From John Wayne to John Cusack, Lexington film festival celebrates beloved actress

A few years after she was in the ‘80s teen comedy “Better Off Dead,” Kim Darby caught some showings where the audience was reciting the movie word for word.

“You know, like the ‘Rocky Horror Show,’” Darby said in a phone interview Monday. “I was doing a Q&A, and I was really taken aback. Everybody knew all those lines.”

If you know the movie but are having trouble placing Darby, her lines included, “We have Frawnch fries, and Frawnch dressing,” she says in an exaggerated accent as she serves dinner in honor of an exchange student who was Frawnch … uh … French.

Darby will once again be answering questions about playing John Cusack’s mother in the 1985 film and several of her other notable movies this weekend at the Kentucky Theatre for CharacterFEST. The two-day, four movie event is a spinoff of the annual Harry Dean Stanton Fest, which celebrates the Central Kentucky native and beloved character actor.

The first CharacterFEST was the weekend after the 2022 Stanton Fest, honoring actor Sy Richardson, whose roles included working with Stanton on “Repo Man” (1984). Lucy Jones, founder of both events, says the original plan was to end Stanton Fest and launch CharacterFEST, “as its spiritual successor. But we had such a joyful time honoring Harry in 2022 that it didn’t feel right to stop doing so.

“We pledged to keep Harry’s festival going as long as his friends had memories that they wanted to share. So now Lexington has not one, but two annual festivals dedicated to character actors which, by my count, is two more than almost any other city.”

Kim Darby’s connection to Kentucky

Darby started forming a connection to Kentucky early this century when she met filmmaker Robby Henson, who is the director of the Pioneer Playhouse in Danville. In 2007, the Playhouse led the 50th anniversary celebration of the filming of “Raintree County,” a Southern epic starring Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift, in Danville. The celebration included the world premiere of “A Jarful of Fireflies,” a play by Central Kentucky native Catherine Bush set during the “Raintree County” filming. Henson asked Darby to play one of the supporting roles in the show, adding to the event’s Hollywood allure.

“I loved it,” Darby said. “I loved Main Street. I loved being on the boards and the theater again, and I was treated very well. I enjoyed my time here.”

And she stayed in touch with Henson and his family and met Jones through them. So when the idea of a festival celebrating great character actors got rolling, Jones approached Darby about being featured.

CharacterFEST film lineup

Events start Friday night with a screening of what is probably Darby’s best-known performance as Mattie Ross, the teenager who gets help tracking down her father’s murderer from U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn, played by John Wayne in an Oscar-winning performance.

“I got the tail end of an era that a lot of people didn’t get to experience, and I think that that was a surprise for me, and a delight to me,” Darby says of the Golden Age of Hollywood, widely regarded as 1927 to 1969, the year “True Grit” came out. In addition to Wayne, Darby worked with Glen Campbell, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper and others in the Western classic. Like “Better Off Dead” Saturday, Darby will participate in a Q&A before “True Grit” Friday.

The very next year, Darby starred opposite Bruce Davison in “The Strawberry Statement,” a highly stylized film about a student protest at a vaguely named university that came out shortly after the Ohio National Guard killed four students and injured 9 others during a protest of the Vietnam War at Kent State University.

“It was a horrible coincidence,” Darby said. “Here we were doing a movie about that same thing, and while we’re doing it, that happens in life, in the real world. It was devastating and very sad.”

“Strawberry Statement” will be preceded by Darby’s first credited role, “Bus Riley’s Back in Town,” a 1965 Ann-Margaret movie. Darby’s actual first movie was an uncredited part in another Ann-Margaret film, the screen version of “Bye, Bye Birdie,” in which she was a dancer.

Despite being in two movies with Ann-Margaret, one of the hottest film stars of the 1960s, Darby says she never shared scenes with her or met her, though she has great memories of other co-stars such as Michael Parks, who played Bus Riley.

Darby says she helped pick the movies, which show a wide range from teen to romantic lead to quirky mother.

“We were drawn to the scene-stealing nature of her career that fits within our definition of character acting,” Jones said. She added that “Better Off Dead,” “is testament to her ability to take a smaller role and make it one of the most memorable parts of a film!”

For Darby’s part, it is another great experience in Kentucky.

“I’m looking forward to the weekend,” she said. “I think it’s a kind thing to do for me, and I am touched by it, and I am honored by it.”

CharacterFEST

What: Film festival for the unsung heroes of film, actors known for playing unusual or interesting characters in supporting roles. This year’s event highlights four films featuring character actor Kim Darby.

Where: Kentucky Theatre, 214 E. Main St.

Movie lineup:

▪ “True Grit” (1969) at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3, preceded by a Q&A with Darby

▪ “Bus Riley’s Back in Town” (1965) at 1 p.m. Nov. 4

▪ “The Strawberry Statement” (1975) at 3 p.m. Nov. 4

▪ “Better Off Dead” (1985) at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 4, preceded by a Q&A with Darby

Tickets, more information: kentuckytheatre.org, 859-231-6997