By: Jenny Castro
Los Angles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 08-29-2026
Classic film fans are in for a treat as the 62nd Cinecon Classic Film Festival takes center stage in Los Angeles this upcoming week. Cinecon President Stan Taffel, a three-time Emmy Award-winning actor and renowned television and film historian, looks ahead to this year’s festival, celebrating the rare films, legendary performers, and fascinating stories that continue to make Cinecon a must-attend event for classic movie enthusiasts.
With a passion for preserving film history, Taffel has worked with numerous organizations, including Disney, helping to preserve, restore, and celebrate important pieces of cinematic work for future generations to come. Offering insight, Taffel elaborates,“I am a motion picture and television historian and an archivist, and have more than 4,000 personal film prints in my own collection,” Taffel said. Adding, “I have helped provide material for film documentaries, and have assisted film preservationists in locating missing pieces for other films. Through this work, I’ve had the opportunity to help the families of Charlie Chaplin, and have provided material for the recent restorations of Laurel and Hardy’s short subjects. I’d like to be involved in helping restore films that have otherwise been neglected, and that’s a serious thing. We’re missing 78% of all motion pictures that were ever made.”
Pertaining to the importance of film preservation, Taffel believes the industry has a responsibility to give a voice to films that might otherwise be forgotten. “Films showed people styles of dress, ways of talking, ways of romancing, and how to behave in a certain way. There were people who wanted to emulate these stars. For decades, there were people who wanted to be just like Clark Gable, John Wayne, or Olivia de Havilland and all of these wonderful stars.” he said. Adding, “The thing is, all of these filmmakers, actors, and people behind the scenes then are not here anymore. So we have to act as their voice and keep their work alive. We understand that The Wizard of Oz is a time honored classic, and Gone with the Wind is a time honored classic, and I think they’re pretty safe. But there are so many other films that these filmmakers made, and that’s what we do at Cinecon. We try to showcase films that have not been seen in decades and, in some cases, films that have only recently been discovered.”
For this year’s festival, fans can expect a diverse lineup featuring never-before-seen films, along with rare silent and sound pictures that offer an intimate glimpse into Hollywood’s cinematic past. Fans can expect to see a recently restored John Ford film titled “Three Bad Men,” from 1926, “The Lucky Texan,” from 1934 with John Wayne, “A One Man Game,” from 1927 with Fay Wray, and many more. “We’re also running a film from Hal Roach Studios from 1929 called “A Pair of Tights”. That particular film is one of the funniest two-reel comedies from the silent era. And when you watch it, you’ll think, ‘God, it’s almost like watching a Laurel and Hardy movie without Laurel and Hardy. We’re also showing Elizabeth Taylor’s very first film, and it’s not an MGM film. It’s called “There’s One Born Every Minute, (1942), and what’s so charming about it is that she’s only 10 years old, and even has a singing scene with Alfalfa from The Little Rascals.”
This year, the festival will also honor film stars Lainie Kazan, Nancy Kwan, Barbara Eden, and Anna Maria Alberghetti with special guests Pat Boone, Gigi Perreau, Anne De Salvo, Teresa Ganzel, and Kevin Kwan. Full and Day festival passes are available here.
Awards will be presented at film screening events at the Landmark Nuart Theatre in West Los Angeles, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025.
Visit the Cinecon website for more information. https://cineconfilmfest.org/
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