Special thanks to my friend April Lane for creating this poster for me!
Wow! What a night last night was. There was my buddy Joe Buonocore talking about growing up in Brooklyn and sharing his stories not only with Robert Osborne but all of America! I can only imagine how thrilled the entire Buonocore family must be!
And I imagine Juan Castro's family in Northridge was over the moon watching young Juan talk about his love of musicals, Fred Astaire and classic movies.
And then I heard the announcer saying "Tonight on TCM, Fan Programmer Lynn Zook talks about "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" and for a moment, I thought my heart stopped. But it got better.
At the top of the hour, there was Robert Osborne saying my name. As my buddy, Marco Place, says "How often does that happen?". Not very often. It was something I never thought I would hear on national television, let alone to be introduced by the man himself.
And it only got better. We talked about my historic preservation work in Las Vegas, about my film "The Story of Classic Las Vegas" and about the website, classiclasvegas.com! I had only been expecting a short bit of that conversation to hit the airwaves but all of my intro was there.
If you are interested in purchasing the historical overview documentary on Las Vegas that we talked about last night, click here.
And then we got to talk a bit about Monument Valley, John Ford and what a combination of location and film maker. I truly believe that one reason more film makers haven't shot there is because it really is John Ford Country.
Jon had missed my taping due to illness so he was as excited as a kid at Christmas. We popped open a bottle of champagne and watched the movie.
We have a baby box turtle, Zorro, and he sat on Jon's hand and watched the first hour of the film with us. Seems he likes westerns and John Wayne. Who knew?
I was very pleased that our after the movie talk included some of my memories of the original MGM Grand Hotel's wonderful movie theater.
It was an incredible experience and one I never thought in a million years I would have. I'm incredibly thankful to the staff of TCM for making it possible.
I plan to write more tomorrow about my reasons for choosing "Yellow Ribbon" and I am a bit teary about my favorite scene but before I call it a night I have to throw a spotlight on one of my favorite people.
Robert Osborne and my good friend, Kyle Kersten
I've know Kyle Kersten for about five years thanks to the TCM message boards. He lives in Los Angeles and we met in person about three years ago. We've been good friends ever since. As Jon was ill that Monday of the tapings and the special dinner, Kyle went the extra mile and was there to help me when I needed it (I was still walking with a cane and had a knee brace on.)
He is introducing and talking about the wonderful Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck drama "Meet John Doe" later tonight on TCM. It's a great social drama directed by Frank Capra (who guided Stanwyck to some of her best performances.) with a script by Robert Riskin.
Kyle and Robert Osborne had some very in-depth conversations about the film and I am excited to see what parts made the final cut.
So, be sure to Tivo "CSI" tonight and watch Kyle talk about "Meet John Doe" tonight at 9:15 pm (PST) on Turner Classic Movies.
Prior to Kyle, the Fan Programmer selections are:
Anna Seager is introducing the Stanley Donen musical "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" at 5:00 pm (PST) and
Jeff Hoyak is introducing Alfred Hitchcock's only film in this line-up, "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956) at 7:00 pm (PST).
I promise I'll be back in the morning to post more about why I chose "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon".