The city of Cannes is small – about 70 to 100,000 citizens – although the transient population is quite large with thousands of hotel rooms and tens of thousands of apartments occupied by the owners on an irregular basis, if at all, leaving them available for rent much of the year. But, as cities go, it’s small, elegant and its famous and ever present dogs, much pampered by its owners.

And this is because Cannes is a resort city for the rich and famous, although not exclusively so any longer due to the seasonal nature of the resort business. Thus, the addition of the hitherto mentioned, international business men who attend the 22 weeks of markets, festivals, symposia, etc. and who keep the hotels, restaurants and bars hopping during the parts of the year that do not qualify as “the season”. These travelers are very much part of the “business” of Cannes.

Still, the city is always meticulously maintained so that a stroll or “promenade” down the Boulevard de Croissette or, for that matter, virtually any other part of this city which is laid out as a crescent bordering the brilliant hued waters of the Mediterranean is guaranteed to be pleasant and agreeable if not down right thrilling.

Each morning, as the sun rises, the municipal crews are out scrubbing the streets, pruning the trees, mowing the lawns and doing whatever is necessary to keep Cannes glowing, voluptuous and immaculate.

Immediately to the south and adjacent to the Croissette are the beaches of Cannes – each with lounge chairs, umbrellas, towels, beach boys and fine restaurants. These too are being prepared each morning as the imported sand (to cover the natural pebble beach – like Nice) is literally combed and manicured in readiness for the day ahead. There are even days after storms when the sand is sort of “shampooed.”

The meticulously groomed beach.

Cannes, in the early morning, is an awesome sight, beautiful to behold and invigorating spiritually to be a part of – a kind of Eden where your every gaze meets a pleasing vista from the Old Harbor with its myriad of ships to the Rose Gardens to the beaches and by to the flower market.

The point is that the people of Cannes work very hard at this – they are selling their city and are always fussing over its appearance much as we might fuss over where we live prior to the arrival of guests. Imagine our attitude if our guests were paying guests and well-heeled ones at that.

Cannes is much different than Nice or Monte Carlo or St. Tropez. Nice is a real city with slums and crime and its normal share of unsavory and unsightly elements. Cannes is much like a make believe city even though very real people and their families live, work and grow up there – the outstanding difference is its appearance – fastidiously groomed and prepared for each day.

So Cannes becomes a kind of theme park for the sybarite – some find it to be too “artificial” so therefore distasteful – but not I!

Harbor at sunset.

When thinking about a movie to talk about only one came to mind – the urban element being the polar opposite to the beauty of Cannes. And that is the destroyed, rubble strewn Vienna of the brilliant, film noir directed by Sir Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Orson Welles an a truly unforgettable performance – “The Third Man.”

Movie Review:

The Third Man

Directed by Sir Carol Reed — Written by Graham Greene
Starring: Orson Welles, Valli, Joseph Cottom, and Trevor Howard

A brilliantly, realized noir movie, set amongst the ruins of immediate post WWII Vienna – another dark and sleek labyrinth like the London of “Night and the City,” only the cavernous sewers of the city are included this time.

The story follows a carefree Western dime novel writer, Holly Martens (Cotton) who has come to Vienna to work for his old pal Harry Lime (Welles). He soon realizes that Harry is dead, the military police are very interested in Lime (and his death), and that his mysterious girlfriend Anna (Valli) is in danger of deportation behind the Iron Curtain.

What follows is standard story fare as doubts begin to appear around the facts of the “accidental” death. Martens and Anna become attracted to one another, Harry appears very much alive, the truth is finally told, and the film climaxes with a desperate chase through the sewers of Vienna.

But, if “God is in the details” so are the components of a masterpiece film. Shot against the real ruins of a great city using the black and white technique of extreme light and shadow in the context of breathtaking and bizarre, offset angles, the movie is a visual feast leading up to an approximate, half-time, screen entrance of Welles as Harry Lime that Welles himself rated as his most effective entrance ever!

“The Third Man” is a sophisticated thriller with a great cast and script – strong enough to hold a 13 year old boy in its sway for its considerable running time. I was neither aware enough of cinematic techniques nor of the efficacy of script nor acting skills to have those as the reasons I was so captivated.

One distinguishing oddity that struck me then and still does was the powerful use of Anton Karas and his zither as the sole component of the music soundtrack – I have never forgotten it.

And I, like Holly and Anna, was captivated by Harry Lime, who is clearly demonstrated to be the soul of evil! When Harry in the Ferris wheel scene says, “Over 100 years of the Renaissance, the Borgias produced Michelangelo and while over 100’s of years of peace, the Swiss produced…the cuckoo clock”. We all laugh; Harry is so charming – what have the Swiss done except manage peace after all – we love Harry and root for him to escape the police even though we now know the awful truth about Harry Lime – the murderer of children.

The absolute proof of this is that subsequent to the release and success of “The Third Man”; a dramatic series was produced (such quaint things were being done then) featuring a “cleaned-up” American adventurer called Harry Lime with, of course, Orson Welles in the title role.

We love our heroes to be on the nasty side, particularly if played on a 30’ screen by one of the great screen presence of all time. Not so different from “Unforgiven” or "Silence of the Lambs.”

In any event, the Vienna of “The Third Man” is not the Cannes of my Report – but you will love both!

One is the price, or rental price of a DVD (recently re-mastered), the other, the cost of a journey, most often a pleasure in and of itself!