RARE AND RESTORED FILMS RETURN TO THE BIG SCREEN
AT HOLLYWOOD'S EGYPTIAN THEATER LABOR DAY WEEKEND
Eva Marie Saint, Cora Sue Collins & Baby Peggy to be honored with Cinecon Legacy Awards

For more than half a century Cinephiles have gathered over Labor Day Weekend to celebrate the movies at the annual Cinecon Classic Film Festival. Cinecon is where archivists, authors, collectors and film fans come together for five days of classic film screenings, special programs, celebrity guests, and the best movie memorabilia show in the nation. Now in its 54th year, Cinecon is dedicated to showcasing unusual films that are rarely given public screenings.

The festival will take place over Labor Day Weekend in the heart of Hollywood from August 30th through Sept. 3rd, 2018. Loews Hollywood Hotel is the host hotel with all screenings taking place at the historic Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Blvd. Cinecon 54 is presented in partnership with Hollywood Heritage, the renowned museum and preservation organization.

On Thursday, August 30th, the festival will open in grand style with a gala reception in the forecourt of the Egyptian Theatre followed by the premiere of a new restoration of HELEN'S BABIES (1924) from the Library of Congress, which features newly discovered footage unseen since its' original release. The Famous Players Orchestra under the leadership of Scott Lasky will provide live musical accompaniment for the film. Actress and star of the film, Baby Peggy (Diana Serra Cary), who celebrates her 100th birthday this year, will be presented with the Cinecon Legacy Award (Schedule and health permitting).

Cinecon is thrilled to announce that we will be honoring Academy Award winning actress Eva Marie Saint on Friday, August 31st. She will be presented with the Cinecon Legacy Award before a screening of one of her most sought after films, THAT CERTAIN FEELING (1956), in which she co-stars with Bob Hope, George Sanders and Pearl Bailey.

The star-wheel continues to turn over the weekend with an appearance by beautiful child actress Cora Sue Collins, who will be presented with the Cinecon Legacy Award after a screening of her very first film, UNEXPECTED FATHER (1932). Remarkably, Ms. Collins has never seen this film, (even during its initial release) so we are excited to share this rare treat with her and the Cinecon 54 audience.

After the tremendous response to our SATURDAY NITRATE FEVER program last year, Cinecon will be bringing the format back with an all-new slate of Nitrate film treasures. Also returning to The Spielberg Theatre downstairs is a second iteration of our tribute to the Golden Age of Television, KINECON AT CINECON. It follows-up last year's sold-out/standing room only show featuring a cornucopia of kinescopes from private collections.

Also returning this year, due to popular demand, will be a brand-new selection of Milton Schwarzwald's MENTONE SHORTS. These one & two-reelers, produced at Universal Studios in the 1930s, were never sold to television or home markets, so they have not been seen for over eight decades. Film historian Mark Cantor will be back to introduce this special program of rarities.

Animation fans will be excited to attend a special program on Saturday, September 1st, hosted by Jerry Beck, renowned author and animation authority, who will be assembling an unusual selection of cartoons for Cinecon this year. Many of you may know Jerry from his popular books on the subject and his informative websites: Cartoon Research and Animation Scoop.

The Hal Roach festival is also back this year with new surprises and rarities including two classic Laurel & Hardy shorts: BRATS (1930), with the boys paling their own children in this special effects extravaganza and HOG WILD (1930), wherein Stan & Ollie attempt to erect a new antenna on Hardy's roof because Mrs. Hardy wants to get China on their radio. Both films were recently restored at the UCLA Film & Television Archive by Scott MacQueen.

Among the rare films being scheduled for Cinecon 54 is VIRGINIA JUDGE (1935), which features the debut film of actress and past Cinecon honoree Marsha Hunt, who is slated to introduce the film (schedule permitting). Musical fans will be treated to a screening of Irving Berlin's ON THE AVENUE (1937) starring Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll, Alice Faye and The Ritz Brothers. The great Lon Chaney, "The Man of a Thousand Faces," will show off his acting chops when he plays two roles in the silent crime drama, OUTSIDE THE LAW (1920) directed by Chaney's frequent collaborator, Tod Browning. Once again Cinecon will be celebrating the career of legendary actor Jack Oakie who headlines the raucous comedy MILLION DOLLAR LEGS (1932) co-starring W.C. Fields, Ben Turpin and Lyda Roberti, among others. Also on tap, early screen appearances by Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow in GOLDIE (1931), a politically incorrect comic tale of salty sailors and the women they tattoo! And that's just a smattering of the titles that are being scheduled for this year's festival.

Some of the silent films planned for viewing this year include NAUGHTY BABY (1928) featuring Alice White, as a hat check in a luxury New York hotel who falls for rich boy Jack Mulhall. The film was considered lost until the Museum of Modern Art located a print last year. Also thought to be lost is THE SHAKEDOWN (1929), directed by William Wyler, which was recently restored by Universal Pictures. Western fans will appreciate WILD HORSE STAMPEDE (1926), starring real-life Oklahoma cowboy turned actor Jack Hoxie, as a champion bronco buster with eyes for pretty Fay Wray in this action-packed programmer.

This year's exciting line-up of early sound films includes such eye-catching titles as THE APE (1940) starring horror icon Boris Karloff as an outcast scientist stuck in a rural desert town looking for a cure for polio (and neither an escaped circus gorilla nor murder will stop him!) MISS TATLOCK'S MILLIONS (1948) is a tale of crime, romance and switched identities featuring a who's who of reliable players such as John Lund, Wanda Hendrix, Barry Fitzgerald, Monty Woolley and a very young Robert Stack. THE GOLDEN HORDE (1951) stars Ann Blyth as the Princess of Samarkand and David Farrar as an English Knight who confront the armies of Genghis Khan in this rarely seen, campy costume drama.

Cinecon 54 will also feature special programs as well as a movie memorabilia show at Loews Hollywood Hotel located at 1755 N. Highland Avenue in Hollywood, around the corner from the Egyptian Theater. Attendees may purchase rare movie stills, posters, lobby cards and other film-related collectibles in our dealer's rooms and have books signed at our author's tables.