Film festival was perfect for Lapointe
Date: 5/17/2013
By G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.comCHICOPEE — When Francis Lapointe looked around his fellow audience members at the screening of "Three Days of the Condor," he was surprised to see one of the stars of the film, Max Von Sydow, just a few seats away.
Like Lapointe, the acclaimed actor "was just there to see the movies."
That was the kind of surprise that Lapointe and his wife Adele experienced during their attendance of the annual Turner Classic Movies Classical Film Festival recently in Los Angeles, Calif.
A film fan since childhood, Lapointe has been reviewing films in newspapers and on radio and television. The reviews can also be read on his website, Projections (
www.projections-movies.com). He is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association.
Lapointe faced a daunting task for any film fan: deciding which films he would see from the dozens offered at the festival. Over the four day period, he managed to fit in 11 films: "Hondo" and "Dial M for Murder," both in 3-D; "Ben Hur," "Libeled Lady," "The Birds," "three Days of the Condor," "Giant," "On Golden Pond," "Shane" and "Flying Down to Rio."
The films were screened in six different theaters along Hollywood Boulevard all within walking distance, he explained. He ran between movies, Lapointe added.
"The problem was there were so many films that you missed some," Lapointe said.
Some of the films surprised Lapointe. He said that the Charlton Heston version of "Ben Hur" "really holds up."
He explained with a laugh, "I was surprised it held up. Charlton Heston has too much a of a big tooth smile."
The film was presented as it was originally in 1959 with a six and half minute overture and a 15 -minute intermission. An added bonus besides seeing the film on a big screen was the discussion conducted by "Ben Hur" director William Wyler's son David. He shared behind the scenes photos of the shooting of the film, including the fact his father had the coliseum set at which the famed chariot race was shot, demolished the day after that sequence was concluded so no other film could use it.
Actress Eva Marie Saint also spoke, saying the secret to her personal success was to have never married an actor. She said a stable relationship helped her weather the ups and downs of her career, Lapointe said.
Lapointe watched "Giant," the sprawling story of a western oil family that starred James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson and wasn't impressed by it, feeling it was too much a "soap opera."
What did impress him were the memories of the film by Jane Withers, one of the films co-stars. Withers, one of the few successful child stars who made a transition to adult roles, recalled how her dressing trailer became a social center with her cooking meals for her co-stars Dean and Hudson and playing board games.
Tippi Hendren, the female lead of "The Birds," was candid in her remarks about director Alfred Hitchcock, Lapointe said.
He recalled that Hendren said Hitchcock would ruin her career when she rejected his advances. "And he did," Hendren said, "but he didn't ruin my life."
Lapointe said actor Norman Lloyd at age 95 had to cancel a tennis match to speak about "Dial M for Murder." Lloyd had a long association with director Hitchcock.
When asked if he would attend the festival again, Lapointe smiles and said, "I'd like to go again, it would be fun."
