The 2019 TCM Classic Film Festival Celebrated Love, Romance, and Obsession on the Silver Screen

Once again, classic film lovers descended on Hollywood to attend the 2019 TCM Classic Film Festival, which celebrated its tenth consecutive year in Hollywood, as well as the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Turner Classic Movies channel. This year, the festival's theme was "Follow Your Heart: Love At The Movies". The festival showcased classic films, spanning numerous generations and genres, many of which reveled in the multi-faceted triad of love, romance, and obsession.

TCM Primetime host, Ben Mankiewicz, hosted the festival; guest hosts included Alicia Malone, Illeana Douglas, Eddie Muller, and Dave Karger.

The festival opened with the 30th Anniversary Screening of "When Harry Met Sally..." (1989). Other notable screenings included: "Merrily We Go to Hell" (1932), "Tarzan and His Mate" (1934), "Gone With the Wind" (1939), "Wuthering Heights" (1939), "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946), "Dark Passage" (1947), "Samson and Delilah" (1949), "When Worlds Collide" (1951), "Mogambo" (1953), "Magnificent Obsession" (1954), "Sleeping Beauty" (1959), "Ocean's 11" (1960), "Santo vs. the Evil Brain" (1961), "The Killers" (1964), "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (1964), "A Patch of Blue" (1965), "The Sound of Music" (1965), "The Student Nurses" (1970), "Day for Night" (1973), "A Woman Under the Influence" (1974), "Nashville" (1975), "Escape From New York" (1981), "Out of Africa" (1985), "Steel Magnolias" (1989), "Do the Right Thing" (1989), and "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993).

Kevin Brownlow received the second annual Robert Osborne Award in recognition of his work as the director of "It Happened Here" (1964) and "Winstanley" (1975), as well as his work preserving and restoring over fifty silent films over the past seventy years. Brownlow received an honorary Academy Award for his work as a film preservationist in 2010.

The festival also honored comedian and "When Harry Met Sally..." star, Billy Crystal, with a hand-and-footprint ceremony in front of the Chinese Theater in Hollywood, a ceremony which included a speech by the film's director, Rob Reiner.

Many celebrities attended the festival, including: Allison Anders, Burt Bacharach, Jacqueline Bisset, Ronee Blakley, John Carpenter, Keith Carradine, Ruth E. Carter, Billy Crystal, Frank Darabont, Dana Delany, Angie Dickinson, Jeff Goldblum, Louis Gossett, Jr., Jennifer Grant, Bill Hader, Rob Marshall, Patty McCormack, Ron Perlman, Robi Reed, Rob Reiner, Kurt Russell, Meg Ryan, Juliet Taylor, Alex Trebek, and Ted Turner. These celebrities acted, directed, wrote, or were otherwise connected with the making of the films screened in this year's festival.

If you love classic movies, would like to meet like-minded fans, and would enjoy seeing classic films on the big screen, go to "http://filmfestival.tcm.com" and sign up for the TCM Classic Film Festival Newsletter so you can get the inside scoop on next year's festival and the availability of festival passes and individual tickets.