Party at the Cannes Film Festival, 1957
Published: February 13, 2011
Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
Cannes France, May, 1957: Actress Dorothy Dandridge and actor Curd Jürgens tackle the culinary delights offered at a party thrown by producer Mike Todd during the Cannes Film Festival. Todd, the husband of Elizabeth Taylor, was busy promoting his latest film, "Around the World in Eighty Days."
Although it was a private party, always-resourceful Stars and Stripes photographer Red Grandy managed to sneak in. Here's how he did it:
"Todd had invited a bunch of his friends for dinner at a big restaurant, but forbade any press to be around," Grandy recalled last week. "He even had a lion in a cage stationed at the entrance. Since I had nothing else to do, I put on a black suit and bow tie and went to the back entrance of the restaurant. I entered the rear kitchen area and took some photos of the cooks, and worked my way to their entrance to the dining room. Then I followed a waiter into it, put down my camera bag, and had a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. I was surprised to see Mitzi Gaynor and her husband, Jack Bean, sitting at a nearby table. I had done a story on her, and they asked me to sit at their table. After ordering a meal and more drinks, I got up and started taking pictures of the guests. Todd just assumed that I was one of the guests, so I had a free hand, free drinks, free meal and shot the celebrities ... It was a fun and rewarding evening."
