While most film festivals around the world are launching spots for new movies, the TCM Classic Film Festival held in Los Angeles does the opposite and looks back at some of the films that have shaped the world.
As part of this, they celebrated the 50th anniversary of “Batman: The Movie” and invited along its star Adam West for a Q&A prior to a poolside screening at the Roosevelt Hotel.
He explained before the screening that the colorful and comedic television series which inspired the film was a decision that the production crew came up with just prior to the commencement of filming.
“It was a lot of fun because we made it fun,” said West. “It was a satire, it was a put-on, it was tongue-in-cheek and we had great people with us with wonderful humor and so we made it fun but believe me, 18 hours a day in a funny costume which itches, that’s not fun.”
Asked about the modern adaptations of Batman by directors such as Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder, West said, “Well all I can say is there are very talented people associated with them. The actors are great. However, they are dark knights, dark, introspective. I was the bright knight, for God’s sake. We just made people laugh.”
Another quirky screening over the weekend of festivities was “Holiday in Spain”. While the film was not very well reviewed at the time, it was one of a handful of films shot in “Smell-o-Vision”.
Ben Mankiewicz, who was hosting the panels at the weekend festival said, “The thing about Smell-o-Vision is it’s exactly what you think it is. Each scene or many scenes come with a certain aroma that feeds the plot, that enhances the plot but not many people got to see it when it came out so here at the festival again at a great theater, the Cineramadome, we’re giving people an opportunity to get together with other people who have had the same desire for the past 20, 30 or 40 years and see this sort of wonderful shared experience.”
Saskia Wilson-Brown was given the role of producer of scent for the screening. One of the first hurdles to get over when organizing the event was to ensure that the scents don’t linger and mix with each other.
“There’s the very real challenge of trying to control tiny little molecules that fly through the air” explained Wilson-Brown, “so the best thing you can do is control the airflow. You can also compose the scents to not be permanent and subtle. I mean, nothing’s permanent but not to linger. That’s the best you can do.”
In order to achieve the best outcome, the cinema had large vents at the side which organizers could place charcoal scent sacks in front of to spread around a general atmosphere and then smaller aromas were added in a different way. Audience members were each given a scent to fan out their spray when cued on the screen.
The TCM Classic Film Festival ran from April 28 to May 1. Other highlights included a screening of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” with Christopher Lloyd and Danny DeVito and Talia Shire who introduced the 40th anniversary of ‘Rocky’ in which she played Rocky’s wife, Adrian.
