TCM Classic Film Festival 2017: The Carl Reiner and Rob Reiner Hand and Footprint Ceremony at the Chinese Theatre

Photo: TCM/Getty Images

On the second morning of TCM Classic Film Festival 2017, I had the pleasure of attending the Carl Reiner and Rob Reiner hand and footprint ceremony in the forecourt of the Chinese Theatre.

I was especially excited to cover this ceremony, because this is the first time a father and son have been simultaneously awarded this honor. 

This was my fourth time attending the ceremony and my seatmates, along with several other bloggers were the fabulous Karen and Raquel:

Karen, Raquel and Me

For the first time we were seated for the ceremony, which was a bit disappointing, since we had a perfect spot for taking photos at the Francis Ford Coppola ceremony the year before, but it was also nice to have an assigned spot from which to watch the proceedings.

I felt a lot better when I realized we were sitting behind Cary Elwes:

Wow, even the back of his hair is charming

I mean that's cool. Except he kept blocking my shots:

Thanks Cary

He even blocked a shot of him that I tried to take on purpose after the ceremony:

Thanks again Cary

I finally did take a good shot on purpose:

Okay, you are a handsome man, you can block anything you want

Back to the ceremony.

Ben Mankiewicz, Tom Bergeron and Billy Crystal provided the introductions:

Ben

Tom

Billy (can you tell I was trying to crop Elwes out of all these shots?)

It was especially interesting to hear Crystal reflect on his relationship with Rob Reiner. I'd never thought about how many interesting films they made together, though in widely varying levels of participation: This Is Spinal Tap (1984), The Princess Bride (1987) and perhaps the biggest hit of the comedian's career, When Harry Met Sally (1989). You got the impression that he looked upon the Reiners as family. Perhaps show business can be brutal, but there are plenty of deep, affectionate friendships to be found in this industry and this is one of them.

The Reiners were as charming as I expected. Carl has often spoken about the importance of loving, supportive parenting, and you could see that he took his own advice in the way he interacted with his son. These profoundly funny men clearly adore each other.

Carl told a touching story about Rob as a child. Apparently the junior Reiner told his father one day that he wanted to change his name. Assuming that his son wanted to distinguish himself from his father, he stoically accepted his child's decision. It turns out that he wanted to change his name to Carl. True mutual adoration.

The pair approached the ceremony with humorous gusto, suggesting at one point that they put their bald heads into the cement. When Rob made a crack that he had a "wide stance" he looked over, delighted, when several people in the crowd got the reference and laughed. 

Photo: TCM/Getty Images

In a tweet that morning, Carl Reiner had joked that he was excited about the ceremony, but worried he wasn't going to be able to get up. Fortunately, there are people for that.

Photo: TCM/Getty Images

As it turned out, it was Reiner Sr. who had the wide stance:

Photo: TCM/Getty Images

Norman Lear was also in the crowd that morning. I got a shot of him greeting Kevin Nealon:

Doesn't he look great?

I'm also endlessly fascinated by these guys:

We don't know their names, but there wouldn't be a ceremony without them!

As always, the hand and footprint ceremony at The Chinese Theatre was a fascinating, one-of-a-kind event. It was a delight to see these two men honored together. They seemed delighted to be up there together themselves.

More TCMFF coverage to come!

All photos property of A Classic Movie Blog except where noted.