TCM Film Fest Begins Thursday With Barbra Streisand’s FUNNY GIRL

Tinseltown is ready to greet film fans from around the world again for the 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival.

Beginning this Thursday, April 25 and running through Sunday, April 28 in Hollywood, the festival will open with a gala presentation of the newly restored musical classic Funny Girl (1968).

Over four big days, TCM will welcome legendary stars, award-winning filmmakers and classic movie fans for the cinematic celebration, which this year will center on the theme Cinematic Journeys: Travel in the Movies.

But first on the schedule is FUNNY GIRL!

Legendary superstar Barbra Streisand demonstrates why she’s the greatest star in her Academy Award winning role (Best Actress, 1968) as “Fanny Brice” in the celebrated musical biography FUNNY GIRL. Commemorating its 45th anniversary, the classic film was meticulously restored from the original negative by Sony Pictures Entertainment in 4K at Sony Pictures’ Colorworks.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release FUNNY GIRL for the first time on Blu-ray April 30th, exclusively available at Amazon. The Blu-ray will feature two previously released vintage featurettes: “Barbra in Movieland,” a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film; and “This is Streisand,” chronicling the early years of the performer’s career.

One of the most popular movie musicals ever made, FUNNY GIRL follows the early career of stage comedienne Fanny Brice, a role that earned Barbra Streisand the 1968 Oscar® for Best Actress. Only her mother believes Fanny can make it in show business, but when she gets her first break at Keeney’s Music Hall, her hilarious debut gets her hired as a comedienne. Fanny becomes a star, falls in love and marries Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif), a handsome gambler. The film’s many memorable songs include “Don’t Rain on My Parade” and the Streisand classic “People.”

FUNNY GIRL, which earned more than $52 million at the box office, was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, a Best Supporting Actress nod for Kay Medford, Jule Styne (music) and Bob Merrill (lyrics) for Best Original Song for “Funny Girl,” and Best Score for Walter Scharf, with Barbra Streisand taking home the statuette for Best Actress. The score consists of classic standards, including “My Man,” “Second Hand Rose” and “I’d Rather Be Blue Over You (Than Happy With Somebody Else)” to tunes that have become standards, including “People,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” and “I’m the Greatest Star.” In 2005, the Streisand’s immortal opening line, “Hello Gorgeous,” was named #81 on the American Film Institute list, “AFI’s 100 Years … 100 Movie Quotes” and the film itself ranked #16 on “AFI’s Greatest Movie Musicals” list.

The 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival appearances by legendary stars at screenings of some of their most memorable films, including Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Marvin Kaplan, Barrie Chase, Polly Bergen, Coleen Gray, Theodore Bikel and Norman Lloyd, as well as producer Stanley Rubin, Clara Bow biographer David Stenn, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) film collections manager Katie Trainor and director Nicholas Ray’s widow, Susan Ray. In addition, TCM’s Essentials Jr. host and Saturday Night Live star Bill Hader will present screenings of Shane (1953) and The Ladykillers (1955). And The Film Forum’s Bruce Goldstein will present a special screening of Frank Capra’s The Donovan Affair(1929), complete with live voice actors and sound effects to replace the film’s long-lost soundtrack.

Mel Brooks is slated to talk about his comedy The Twelve Chairs (1970). Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Marvin Kaplan and Barrie Chase will reunite to celebrate the 50th anniversary screening of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), which will be presented in 70mm at Arclight’s Cinerama Dome. Polly Bergen will attend a screening of J. Lee Thompson’s Cape Fear(1962), while Coleen Gray is set to appear at a screening of Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing (1956). Theodore Bikel will be on hand for a presentation of The African Queen (1951). And Norman Lloyd will chat about his long professional association with Alfred Hitchcock at a screening of the director’s delightfully droll thriller The Lady Vanishes (1938). In addition, the festival’s tribute to Max Von Sydow will now include a newly added screening of Three Days of the Condor (1975), along with the previously announced screening of Ingmar Bergman’s classic The Seventh Seal (1957).

Also slated for the festival, producer Stanley Rubin will talk about his experience making the colorful western River of No Return (1954), directed by Otto Preminger. Clara Bow biographer David Stenn will introduce the previously announced silent classic It (1927), featuring a live performance of the score conducted by its composer, Carl Davis. MoMA’s Katie Trainor will present the rarely screened romance I Am Suzanne! (1933). And director Nicholas Ray’s widow, Susan Ray, will talk about her late husband’s work at a screening of the groundbreaking crime-drama They Live by Night (1949).

TCM host and film historian Robert Osborne will serve as official host of the 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival, with TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz also introducing various events during the festival. The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, which has a longstanding role in movie history and was the site of the first Oscars® ceremony, will once again serve as the official hotel for the festival, as well as a central gathering point for attendees. Screenings and events will also be held at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the Chinese 6 Theatres and the Egyptian Theatre.

Website: http://tcm.com/festival
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tcmfilmfest/