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«* Bebert Osborne t Class* **m Festival
•our wcwdeAi* days the festival trmfewn
The Class* Centm «*o a Mm palace filled
•»th Hollywood ciMrtm, enchanted mov
wgeen and above all. 9«Nt him TUn y*#r
marks the fifth edition it the festival W the
eight-film li«n» « perhaps the tfnwyrt |*t,
and fs* v&sfst*** Guests wctude atfms Taisa
Shwe. director Guy Hampton i«d The great
fmd BNlard. wh© w*U tr# a* the festivali
co-host.
R j obert Osborne. the festival t host and
1 cursor i m o# our most jw*«N
I film ^ntorvom and e**tN*s**stv largely
because o# **n o« icw« work a? Turner Class*
Movies wxt the (iMt c^wwufi ^rtpdon m
1BB4. He «s ebe the author o# « long-nmmng
COlwm« at the Hcdywood Boporfm md *o» the
pOSt N yoort hot UM J* the ofUcuj )fd
carpet kost it the Acjdo^ Awaids. Osbryne
foUcws « clear philosophy w» oil^ hn vMk
twi fe» th# Gass* fH» Festival th* simplest
component 0# wh*h ! S to choose films from
i wide ny 3# diftaent style* a«d genre*
'But I also try to get a muse* fee th* opener. *
he elaborate* it well *t *i femHy *Hm that
putt you out happy on i Wnday. to you mry
want to com* bock next time. And Am the
basic tfceww wot to get movws from different
decades to that you've got one hom the KK.
one h©m the ‘40v one ^om the ’Vh, the 60s.
then an TIOs or a KK to you get the whole
Film Festival Schedule
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.turned Ode » theater:' Se, hghf at that two#
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and he thought, 'left. «n a heat add he
ferftpct; m he contacted «e. and d «eo near
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thafl he hut. t» turn rdt an to
and d eoutd budd an
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ha* had edh the testmet,, d «s the iach
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<3k|ef33u»u wOlWelvrir ? 4 wlli
Hie Godfather (13/2)
spectrum.* He continue*, ‘dy *n»« aheeys eas
to yet people to trust me enough as a boot**
that they eouid start coahoy no matter what
the mone was. So. you had to start them out
wW #^y MW i^W W PM*** tO
get to thn reatuatson o# how fabulous d H to
see those on the big screen, and how different
they art on the big screen but then, if you put
in the most obscure thing, they'd come because
they'd trust what you're doing *
P art of what Osborne it doing *s making a
dedicated effort to give festival attend
ees a viewing experience that isn't merely
excellent, but special. That can be exceed
ingly difficult especially with fHms that are
60 or 70 years old. "Sometimes if s hard to get
good prints, and thafs so essential now. When
I went to the Port Townsend Film Festival in
Washington State a couple of years ago and
tried to get a print of Laura, it was a very
chopped-up print and not good, and they said
that was the only print they could get. When I
booked it for Athens, [original festival projec
tionist] James Bond was able to get a meticu
lous print... it made ad the difference in the
world. Cveryone is so used to seeing really good
prints on television—TCM and all that—that
they won't sit still for a scratchy print. I came
from the era when you couldn't see anything,
so if somebody had a 16MM projector and a
WW ™ w» hi>ei ""i imv #n*i
to the festival, as do early «Hd N
bWufe OMPAA XX ( MU1 fP at# B^rfO Hm* M — — e-. - ift Art
wvHgpwiw>*«Wv iTfCvT*|T^Mff vf?
dmng SO is his fope that he can mtreduco a
*ew gene*at’^m $0 nwm to the an joymv
and the serious appreciation af class* fHms
*Th» payoff »s the enthusiasm a# the audwnce.
and partwidarty >n a cadage town the kxts
But * nobody s really lespondwsg to 4. then
that krstens th» appeal -and it would *©r the
fesTval guests* as wed Oibome meads the
underwhelming experiences at prexsous guests
when vmtwg UCA classes, 'la* Sched. not
only an Osc ar wsnmng actor, but a very hne
director (who) thms ad over the world and
has staged operas and stuff « nobody had a
single question touve got Jane Nweii living
through the star system at M£M worked with Judy Garland.
woHwd with everybody ,. no questions. Hobody had any inter
est in that. 'How do you pre-mcord a song* How do you dance
with Fred Aflatr*’’ She did ad that and nobody had a single
question. So. you say Wttl thn may not be my crowd *
Y et if university students have been slow to catch on to
the festival the rest of Che Athens community has eagerly
embraced *. Crowds for the screenings te large and
appreciative, and some of the guests have been as charmed by
Athens as the town H by them. Angela Allen, script and conti
nuity supervisor on The Tin* Men, African Oueen and about BO
other fHms over the past 60 years, has become a Classic FHm
Festival regular 'And you know," Osborne muses, "ifi wonder
ful to have people like Angela and (Lawrence of Arot*a editor]
Anne Coates and all those wonderful behind-the-scenes people
who don't really get anywhere near the attention they deserve
and have them there to talfc about the work."
A nother former guest returning this year is Fred BhUard, who
has agreed to serve as co-host for the last several screen
ings this year. Osborne and BhHard will appear together
before the Saturday afternoon screening of Sunset Boulevard,
where the ceremonial microphone will change hands. "1 wanted
Fred to be there with me for one, so 1 could just pass it over to
him, right in front of the audience," says Osborne. An appro
priate gesture by a man who, like his festival embodies the
grace, class and generosity of spirit of an era in film which,
thanks in no small part to his efforts, is not completely lost.
Otvq Harr
MARCH 18.2009 FlAGPOd.COM 11