Cannes in B&W: A look back at the festival's glory years
Arnold Schwarzenegger flexing for onlookers on the beach. Alfred Hitchcock riding his bike on the docks. John Lennon and Yoko Ono strolling along the Croisette. A beaming Sidney Poitier arriving at the Cannes premiere of “A Raisin in the Sun” in 1961.
These are some of the indelible moment created at the Cannes Film Festival over the years. New ones won’t be added to the festival’s storied history this month; the festival has been postponed indefinitely, part of the worldwide shutdowns meant to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The Associated Press culled its archives to find images of Cannes in its enduring glory. They reflect Cannes in a different era, with photographers shooting much closer than in recent years. The images reflect an intimacy and accessibility to the stars that, even before the virus, has been difficult to achieve.
The festival’s 73rd edition won’t kick off as planned on Tuesday, but movie lovers can be transported through the black-and-white images to some of the earlier editions that featured early career appearances by Robert Redford, Olivia de Havilland, Jack Nicholson, Kim Novak, Michael Caine, Martin Scorsese and many more.
Film star Elizabeth Taylor and her husband, producer Mike Todd are surrounded by photographers at the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, May 2, 1955. (AP Photo/Babout)
Kim Novak is hustled through the crowd of media to attend an evening performance, during the Cannes Film Festival, April 25, 1956. (AP Photo)
Sidney Poitier, centre, appears at the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, France, for the showing of his film "A Raisin in the Sun," May 13, 1961. At right is actress Jean Seberg. (AP Photo)
Film festival jury members Andre Maurois, Olivia de Havilland and Rex Harrison pose on the roof of the festival hall at Cannes, France, May 13, 1965. (AP Photo/Jean-Jacques Levy)
Press photographers surround Swiss-born actress Ursula Andress on the Croisette seafront, Cannes, after her arrival to attend the International Film Festival, May 21, 1965. (AP Photo/Levy)
Actress Natalie Wood poses for an unidentified U.S. sailor on La Croisette, Cannes, upon her arrival at the Cannes Film Festival in France, May 11,1962. Natalie appears in West Side Story. (AP Photo/Bob Dear)
Actress Macha Meril peers into the lens of the camera as she is filmed by Orson Welles during the garden party of the Cannes Film Festival at the Mandelieu Golf Club, May 8, 1966. (AP Photo/Jean Jacques Levy)
Actress Charlotte Rampling and American playwright Tennessee Williams share a joke in Cannes, where they are both members of the Jury of the Cannes International Film Festival, May 13, 1976. (AP Photo/Jean Jacques Levy, File)
John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono walk on the Croisette in Cannes. They are presenting their films "Apothesis" and " The Fly" at the 25th Cannes International Film Festival, May 5, 1971. (AP Photo/Michel Lipchitz)
Actor Michael Caine poses with a group of girls after his press conference on the roof of the Film Festival Palace during the Cannes Film Festival in France, May 9, 1966. He is promoting his movie Alfie which went on the win the Special Jury Prize. (AP Photo/Jean Jacques Levy, File)
Actress and singer Jane Birkin, seated, and American actor Michael Dunn, pose on the beach at Cannes, France, where they are attending the Cannes Film Festival, May 19, 1969. The two actors play the leading roles in Bob Zaguri's French entry, "Trop Petit, Mon Ami." (AP Photo/Raoul Fornezza)
Master of suspense film director Alfred Hitchcock pedals his bicycle to the Cannes international film festival in Cannes, France, May 15, 1972. (AP Photo)
Actor Robert Redford and director Sydney Pollack on the Croisette Boulevard in Cannes, before they presented their film 'Jeremiah Johnson' at the International Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 7, 1972. (AP Photo/Levy)
Jack Nicholson and producer Gerald Ayres pose together during the Cannes Film Festival May 15, 1974, on the French Riviera, where they present the American entry "The Last Detail." (AP Photo)
Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose documentary film "Pumping Iron" is to be presented at the Cannes Film Festival, is showing off his body for an appreciative beach audience in Cannes, France, May 20, 1977. (AP Photo)
Jodie Foster and Robert De Niro pose together before the presentation of their motion picture "Taxi Driver," at the Cannes Film Festival in France, May 25, 1976. (AP Photo, File)
Director and actor Dennis Hopper arrives at the Festival Palace to present "Tracks" at Cannes International Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 17, 1976. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich)
Roger Moore, alias British secret agent James Bond, is accompanied by co-star Barbara Bach as they arrive for the screening of "The Spy Who Loved Me" at the Cannes Film Festival on the French Riviera, May 20, 1977. (AP Photo)
Director Martin Scorsese, left, and producer Robbie Robertson are shown in the French Riviera in Cannes, France, where they will present "Last Waltz" at the 31st Cannes International Film Festival, May 29, 1978. (AP Photo)
Actor Richard Gere arrives to promote Terrence Malick's "Day of Heaven" at the Cannes International Film Festival, May 19, 1979. (AP Photo/Levy)
Actress Joan Collins in Cannes to present The Bitch a Brent Walker film for the 32nd International Film Festival in Cannes, May 13, 1979. (AP Photo/Jean Jacques Levy)
Actors Klaus Kinski, I Claudia Cardinal and German director Werner Herzog pose at the Cannes Film Festival, May 21, 1982, for the presentation of the German entry of "Fitzcarraldo," (AP Photo)
Actor Jerry Lewis, right, with French actor Pierre Richard, May 7, 1983. (AP Photo/J Langevin)
Singer Grace Jones makes a popular appearance with Press photographers in Cannes, during the 39th film festival, May 13, 1986. (AP Photo)
Text from AP News story Cannes in B&W: A look back at the festival's glory years