Day 3 was one filled with favorites and laughs. I started off the day with Why Be Good? (1929), a movie I had seen a few months ago when a new restoration was screened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This same restoration was shown here, and I loved the movie so much the first time that I had to see it again.
The plot of the movie centers around a young girl who falls in love with a wealthy banker’s son, but has to prove that she’s a “good girl” before his father will allow him to date her. The premise sounds contrived, but in reality the film is unique and refreshingly feminist in many spots, with lines that resonate with much of feminist thought today. Colleen Moore is as cute as can be, with big, expressive eyes and movements that radiate the jazz age. It was great fun to see it screened at the festival, and I’m happy that this sweet film is getting the attention it deserves.
Next up was 42nd Street (1933), a personal favorite. Featuring much of the same cast as the seminal Golddiggers of 1933, what this movie lacks in originality it makes up for tenfold with a spectacular cast and Busby Berkeley’s creative musical numbers. Ruby Keeler is a delight as always, and the title number is one of the first real ballet sequences within a film that tells its own story within the film. The famous ballet sequences in An American in Paris and Singin’ In the Rain followed 42nd Street‘s lead in creating a veritable “show within a show,” but 42nd Street takes it one step further–the title number is indeed a story within a story within a story. Take a look:
42nd Street and Golddiggers of 1933 are hallmarks of the pre-Code era, and are extremely popular with the TCM Festival crowd, yet pre-Codes are often put in the smaller theaters and easily sell out. My dream is to one day see a pre-Code programmed at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, where it will not only look beautiful but also bring a lot of excitement to the festival-going crowd. I would have loved to have seen Ruby Keeler on that giant screen!
I had a large break in my schedule on Day 3, during which I relaxed with friends and got ready for the evening screening, Earthquake!, poolside at the Roosevelt Hotel. A Q&A with Richard Roundtree preceded the film, and then we were treated to one of the most fabulously low-budget movies I have ever seen. The inspiration for future disaster films such as the Airport movies and the spoof Airplane!, Earthquake! stars Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner (who hilariously insisted on doing her own stunts) and focuses on a disastrous earthquake in Los Angeles, ultimately destroying the city. Its low-budget special effects left the audience in stitches, and satisfied my frequent craving for camp film. I left with a pain in my stomach from laughing so hard. Thanks, Earthquake!
Day 4 tomorrow. See you then!
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Backlots 
Thanks for the updates for those of us unable to attend.
A couple points about Earthquake, which I remember as an original release:
The original “Airport” came out in 1970, so the 1974 “Earthquake” was not an inspiration for it, but rather a part of the disaster genre it helped to establish, along with “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972). “Airport 1975” and “The Towering Inferno” were both also released in 74, a big year for disaster films.
The budget for “Earthquake” was $7 million, which doesn’t sound like much to a post-“Titanic” generation, but was not shabby at the time (“Star Wars” was made for only $11 mil). Its release was touted as a major event, with the “Sensurround” experience being debuted with much ballyhoo.