Patricia Neal, star of Port Townsend film fest

PORT TOWNSEND — Oscar-winning actress Patricia Neal smiled when asked, after a screening of "Hud" at the Port Townsend Film Festival Saturday night, if that was real beer on screen, and if costar Paul Newman did indeed drink that much of it. "Yes," she chuckled, her voice a warm rasp that still conveys traces of her Kentucky roots, "he did."

Neal was the special guest for the third annual fest, held in the picturesque Victorian town that's always ready for its close-up. Over 2½ days this past weekend, 34 different programs unspooled on the two screens at the historic Rose Theatre, the James Broughton Theatre (the local high-school auditorium, spruced up with colorful streamers), and a new fourth screen at the Oracle Arts Center uptown.

This year's fest was graced with dry weather (all the better for sitting on hay bales and watching "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "American Graffiti" on Taylor Street) and strong attendance. Festival director Peter Simpson said that the number of passholders was slightly up this year, and that plans were already under way for next year's edition. Negotiations are already in progress, he said, for one of two special guests — and no, he couldn't yet tell me who it would be.

It's a trademark for the PTFF, with the assistance of Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies (a longtime Rose Theatre investor), to celebrate the career of a legendary star, previously honoring Tony Curtis (2000) and Eva Marie Saint (2001). Festivalgoers get the rare opportunity to watch a classic film in the company of its star, who answers questions afterward.

Neal, now 76, joined a capacity crowd to watch the film for which she won her 1963 Oscar: "Hud," a beautifully acted Western shown in a spotless archival print. Afterward, she reminisced readily about her many co-stars: Newman, Gary Cooper (with whom she had a notorious love affair), Tyrone Power, John Garfield, and her first leading man, Ronald Reagan ("I thought he was a good actor. Not the best in the world, but good.").

The actress also spoke about her children, her lengthy marriage to author Roald Dahl, and about her inspirational recovery from a series of debilitating strokes in 1965. (While in Port Townsend, she visited stroke victims at a local hospital.) And she had a quick answer for the audience member who congratulated her on "Cookie's Fortune" (1999) and asked when her next movie would be: "Get me a job!"

The lineup was especially strong on documentaries. "Daughter from Danang," the story of a young Southern woman reunited with her Vietnamese birth mother, wrenches the heart because it doesn't have the expected happy ending, but filmmakers Gail Dolgin and Vicente Franco keep their focus steady. "Photos to Send" is a lovely, unsentimental tribute to the people of Ireland's County Clare. And "The Inner Tour," filmed in 2000 just before the current Middle East clashes began, intimately follows a group of Palestinians on their first sightseeing tour of Israel.

All this, plus invigoratingly fresh air, a variety of musicians to serenade the queues (my favorite: a father and his small daughter, playing "Puff the Magic Dragon" on their violins), and nary a cellphone to be heard. Long live the Port Townsend Film Festival.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com.