The excitement of attending the Vanity Fair party is electric. Everyone I encountered who attended seemed to experience it and feel it.
Wearing my full-lenth black satin Chinese formal with the Mandarin collar and clicking my high heels all the way down Hollywood Boulevard, I felt my heart beating faster with each step. I was following Countess De Lave and friends as we drew closer to the entrance of the club, and we all were speaking about how much fun we knew it would be.
As we were entering, the first celeb sighting was Eva Marie Saint and her escort (hubby?). She looked lovely and was very gracious. She was exiting as we were entering and was wearing a lovely creme-coloured outfit and carrying a clutch bag. Folks were genuflecting to her and appreciating the fact that she was able to attend on her way out. (Eva Marie Saint will introduce North By Northwest during the festival with Martin Landau as a co-presenter.)
When we had stepped inside, I found my date, Bruce, clasping a glass of white wine, and chatting with another passholder from the East. The crowd was already huge, and I could hear the buzz of voices all around...the screening was..he looks so..they haven't arrived yet...he's over there..the waiter is coming..care for a snack?..look at that hair..she's ravishing... (I like to imagine they were talking about me!)
The first floor of Kress's was packed with folks swarming around in a sort of circular motion that eventually led them around to the table where Robert Osborne and Diane Baker were holding court. Mr. Osborne was sitting in a seat in the booth most closest to the milling crowd, and Miss Baker was seated next to him. I had already visited with Mr. Osborne earlier, shortly after my fan perspective interview, and I introduced myself to Miss Baker who looked stunning and exhibited a kind of serene patience and wonder at all the excitement, seemingly happy to be a part of it, and happy to visit with her fans. Very approachable and affable.
Right before I introduce myself to someone famous, or someone in a position of authority that I am not acquainted with, I always remember a story my cousin told me about Louis Jourdan. It gives me courage.
My cousin was visiting Hollywood for the first time in the 1980's and was staying at a hotel in Beverly Hills. As he was leaving the valet parking area, Louis Jourdan stepped out to wait for his car. My cousin walks over to him to speak, and he says, "Oh, Mr. Jourdan, you're the first movie star I've met since I've been in Hollywood." Mr. Jourdan looks at him with that droll expression of boredom so common to viewers of Gigi, and says in his French-accented English, "I'm so happy for you," and walks away to his car.
So this incident always reminds me that my comments might not be met with the same enthusiasm I feel at the time. It helps me be prepared for rejection...
But Robert Osborne, who makes everyone he meets seem welcome, always was kind and generous with his time to folks I saw him converse with. The general comments about Mr. Osborne as the festival spokesman and TCM onscreen CEO was overwhelmingly favorable.
And meeting Diane Baker was a joy. She stated that she currently is involved in teaching acting, and I told her that I always enjoyed her performances. In Marnie, I explained that I thought the turquoise kimono she wore was lovely, and I always wanted one like it. My aunt, who was a fabulous seamstress, made me a kimono like the one Miss Baker wore in Marnie without even using a pattern. Miss Baker said that she always enjoyed hearing fan stories, and she indeed remembered wearing that lovely kimono. She was charming.
After my lovely visit with Miss Baker, and a short nod to Mr. Osborne who was busy greeting other passholders, I romped upstairs to where my date, Bruce, and friends Countess De Lave, and others were soon to arrive. We had all agreed to meet on the top floor because there were so many people on the ground floor.
On my way upstairs, I ran into Ed Faulker and his wife. Faulkner is a character actor who has worked on many films with John Wayne and episodic television. He was surprised that I had recognized him because he says most folks don't remember who he is. He and his wife are very charming, and Mr. Faulkner currently works in private business, but also continues acting. He expressed the joy he had at working in so many films with John Wayne. They are very sweet folks..Mr. Faulkner can currently be seen in one of the "Words of Mouth" extras on TCM, and I believe it is the one with director Andrew McGlaglen, son of actor Victor McGlaglen, discussing John Wayne.
As I'm waiting in line to move around to the stairs because of all the partygoers, Alec Baldwin walks by, and I say, "Hi, Alec." And he says, "Hi, how's it going?" and moves along to his next stop to sit down by Robert Osborne, and they have a photo op.
Upstairs, my pals and I found the perfect place to see the whole arena of guests and passholders. It was the corner booth upstairs near the DJ. Waiters kept coming around with drinks, and goodies to snack on. We could see everything happening in the main arena of celeb activity while we were perched in our perfect "catbird seat" booth. Then a photographer from CNN comes and sits with us, takes our photos, and sits down to visit for awhile. He tells us about all the folks he has taken pictures of since the evening began, and others at the festival. Then, after he has a beverage, he has to go downstairs and take more pictures.
As I get up to visit the powder room while we are upstairs, Jaqueline Bisset walks in with her friend from London, and I introduce myself and we talk about London, her visit to LA, how great Jack Cardiff was with his photography of FlPandora and the Flying Dutchman which is being screened at the festival, and how hot and humid it is in Houston where she had filmed a movie. She seems very shy at first, but was happy that I had remembered her working and visiting Houston.
Then off to the powder room where I needed to update my look with one of my favorite lip gloss colors, #300, L'Oreal, tuck in a stray hair or two from my upsweep, and readjust my little red flower...
Back at the table, we started requesting our favorites from the DJ, and he was happy to comply, and we all started dancing. More drinks...More dancing. Then the CNN photographer comes back upstairs and tells us Cher had put in an appearance. We all ask what she was wearing. "Some white number," he says.
Then I ran into a tall, good looking man on the stairs who said Hugh Hefner had just been there with some blonde babe. And after way too much wine, I think I said something like, "Oohh, big news flash from 50 years ago." He laughed, but then I felt guilty I had said something like that. Ah, Bacchus...
So I missed Hugh and Cher, but luckily others hadn't and said they were gracious to the passholders who were able to chat with them.....Oh, well. Back to more wine, more snacks, and more dancing to our favorites until the wee hours. We laughed and chatted and danced until the DJ started packing up his equipment, and the wine flowed no more, and little waiters with trays of goodies had abandoned us...
No comments:
Post a Comment