varying shades of hipness, exclusivity and adventurousness, most of them aimed at showcasing the latest, cutting-edge works of cinema.

But for the old popcorn-munchers among us, for whom cinema dreams most often occur in black-and-white (and, well OK, occasionally in widescreen Technicolor with plush curtains and footlights), a brave new film festival is in the offing. And it’s one that’s both exhilarating in its originality and comforting in its traditionalism.

It’s the first, and one hopes annual, TCM Classic Film Festival taking place April 22-25 in that most mythic of movie meccas – Hollywood.

Turner Classic Movies has since its founding in 1994 been the go-to cable TV channel for lovers of old movies. Its extensive library is a priceless treasure trove of everything from silent films, to screwball comedies of the 1930s and ’40s, film noir of the 1950s, glamorous escapist musicals, weepy melodramas, tingling mysteries, galloping cowboy movies and virtually anything else that might be classified in film as “classic.”

So, who better to initiate such a celebration?

Over four days and nights, the TCM festival – taking place at storied venues such as Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and the Egyptian Theatre – will feature some 50 film screenings with special appearances by actors, actresses, directors, producers and other notables. There will also be red-carpet galas, tributes to classic stars and filmmakers, first looks at newly restored films, a sneak preview of the new documentary “Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood” and interviews and panel discussions with an impressive roster of movie luminaries.