Last week I shared photos from the first 15 years of the Cannes Film Festival. While the 65th Cannes Film Festival is still unfolding on the French Riviera I thought I’d continue celebrating by sharing some more photos from the decade that made Cannes one of the most important film festivals in the world – the 1960s. Keen observers will notice a distinct change from the last group of photos I shared. The publicity stunts got sillier and the bikini’s got smaller while men let their hair grow longer. The films winning awards also became more challenging, more radical, more overtly political and more experimental. Women were now allowed on the Jury and in 1965 actress Olivia de Havilland became Cannes’ first female President. The times were changing and the festival was changing right along with them.

1960: Actors Claudia Cardinale and Jean-Paul Belmondo share a private toast at Cannes.

1960: A dire looking Fellini receives the Palme d’Or for his controversial film LA DOLCE VITA while a supportive Jeane Moreau receives an award for her work in MODERATO CANTABILE. Fellini’s film had previously been condemned by the Vatican, scrutinized by critics and he even suffered the indignity of being spat on by an audience member at a previous showing. The Cannes win was undoubtedly a surprising victory for the director.

1960: Melina Mercouri celebrates her Best Actress win for her performance in NEVER ON A SUNDAY with her director and husband Jules Dassin.

1960: Director Michelangelo Antonioni and actress Monica Vitti survey the crowd. The two were later awarded with a Jury prize for their work on L’AVVENTURA but it came with a price. The film was loudly booed by many audience members during its debut at Cannes and Vitti and Antonioni were forced to flee the screening.

1961: A dashing Sidney Poitier leads the lovely Jean Seberg down the red carpet at Cannes. Poitier was there supporting A RAISIN IN THE SUN, which won a special Jury prize.

1961: Gina Lollobrigida signs autographs for an adoring crowd.

1961: Carlo Ponti, Sophia Loren and Anthony Perkins share a laugh. Both Loren and Perkins won Best Actor awards at Cannes for their exceptional work in TWO WOMEN and GOODBYE AGAIN.

1961: Richard Widmark takes a leisurely stroll through the streets of Cannes.

1961: Angie Dickinson shows a little leg to snap happy photographers.

1962: Funny man Harold Lloyd attends a special luncheon held at Cannes in his honor celebrating, “Harold Lloyd’s World of Comedy.”

1962: Sultry Elke Sommer wows photographers.

1962: Sophia Loren, Alain Delon and Romy Schneider wave to the crowds. Delon was there in support of his role in L’ECLISSE, which won a Jury Prize.

1962: Co-starring couple (SPLENDOR IN the GRASS) Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty stroll the beach at Cannes.

1962: Marcello Mastroianni observes the crowds at Cannes from the balcony of his hotel room.

1962: Director Otto Preminger waves to onlookers with Walter Pidgeon and Gene Tierney who both starred in Preminger’s ADVISE AND CONSENT. The film was in competition at Cannes but didn’t win any awards.

1963: Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale tame a leopard in a publicity stunt & photo op for Luchino Visconti’s THE LEOPARD, which won the Palme d’Or.

1963: Bette Davis dazzles the crowd.

1963: Alfred Hitchcock tries to show Tippi Hedren the fine art of making shadow birds while at Cannes promoting THE BIRDS.

1963: The lovely Catherine Deneuve poses for photographers. She starred in Jacques Demy’s Palme d’Or winning film, THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG.

1964: Charles Boyer greets a Cannes’ attendee while Fritz Lang looks on. Both men were part of the 1964 Cannes Jury.

1965: Ray Brooks and Charlotte Rampling enjoying the beach at Cannes. Both actors appeared in Richard Lester’s THE KNACK… AND HOW TO GET IT, which won the 1965 Palme d’Or.

1965: André Maurois, Olivia de Havilland and Rex Harrison were all members of the 1965 Cannes Jury.

1965: Sean Connery draws a huge crowd of fans eager to to get his autograph. Connery was making headlines as the suave spy, James Bond.

1965: Bikini-clad Carol Baker poses for eager photographers on the beach. She was there promoting her latest film, HARLOW.

1966: Francois Truffaut and Orson Welles share a laugh over lunch.

1966: Michael Caine engages in some self-promotion for his film ALFIE with help from a bevy of beautiful women. Apparently it wasn’t in vain because ALFIE walked away with a special Jury Prize that year.

1966: Raquel Welch arrives at Cannes on the back of a police motorcycle.

1966: Rock Hudson relaxes while at Cannes to help promote John Frankenheimer’s SECONDS.

1966: Sammy Davis Jr. and Kirk Douglas party the night away.

1967: Adine Trintignant, Monica Vitti,  Jean-Louis Trintignant and Michelangelo Antonioni enjoy a laugh while making their way down the red carpet. Jean-Louis Trintignant was there promoting Claude Lelouch’s A MAN AND A WOMAN while Monica Vitti was promoting Joseph Losey’s MODESTY BLAISE. Both films were in competition against Antonioni’s BLOW-UP, which took home the Palme d’Or.

1967: Glamorous acting couple Franco Nero and Vanessa Redgrave are stopped by photographers on the red carpet. Vanessa was there in support of Antonioni’s Palme d’Or winning film BLOW-UP.

1967: Cannes Jury members Shirley MacLaine and Alessandro Blasetti.

1968: Director Roman Polanski and wife Sharon Tate enjoy the beach at Cannes.

1968: Jane Birkin, George Harrison and Ringo Starr arrive in Cannes for the debut of WONDERWALL.

1968: Political strikes across France have brought the country to stand still. With mounting tension in the air directors Claude Lelouch, Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Louis Malle and Roman Polanski decide to come together in solidarity with the strikers. The festival is cancelled before any awards are handed out.

1968: Screenwriter Jacques Prevert and actors Simone Signoret and Michel Piccoli watch the tense proceedings with concern as the 1968 Cannes Festival comes to an abrupt end.

1969: The Festival returned the following year. In this photo actor turned director Dennis Hopper enjoys himself on the streets of Cannes with his EASY RIDER cast, Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson.

1969: Romy Schneider chats with director and Cannes President Luchino Visconti.

1969: Charlton Heston, Peter Ustinov and Jason Robards share some drinks and some laughs.

1969: The decade comes to end with Claudia Cardinale presenting director Lindsay Anderson with his Palme d’Or for IF….

I hope you’ve enjoyed this trip down memory lane! For information about the current Cannes Film Festival I recommend the following sites:
- The offical site of the 65th Cannes Film Festival
- Fandor’s Keyframe blog
- BFI | Sight & Sound: Cannes Festival Blog
- Indiewire