5 Things I Discovered About the Cannes Film Festival While Writing The Girl from the Grand Hotel

My love of the French Riviera began when I was chosen for a special writers’ residency, and then I returned again and again for various film festivals while working as a scriptwriter. One day I started digging into the history of the glamorous annual Festival de Cannes.

(5 Ways to Become a Successful Screenwriter Without Writing.)

What a goldmine that turned out to be! Here’s some surprising things that I learned, which inspired me to write my new novel, The Girl from the Grand Hotel.

1. WHEN DID IT ALL BEGIN? 

Most people—even those who work in the film industry—assume that the first Cannes Film Festival was the one that took place in 1946. But the whole thing actually began in 1939, and the festival wasn’t scheduled for the month of May as it is nowadays. It would officially open on September 1, 1939. Does this date ring an historical bell? Sure, that’s when Hitler invaded Poland and ignited the second World War!

I dug deeper, and found out that the festival’s brilliant parties and screenings had already begun in August of 1939. The Côte d’Azur, always a hot-spot for the rich and the famous, was even more bedazzled by the arrival of big-name 1930s Hollywood movies stars who’d journeyed by special chartered ocean liners and the elegant Train Bleu, and then ensconced themselves in the best hotels. The esteemed guests included Gary Cooper, Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, James Cagney, Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power—the breathtaking list went on.

I immediately visualized the effect that this star-studded event has on my fictional heroine, Annabel, a twenty-year old American girl, who takes a summer job with her French uncle, the manager of a sumptuous Grand Hotel where such Hollywood luminaries are staying. Every time Annabel turns around she sees one of those famous movie stars hiding behind sunglasses. Now I had my story, and I was off and running!

2. WHAT WAS THE REAL REASON FOR THIS FILM FESTIVAL? 

The Cannes Film Festival exists to promote excellence in movies, right? Well, sure, but there was a lot more to it than that. At the 1938 Venice Film Festival, an American film was chosen to win . . . but Hitler and Mussolini interfered and made sure that the top prizes went instead to filmmakers from their own fascist countries. This provoked such outrage that the French decided to create a rival festival that would be an antidote to fascism and a beacon of freedom for the world.

I could just imagine the French Riviera that summer, with giddy preparations taking place under the shadow of imminent war. My heroine loves the glamour but can’t ignore the historical undertow.

3. SPIES AND LIES. 

Germany and Italy did not participate in the Cannes film festival. But fascist spies were lurking all around the Riviera that summer, watching, listening, plotting. Even a sought-after hairdresser turned out to be a spy!

So my novel’s heroine must not only contend with cutthroat Hollywood moguls and stars, she also has to figure out which hotel guests she can trust and who might be dangerous. That’s not so easy to do, for she has fallen in love with a charismatic matinee idol, and even her French uncle is acting mysterious. Not to mention the enigmatic screenwriter she’s been asked to work with; Annabel is utterly astounded when she finds out who he really is.

Check out Camille Aubray’s The Girl from the Grand Hotel here:

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4. STORM CLOUDS BREWING. 

During that tempestuous summer, people knew that trouble was in the air, yet they hoped and expected that diplomacy would prevail. But there were warning signals that really shouldn’t have been ignored. I discovered that, at one of the pre-festival events, a terrifying thunderstorm broke out and some of the more prescient attendees saw it as a bad omen. This thunderstorm made its way into a pivotal party scene in The Girl from the Grand Hotel.

I also found out that, ever since the first World War, France had been bracing to repel any future invaders, having built a fascinating series of imposing forts along the border, which they called the Maginot Line.

So, despite my fear of heights, I went high up into the Riviera mountains to see one of the most important of these forts perched there in the clouds. This took all my courage, but I guess there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my novels! That scary-looking fort, and a pretty little nearby village, became the setting for another pivotal, romantic scene in my novel.

5. ONE MOVIE PREVAILED. 

Many fantastic American films were slated for screening at the festival, like The Wizard of Oz, Union Pacific and Only Angels Have Wings. But when war finally broke out just as the festival was officially getting started, the whole thing was cancelled.

Only one film was actually presented and screened: The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I immediately envisioned its star, Charles Laughton, vacationing with his wife Elsa Lanchester at my fictional Grand Hotel. I put both actors to good use, and even enlisted them to help my heroine Annabel pull off a daring stunt to help save the free world!

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