Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson Lead 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival Celebration of Warner Bros.
The 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival is celebrating 100 years of Warner Bros. — which, like TCM, is part of Warner Bros. Discovery.
This year’s annual installment, which kicks off April 13 in Los Angeles, will usher in the centennial of Warner Bros. with Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson, along with the Film Foundation, commemorating the history-making studio.
The 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival, held in the heart of Hollywood April 13 through 16, will center around the theme “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” celebrating film legacies, in particular the enduring legacy of Warner Bros., which marks its 100th anniversary on April 4, 2023.
In conjunction with Warner Bros. Discovery’s centennial WB100 campaign, Celebrating Every Story, the TCM Classic Film Festival will shine a spotlight on some of the studio’s landmark creations, including the 4K restoration of 1959 Western film “Rio Bravo” starring Angie Dickinson. “Rio Bravo” opens the festival, with Dickinson in attendance for a post-screening discussion with TCM Host Ben Mankiewicz.
“Rio Bravo” was restored by Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation, and its board members Spielberg and Anderson will take the stage to celebrate the continuation of Warner Bros. Discovery’s multi-year partnership with the organization that has restored or preserved more than 950 films to ensure their survival for future generations.
“Any movie with Angie Dickinson is made better by the fact that Angie Dickinson is in it. Certainly, ‘Rio Bravo’ is no exception,” host Mankiewicz, the TCM Primetime Anchor and Official Host of the TCM Classic Film Festival, said. “As an added bonus, it also has a couple of guys named John Wayne and Dean Martin. Moreover, to have Paul Thomas Anderson and Steven Spielberg back for a second year in a row is such an honor, as well as an indication of the vital role TCM plays among the filmmaking community.”
Warner Bros.’ “Rio Bravo” stars John Wayne as a sheriff with an unlikely group of allies, including Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, and Dickinson, as they help defend against a gang of armed attackers intent on breaking out a prisoner. In 2014, “Rio Bravo” was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
TCM has previously announced Academy Award-winning production designer Patrizia von Brandenstein and actor, dancer, choreographer, director, and artist Russ Tamblyn will be honored as Tributes at this year’s Festival. In addition, the fourth annual Robert Osborne Award, recognizing an individual who has helped keep the cultural heritage of classic film alive for future generations, will be presented to film historian Donald Bogle.