FRANCE: ACTOR TONY CURTIS SPEAKS ABOUT HIS MEMORIES OF 50 YEARS OF CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

Record ID: 386975

  • Title: FRANCE: ACTOR TONY CURTIS SPEAKS ABOUT HIS MEMORIES OF 50 YEARS OF CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
  • Date: 6th May 1997
  • Summary: (MAY 7, 1997) CANNES BEACH TODAY CURTIS DRAWING CURTIS (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH ) SAYING TEN YEARS AGO I STOPPED AT THE, BETWEEN THE CONCIERGE AND THE RECEPTION AND THEY'RE TAKING MY PICTURE. POP, POP, POP...LIKE THAT. AND THERE'S A MIDGET, A DWARF, A LITTLE MAN. NO BIGGER THAN THAT. AND HE'S GOT A CAMERA, A NIKON WITH A LONG LENS AND HE'S SHOOTING UP AT ME. SO YOU KNOW WHAT I DID? I GOT ON MY KNEES LIKE THIS, SO NOW WE WERE EYE LEVEL. YOU KNOW WHAT HE DID? HE GOT ON HIS KNEES. THAT'S THE CANNES FESTIVAL
  • Embargoed: 21st May 1997 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: CANNES, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Arts
  • Reuters ID: LVADZ1V82P3F1YDUO8OUQWU5M6YU
  • Story Text: The Cannes film festival kicked off for the 50th time on Wednesday (May 7) with sunny weather adding to the atmosphere in the glamourous French Riviera resort.

    The final touches were being made, with billboards and posters being erected advertising film showings and theirsubsequent parties which take place over the next two weeks.

    Security will be tighter than ever, thanks to last week's stabbing of the culture minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, Chirac's fleeting visit and the security clampdown in France connected to suspected Algerian terrorist attacks.

    The May 7-18 competition will begin on Wednesday evening with a premiere of Luc Besson's futuristic offering "The Fifth Element".

    Top film directors, producers and stars are gathering for the festival, which this year will look back at film stars of the past as well as the blockbusters of the future.

    Rubbing shoulders in a Cannes festooned with red and gold flags will be directors such as Michelangelo Antonioni, Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Emir Kusturica and Quentin Tarantino.

    Stars will also flock to Cannes: Robert de Niro, Bruce Willis, John Travolta, Kim Basinger, Gina Lollobrigida, Catherine Deneuve, Hugh Grant and Victoria Abril among others. Michael Jackson will unveil his latest record, and Christian Lacroix is opening a boutique on the sea-front boulevard.

    Hollywood veteran Tony Curtis has chosen to display pictures of a different kind this year, setting up a show of his paintings in a local gallery.

    The star of "Some Like It Hot" has been an artist all his life, and an exhibition of his work has opened in Cannes, where it will run until June 10th.

    Whilst his work has been seen over the past year in Palm Springs, St. Louis and Hawaii, the Cannes show is his first in France.

    Over the years, Curtis has seen the Cannes Film Festival develop from a family affair to a media extravaganza.

    Asked what is special about the 50th Anniversary, Curtis said, "Nothing. It's another festival, a festival of showing films, a business, a circus, a carnival".

    In the early years of the festival, Curtis said relationships between the stars were more meaningful, and there was a camaraderie amongst the greats such as Gary Cooper and Jean Marais.

    But Curtis does have some fond memories of the festival, particularly one occasion when he found himself being photographed by an unusual photographer. "There's a midget, a dwarf, a little man, no bigger than that. And he's got a camera, a Nikon with a long lens. So you know what I did? I got on my knees, so now we were eye level," he said.

    "You know what he did? He got on his knees( Thats the Cannes festival(" Curtis said he prefers art to film because in painting,the creative decisions are his alone. But he still expects to have three new movies out in the year to come.
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