TCM presents: 60 Years of the UCLA Film & Television Archive | My Darling Clementine (intro)

[Music] May, thank you so much for being here this evening. We are celebrating 60 years of the UCLA Film and Television Archive, of which you are the director. Tell us a little bit about what it means to have this responsibility for what the this great work that UCLA does. Thank you so much for having us. Um, UCLA is home to the largest film archive at a university in the world and we have over 500,000 items um and titles that are orphaned independent television classic Hollywood cinema. Um, and I studied at UCLA and interned and worked um with the wonderful staff at the archive. left, came back uh a number of years ago and have been director since 2021 and it's been an incredible privilege and honor. >> I can attest to that because you know in addition to what I do here at TCM, I run the Film Noir Foundation and UCLA has been a partner with the Film Noir Foundation for going on 20 years now, I think. and we've worked together to restore a number of films, some of which will actually be seen on TCM later, but we're going to start with arguably one of the greatest westerns ever made. Clue us in on why you chose to show My Darling Clementine. So we ended up with a print in the 70s from Fox and that was held at the archive, a nitrate print. And back in the day you could watch nitrate in class and so students were watching my darling Clementine and they pointed out they said I think this isn't the same version. the ending is different and it was longer and come to find that this print is actually kind of a combination between what John Ford had envisioned before Xanic took over and cut out a lot of the film which was his purview. And so this isn't necessarily a director's cut. It's a work print that is basically in the middle between what John Ford envisioned and what Xanic provided to the audiences. I heard that Xanic cut like 30 minutes out of the film, which is a lot for a John Ford movie, especially, you know, where it's all cut in his head and there's one way to put it together. So, that's kind of fascinating. >> Yes, there's moments where um the sound was not fully mixed and so you kind of get more of the silence in the background in Monument Valley. You know, if you watch this version and then watch the shorter version, you can get a sense of that much more kind of subtle poetic and artistic vision that Ford brought to his films. It's really a fascinating film in the sense that it wouldn't have existed without an archive, right? It ended up with us and we were the stewards for it and we and students collectively recognized that this was something important. So Bob Git at the time, head of preservation, you know, stepped in and um worked with uh folks at Fox to to make this happen. So we are delighted to be able to present it. And the story of preservation is the story of film making. It's collaborative and we never do anything alone. Our work involves supporters, funders, studios, collectors. I think that is the spirit of the archive. collaboration, partnership, one frame at a time. >> Well, I can attest that the Film Noir Foundation would not have been able to accomplish anything we have accomplished without the cooperation and partnership of the UCLA Film and Television Archive. And and the essential thing to me is that the archive is like a magnet because everybody knows the work you do. Everybody knows how much you care. You know, when I was starting out, we wanted to restore The Prowler, and I didn't even know where to find this movie, and it was there. It was already at UCLA, and it was just a matter of finding it >> because you guys have a lot of stuff there. So, that that was fantastic. So, >> we have 600 million feet of film in the archive and it would wrap around the world four and a half times. And so without staff, archavist, specialists, fil noir foundation, film foundation, collaborators, um we wouldn't be able to do this work. And so it's delightful to be able to present this film tonight. >> That's right. This is only the start because we are doing 24 hours of films that have been restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. So let's let the people see this. Arguably one of the greatest westerns ever made. Do you think so? >> Definitely. So do I. Here is John Ford's My Darling Clementine. May I am so glad you chose that film. I hadn't seen it in a while, so it was good to revisit it. But now I understand that what we just saw was one version of the ending, and there is an alternate version. Explain this all to me. >> Well, actually, this is the alternate version. This is the version that John Ford had intended to have them shake hands. And in the ending that was released after audiences did not like the handshake, >> the handshake was not enough for American audiences. >> Yeah, they wanted more romance and so Xanic stepped in and they had to shoot on the back lot a version of them kissing. So you can watch that version and compare. I think this one has a much more elegant uh ending. >> Yes. That's so interesting to me because that's such a cliche, the Hollywood ending where they have to have the kiss. And I just think it, as you say, it's so much more elegant and and poignant that it's just the handshake that ends it. But it's not the only thing that that is different about this. This story does play kind of fast and loose with the historical facts of what happened at the OK Corral and all of that. Do do you know about any of the things that are massively different? Well, first, there's no one named Chihuahua at the OK Corral or Clementine or Miss Milkface as I like to call her. I think that there's just a mythology around why her and the book that started it really was more of a mythology with his partner Josephine. he passed away of course and she stepped in um and really wanted his story and her story wide herb's story to be very sanitized and um legendary and so this film picks that up um and you know really shows how much Wyatt was uh very different from the original. >> Well, he's not a cowboy. I mean, he was not hurting cows or anything. And Doc Holiday was not a surgeon. He was >> he was a dentist. Very different story if he were to try to use dentistry on Chihuahua. So, I think that, you know, it's not about the original story at this