Angie Dickinson kicks butt at American Cinematheque

In between an Angie Dickinson double feature last night, the woman herself made an appearance and answered questions from a hoarde of enthusiastic male fans. At 75, the woman still has it; heck, she doesn't look a day over 50. (she may have had work done, but it's exceptionally good work).

The one-time Police Woman was charming and forthcoming. The 1971 film Pretty Maids All In A Row, directed by Roger Vadim, was, she said, "the weirdest movie I've ever been in." And she had "great fun" making Big Bad Mama, despite it being "a rip-off of Bonnie & Clyde" because "Tom Skerritt and William Shatner were both so good." She didn't have the opportunity to talk much about the film we'd just seen, Point Blank (she stars opposite Lee Marvin; at one point she pummels him for a solid minute and he never flinches); the interviewer was too busy fawning over her.

It's hard not to admire her: she starred with John Wayne (Rio Bravo), Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin (Oceans 11), Ronald Reagan and Lee Marvin (The Killers), Gregory Peck and Tony Curtis (Captain Newman, MD), Dick Van Dyke (The Art of Love), Robert Mitchum (Young Billy Young), Michael Caine (Dressed to Kill) and more.

While a bunch of her co-stars are gone, Angie Dickinson is as spritely as a 25-year-old with a Starbucks in hand. She told a story about considering the role of Helen Hunt's homeless mom in Pay It Forward — she was telling her friend Gregory Peck that she would take it, but only if they didn't make her look too bad or too old. "Look as bad as you can," Peck told her, "and get an Acadmey Award."

Keep an eye on the American Cinematheque for more appearances like this. They're one of the perks we get for living in smoggy ol' LA.