On Wednesday, March 16, I went to a theater where they were showing North by Northwest (1959) presented by Turner Classic Movies (TCM) “Road to Hollywood” tour. They had Robert Osborne presenting with Academy Award winning actress Eva Marie Saint. If you don’t know who Robert Osborne is he’s that person from Turner Classic Movies who tells about the movie before it plays. He’s the older guy. Like I said, Eva Marie Saint was there, too. I don’t exactly care about her but I wish I could have met her husband, Jeffrey Hayden, who directed some episodes of Leave It To Beaver and the Andy Griffith Show, along with many others. That would have been so cool since I want to be a director someday.
So after the long car ride and the long wait in line (while waiting in line I met a friend, Patrick, so that was good) we FINALLY got in and got our seats way back in the auditorium, the second to last row. I had made a question sheet for Robert Osborne to answer for my blog so my mom and I went down the two flights of stairs and asked somebody that worked there if we could get our questions to Robert Osborne. The lady said there was going to be a question picking before the movie started. So, then we asked if there was going to be any chance to get a picture with Mr. Osborne and she said “no”. We walked back up to our seats that my dad was saving for us and sat down. A little while later the presentation was about to start and my dad asked me if I needed to go to the bathroom. I said no, but my mom said I should go because I wouldn’t be able to go during the movie. So, we went to go find the bathroom. Even the security guard had to help us find the bathroom. First he told us where the men’s bathroom was but my mom didn’t want me going in there alone so then we had to find the women’s bathroom. We finally found it. When we came out of the bathroom THERE WAS ROBERT OSBORNE!!!!! Timing really is EVERYTHING! So, then we did get to take a picture with him and I told him I had some questions for him and was hoping to be picked during the question and answer session. He was so nice, very kind, and tall.
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| Jack meets Mr. Osborne |
So long story short, during the question and answer time I kept jumping out of my seat with my hand up but I never got picked, probably because I was in the second to last row and they couldn’t even see me. The Q & A was over and the movie was about to start. Robert Osborne was leaving the stage and I looked at my mom and said, “I don’t have answers to my questions.” She looked at me and said, “Well, if you want it, you have to go get it.” With that I sprung from my seat, left my parents, raced down the 2-story steps and I saw Robert Osborne through the crowd of people. I squished through and yelled “Mr. Osborne, Mr. Osborne, Mr. Osborne!” I finally gave my paper of questions to him as he was leaving.
Here are the questions I had for Mr. Osborne:
1. What is your favorite classic movie?
2. What makes a movie a classic?
3. Did you ever want to be a director?
Hopefully, he’ll look on the back of my business card I gave him and contact me with the answers. If I get a response back to my questions, I’ll definitely blog about it right away so stay tuned!
When I got back to my seat my parents told me they considered chasing after me when they lost site of me but couldn’t get through the crowd even if they wanted to. But they were proud of me and my determination.
By the time the movie started it was way past my bedtime. I was the only one that clapped for Alfred Hitchcock when his name was on the screen the first time during the opening credits. Come on people?!?!?! I made it through about 45 minutes of the movie and started leaning my head on my dad’s arm. My mom said she thought it was time to go, which was ok with me since we own the North By Northwest DVD at home. So, we took the back exit out of the theater and then another cool thing happened…we saw the projection room!!! They were doing the film like they did in the olden days, not like now with digital, so I was shown around in there. Did you know that there are two projectors running the film? They need to switch the film because the reels only have 18 minutes on them. When 18 minutes on one projector is done, they need to switch to the other projector and they do it so smoothly the people in the audience don’t even see it – AMAZING!!!!!! And well, then we went home and that was it. That was a really good day!