point, right? It's really about these characters, which I love because it's not a shootout film. It's a character film. And >> it is a character-driven film, and it's not like Gunfight at the OK Corral or Tombstone or any of those, but just terrific. And this is just the start tonight, May. Uh, but >> we're going to do something now that's kind of special because the UC Life Film and Television Archive just doesn't save feature films. It saves any kind of history that's on film. Right. So, tell us what we're going to see now as a little bonus feature. So UCLA has 27 million feet of news rails which were shown in theaters um as a major form of news that people received um up until the 60s even. And so the collection is a wide array of stories that are, you know, moments in political history, uh, fashion, uh, your latest fad. And in a partnership with the Packard Humanities Institute that started in 2014, we've been scanning and making accessible these news rails. And I'm delighted to share that the website newsreels.net um, is available. You could watch up to 20,000 news stories there featuring everything from a moment in history to a cat video that we snuck in for you. >> Oh, very good. >> And also a little bit of Elizabeth Taylor. Um, and the 60th anniversary of the building of the Statue of Liberty, which we thought we'd line up with our birthday today. So, um, check that out. It's really exciting. >> Thank you for bringing these. These are a special treat. And after the news reels, May and I will be back because we are just beginning our 24-hour tribute to the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Stick around. 60 years young, Miss Liberty on her pedestal in New York Harbors high the torch of freedom. Men, women, and children from the torture camps of Europe join in a salute to the world fame shrine. Inspiration for all mankind. Symbol of hope in a troubled world. One of the Navy's derigibles takes over a peaceime job. At the Naval Air Station at Lake Hurst, New Jersey, MGM starlet Elizabeth Taylor christens the big ship for its new career as aerial courier for America's movie goers. >> I christen thee the MGM airship. Over the lights of Manhattan, the Metro Golden Mayorship blazes a new trail. A flying beacon visible for 5 miles in every direction, bringing movie news to 22 million people in the metropolitan area. Showmanship reaches a new high over Broadway. The largest sign board in the world soarses over the crossroads of the world. [Music] Los Angeles suffers the worst blanket of smog in its history. The giant California city is shrouded by the ugly mist, dangerous to health and traffic. [Music] Motorcycle messengers fight it their own way, putting on masks before driving about. Chemists report that the air pollution is caused by unburned hydrocarbon particles, an increasingly serious problem to US communities everywhere. Meanwhile, city officials watch the smog charts carefully. So acute is the situation that just a tiny rise in the ozone density could spell disastrous trouble. Less concerned with percentages are the many already smarting from the irritating atmosphere. [Music] Barricades are made ready to stop traffic when and if the smog should reach the critical point. A very grim business indeed as air pollution becomes a sinister menace to human life and well-being. [Music] Sailing on the Queen Elizabeth's first peacetime eastward trip. Stars from Hollywood, including Joan Bennett, Ray Milan, Reginald Gardner, and Pat O'Brien, depart for a command performance before Britain's royal family. Also sailing is Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, who will confer with Europe's leaders on problems of the day. Many changes have taken place in Europe since I was there two years ago. New political, social, and economic theories have developed. I want to see for myself what has occurred and how this will affect you. Despite the chaos that has been caused by war, we find that trade is gradually being revived, that commerce is expanding, and that the shattered standard of living of a people is being gradually improved. Naturally, I'm going to talk about the American motion picture and expanding markets abroad. Just as other countries want to sell more of their pictures in America, for the motion picture along with the radio and the press must be free and accessible to all. The big meow in Europe is the milliondoll cat. Convoyed by its trainer, Zhogi arrives in Milan on a personal appearance tour. There never was a cat with a more winning personality than Zogi. Suave, urbane. He's the most continental cat on the continent. Except for one thing. People adore him. They start gathering early for the Hollywood premiere of High Society. MGM's delightful musical starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra. With the coming of night comes a shower of millions of fragrant rose petals heralding the parade of stars. An excited crowd sees the arrival of Cole Porter, the great songwriter who outdid himself with his magnificent score for High Society. Via George Murphy comes a commemorative plaque for Porter from the city of Los Angeles. His good friend Bob Hope is on hand to witness the honor. Here's the lovely MGM star Anne Miller. She's followed by General Omar Bradley and his wife. There's another treat for the movie fans. The appearance of newlyweds Eddie Fischer and Debbie Reynolds. A glittering premiere for high society. [Music] A Goodwill tour reaches the West Coast, which means a stopover at Movie Land. King Boda of the Belgians is hosted by MGM studio executives Saul C Seagull and Benjamin Thaw. He meets Eva Marie Saint, one of the stars of Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest. Other films in production catch the eye of the 28-year-old monarch. Frogman Charlton H and Gary Cooper find Bodwa eager to know how they impart such realism to their roles in The Wreck of the Merry Deer. Next to stage 26 to chat with Ellanar Parker and Bob Mitchum, pausing between takes on Home from the Hill. Camera action for this meeting with Gina Lab Brida and Frank Sinatra who are filming Never So Few. A high spot is the studio lunchon for Belgium's Bachelor King where Debbie Reynolds is his table partner. The petite film beauty is appearing before cameras with Glenn Ford in It Started with a Kiss, but right now she's a hit with a title visitor.