Beatnik Movies

On Friday and Saturday nights we attended the Beatnik Movie Fest at the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. On Friday we saw "Night Tide", 1961 with Dennis Hopper, along with some short documentaries all filmed in and around Venice and Santa Monica Beach from the same era. Dennis Hopper was at the screening and was interviewed. It was a wonderful night! It was so cool to see actual film of the beach from the late 1950's and early 1960's. I spent a lot of my youth there and had forgotten about some of the landmarks. Dennis Hopper was really interesting. His career has bridged movies, art and literature of L.A. for the past 5 decades.

Before going to the screening on Friday we had a quick dinner at Miceli's on Las Palmas, around the corner from the Egyptian Theater. I always order the eggplant parmesan....delicious.

More Mosaic on the Tables at Miceli's

There's a piano player at Miceli's...he's great and will play favorites for you while you eat.

Piano Player, left. View of Miceli's Dining Room from Mezzanine

On Saturday, we had a lovely dinner at Audrey's and Jeff's house while we viewed photos from their recent trip to Egypt. Wow! Magnificent scenery and incredible pyramids. We thought it would be fitting to go to the Egyptian Theater again for the second night of the festival. Audrey and Jeff joined us. The films shown were "The Beat Generation" with Steve Cochran, Ray Danton, Mamie Van Doren, Jim Mitchum, Fay Spain, Jackie Coogan, Vampira and a cameo by Louis Armstrong. This was a hokey and commercialized version of what Hollywood thought the beats were all about. It was great fun though and also featured vintage shots of Los Angeles and the beach area. Mamie Van Doren was there for an interview and a Q & A. She had some fun things to say....she looks pretty good too! The second movie was called "The Connection", 1962. This film is a riveting look at NY jazz musicians, filmed in one room (very much like a play), waiting for their drug connection to show up.
We love going to films at the Cinematheque. There are always interesting people, interviews and insight into various types of entertainment, with a double shot of Hollywood history.
American Cinematheque
6712 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 461-2020