1997 Cannes Film Festival Diaries
Pre-Festival: A Capsule History of Cannes
Signs all over town tell us it is the 50th Cannes Film Festival, but
of course if we start getting picky, it began 58 years ago. The whole thing
really started in 1939 and we have Mussolini to thank for it. It was his
personal and political domination of the Venice Film Festival that set off
the Americans and western Europeans -- It was pretty bad when Goebbels arrived
to claim Germany's prize in 1935, but when the grand prize Mussolini Cup
was shared by Leni Riefenstahl's "Olympia" and the Italian film,
"Luciano Serra, Airman," directed by El Duce's eldest son, in
1938, the American and British jury members resigned in disgust and with
the French, sought out a site for a more equitable event.
When the city of Cannes volunteered to build a Palace of Festivals, (in
any other town it would have been called a convention center) they were
off and running. The first Cannes Festival opened on September 1, 1939 and
Mae West, Gary Cooper and a "steamship of stars" had come from
Hollywood. There was even a cardboard reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral
to promote the opening night film starring Charles Laughton. But that very
morning, Hitler invaded Poland, two days later France declared war on Germany
and the Cannes Film Festival was postponed for another 7 years.
When it opened again on September 20, 1946 it was a smashing success and
while budget constraints and post war rebuilding caused another year gap,
by 1951 it was a truly annual event and the Festival grew each year in terms
of the stars it attracted, the quality of films, the number of international
critics and of course, the tourists and the papparazi.
In 1954, the French starlet Simone Sylva dropped her bikini top and feel
into Robert Mitchum's arms and the photo sent around the world sealed the
sexy image of Cannes. The next year Grace Kelly went on a photo shoot to
the Palace at Monaco and met a Prince in passing -- the following year their
wedding took place just before the Festival opened so guest could conveniently
attend both international events.
Politics has often reared its head, but never more so than in 1968 when
the Festival was shut down completely in a crescendo of protest that had
begun with the French government dismissal several months before of the
head of the Cinematheque. But if you ask studio heads in Hollywood today,
they often claim politics plays a hand in the films that are chosen for
competition. Yet the always present love©hate relationship between
the Americans and the French has become a natural part of Cannes with the
films and filmmakers from a hundred other countries vying for attention
as well.
Over the fifty festivals there have been so many highlights and serendipity
has played a role in most of them ....Rita Hayworth meeting Aly Khan, Melina
Mercouri being introduced to the black listed American Jules Dassin at a
Cannes screening and they returned together several years later with "Never
on Sunday."
Jack Nicholson claims he had planned on being a director until he was sitting
in the Palais watching the screening of "Easy Rider". He watched
himself come onto the screen and "I knew I was movie star."
"E.T." was premiered at Cannes at Steven Spielberg claimed in
"was one of the greatest evenings of my life" when a theater packed
with grizzled professionals cried like youngsters and rose to their feet
in a standing ovation as the credits rolled. "Cinema Paradiso"
was discovered here, "sex, lies and videotapes" came to acclaim
here, the list goes on and on.
So they are pouring into Cannes once again -- the studio executives, the
stars, the wannabes, the critics, the photographers, the screenwriters,
the distributors, the hustlers --no one too sure what they find, but always
hopeful that a little serendipity will make this a Festival to remember.
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