2016 TCM Classic Film Festival Adds Angela Lanbury, Rita Moreno and Billy Dee Williams To Lineup!

When the TCM Film Festival screens John Frankenheimer’s classic The Manchurian Candidate, Angela Lansbury will be in the house.

Rita Moreno will introduce a screening of The King and I, and Billy Dee Williams will present a screening of Brian’s Song.

A conversation between investigative journalist Carl Bernstein and Spotlight’s director, Tom McCarthy, and screenwriter, Josh Singer, will be an opening night highlight. For more details on these and other recently added events, follow the jump.

2016 TCM Classic Film Festival Adds Film Legends Angela Lansbury, Rita Moreno & Billy Dee Williams To Lineup

Opening Night Conversation Between Investigative Journalist Carl Bernstein, Spotlight Director/Screenwriter Tom McCarthy & Screenwriter Josh Singer

Journalism in Film Panel Discussion with Director James Vanderbilt, Screenwriter Josh Singer and Journalists Ben Bradlee Jr. & Mary Mapes

Club TCM to Feature Panel on Dogs in Film with Appearances by Lassie, Marley (Marley and Me) & the original Stella (Modern Family)

 Turner Classic Movies (TCM) continues to add screen icons and intriguing panels to its star-studded festival lineup during the 7^th Annual 2016 TCM Classic Film Festival, set to take place April 28 – May 1 in Hollywood.

• Beloved Oscar® and Golden Globe® winner Angela Lansbury joins the festival with a screening and conversation of The Manchurian Candidate (1962), the combination satire and political thriller.

• Oscar winning actress and singer Rita Moreno will introduce a 60^th anniversary screening of the cherished musical The King and I (1956).
• Emmy nominee Billy Dee Williams will present a screening of Brian’s Song (1971), the true story of friendship between Chicago Bears’ player Gale Sayers (Williams) and Brian Piccolo (James Caan).
• Investigative journalist Carl Bernstein, Oscar winning director/ screenwriter Tom McCarthy (Spotlight), along with Oscar Winning screenwriter Josh Singer (Spotlight), join the festivities for opening night’s 40^th Anniversary screening of the political thriller All The President’s Men (1976).

Club TCM, the central gathering point for festival passholders located in the lobby of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, will feature a remarkable slate that includes:

•  “Man’s Best Friend: Dogs in Film.” Movie icons are stars that evoke an immediate emotional response, and Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, Old Yeller, Benji and Beethoven are right up there with the best of the two-legged variety.  Join Randy Haberkamp of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as he shares stills and clips from the Academy’s collections of dogs in movie history, and then interviews three of Canine Cinema’s biggest stars during a rare public appearance. Meet Clyde of Marley & Me (2008), Brigitte, the original Stella from Modern Family and the latest Lassie.
• “From Headlines to Ticket Lines” a panel discussion with director James Vanderbilt (Truth), Oscar winning writer Josh Singer (Spotlight), broadcast news producer and author Mary Mapes and print journalist/editor Ben Bradlee, Jr. about the challenges of dramatizing the work of journalists for the screen.

Previously announced events and appearances for the 2016 TCM Classic Film Festival include a handprint-footprint ceremony to honor acclaimed filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. John Singleton for the 25^th anniversary screening of his coming-of-age classic Boyz N The Hood (1991), Carl Reiner with an extended conversation and screening of Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982) Elliott Gould with screenings of his Golden Globe nominated performance in M*A*S*H (1970), The Long Goodbye (1973) and Eva Marie Saint who will be on hand to introduce a screening of the political comedy The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming (1966).  Actor Stacy Keach will be discussing John Huston’s gritty look at the world of small-time boxing in Fat City (1972) and French actress Anna Karina will be introducin g Band of Outsiders (1964), Jean-Luc Godard’s riff on gangster films.

Complete bios for each of the artists appearing at the 2016 TCM Classic Film Festival can be found at the festival’s website: mQ*****@Q5**********.mQ&v=3Bg&7=&h=rj3f://pYvcpU2jslkb.3Sw.Syc/” target=”_blank”>filmfestival.tcm.com

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The Manchurian Candidate (1962) Featuring an appearance and conversation with Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury stars as a one of the screen’s great villains—a mother with amoral political ambitions and a smothering obsession with her son (played by Laurence Harvey)—in this combination satire and political thriller about brainwashed U.S. soldiers sent home as sleeper agents.

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Brian’s Song (1971) Featuring an appearance and conversation with Billy Dee Williams
Hailed by many as the greatest football film every made, this classic television movie draws on the memoirs of Chicago Bears’ Gale Sayers (Billy Dee Williams) to depict his friendship with fellow player Brian Piccolo (James Caan), who lost his life to cancer after a valiant struggle.

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

Description of the 2016 festival theme Moving Pictures:
The magic of movies isn’t just motion, it’s emotion.  As we watch cinematic stories play out, they feel like our own.  In 2016, the TCM Classic Film Festival explores MOVING PICTURES—the ones that bring us to tears, rouse us to action, inspire us, even project us to a higher plane.  In the heart of historic Hollywood we’ll gather to share the big-time emotions of big screen stories, from coming-of-age pictures to terminal tearjerkers, from powerful sports dramas we feel in our bones to religious epics that elevate our spirits.  These are the films that that set our love of cinema in motion.

The “Spotlight” Festival Pass: $1,649 – Includes all privileges available to “Classic” and “Essential” passholders, priority entry to all screening events; plus entry to the exclusive opening-night party following the red-carpet gala screening at TCL Chinese Theatre; meet-and-greet events with TCM friends, including Robert Osborne and Ben Mankiewicz; and a limited edition TCM Classic Film Festival poster.

The “Essential” Festival Pass: $749 – Includes all privileges available to “Classic” passholders, plus entry to the opening-night red-carpet gala screening at TCL Chinese Theatre and official TCM Classic Film Festival collectibles.

The “Classic” Festival Pass: $599 – Includes access to all film programs at festival venues Thursday, April 28 – Sunday, May 1 (does not include admittance to the opening-night red-carpet gala screening at TCL Chinese Theatre or the opening-night party); access to all Club TCM events, panels and poolside screenings at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel; an opening-night welcome reception at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel; and the closing-night event.

The “Palace” Festival Pass: $299 – Includes access to all screenings and events at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre (excluding the opening-night red-carpet gala) and the Egyptian Theatre Friday, April 29 – Sunday, May 1, as well as poolside screenings at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.