By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

The announcement that Mickey Rooney passed away last Sunday showcases the cultural impact of the Palm Beach International Film Festival (PBIFF) to our local community. Rooney was honored at the 2008 PBIFF and his career represents the golden age of Hollywood. From the Andy Hardy and My Friend Flicka movies to the original Night at the Museum and The Muppets, Rooney’s name is known by young and old.

This year, Rick McKay’s Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age, was shown and he was honored with a Visionary Award. Eleven years ago, McKay screened his work-in-progress, Broadway: The Golden Age, at the fest. With Fay Wray as his trusty consort, McKay earned his first festival award then. That film is on regular rotation on PBS fundraising drives.

Broadway: The Golden Age is a great documentary that should be shown in all performing arts schools, for the people who were interviewed are now considered legends of the Great White Way, including Marlon Brando, Ethel Merman and Kim Hunter. With his nonfussy camera work creating an intimate experience between subject and interviewer, McKay conducted some great interviews with Bea Arthur, Carol Burnett and Gwen Verdon. This film reminded us about forgotten heroes like John Raitt, who was the original voice in the first Rogers & Hammerstein musicals. Raitt is best known today as Bonnie Raitt’s daddy.

Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age covers the next generation of Broadway. It is the late seventies and mid eighties, a dark time on the Great White Way. Theaters are closing and buildings are going into disrepair. In these days of economic malaise, performers either bond or find new careers in film or television.

Meet Bob Fosse. With an Oscar for his direction of Cabaret and an Emmy for the television special Liza with a Z, Fosse went on to garner the Tony Award for Pippin, which made Ben Vereen a star and featured Irene Ryan’s (Beverly Hillbillies’ granny) last performance. Pippin was not a success, but Fosse decided to think out of the box and directed his own television commercial featuring 30 seconds of the show. At the end of the commercial, the announcer said, “If you want to see the rest of the … show, come to the Mayfair Theater on Broadway.” The rest is legend.

Robert Morse (who was also honored at PBIFF with a Lifetime Achievement Award Monday night), Robert Redford, Dick Van Dyke and Chita Rivera share some great backstage stories about productions that succeed and opening nights that bombed. The cast of Ain’t Misbehavin’ share stories about racism and hailing a taxi that become comedic in their absurdity. Of course, the only way to end Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age is with a grand finalé. The story about the longevity of A Chorus Line certainly qualifies as a graceful exit.

PBIFF is also about the future. Tonight, the closing night of the fest, Jason Priestly (known for Beverly Hills 90210) makes his directorial debut at the Cinemark Palace in Boca Raton with Cas & Dylan, showing at 7 p.m. (www.pbifilmfest.org).

Last but not least, kudos to Jeremy Emerman, Deerfield Beach High School graduate and son of Randi Emerman PBIFF president and CEO. That teenager who I used to work the red carpet with a decade ago, has become the camera man for some of the biggest blockbusters of recent history, including The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.