With Cannes at its center, the Cote d’Azure has been for over a century, a playground for the rich and famous.

Business man out the Palais.

Lately, say the past 50 years, with the advent of the business markets, conventions and festivals, Cannes and its legendary environs have become open to regular business visitor with liberal expense accounts from around the world.

So now an “average Joe” such as myself has the possibility of joining with the jet-setters in their sybaritic pastimes – dining on exquisitely prepared food and the finest wines, baking naked under a glorious sun surrounded by hundreds of similarly unclothed beautiful people and partying the nights away.

The great hotels of Cannes are, of course, acutely aware of this and compete mightily with each other for this clientele. Upon our arrival this year, The Grand Hotel, situated in the most central spot on the Croissette, staged an elaborate party to announce its recent redecorating and refurbishing overhaul which included its elaborate grounds. The party was elegant.

Party at the Grand Hotel, as seen from my apartment.

As I observed it unfold from my 5th floor apartment terrace in the Grand Hotel complex, I was reminded of another time when, as a very young, wide-eyed “average Joe”, I had been invited to the Cannes villa of a famous German film star – Curt Jurgens – as a guest at one of his dinner parties.

At that point in my life, I had illusions (or was it delusions?), of being a movie producer and was attending the Cannes Film Festival — probably 1975 – hoping to package a western script that pitted an older, evil rancher against an aging, moral paragon of a gunfighter.

Sound like a familiar idea? I don’t even remember the name of my script now but I liked it then and was set on landing Curt Jurgens for the role of the rancher and Robert Mitchum as the gunfighter.

Curt Jurgens and Robert Mitchum.

My casting efforts to this point had resulted in the dinner invitation.

Pool with a Mediterranean view.

When I arrived at the villa, situated in the hills high above Cannes with, of course, a magnificent view of the coast and the Mediterranean Sea, I was literally dumbfounded and verging on paralytic when the other guests were introduced. They were three indescribably beautiful young women who were lounging by the pool – stark naked and utterly nonchalant about this fact.

This is what I mean – now any hick from anywhere with some expense money and the promise of more money, along with the proper introduction, can find himself in the midst of this much sought-after and reported upon crowd. The only problem for me was that I didn’t know what to do!

While I struggled with this embarrassing conundrum – do I remove my clothes, or only some? – the nude young women, after introductions, continued reading, chatting, etc – a completely, unflustered resumption of what appeared to be the lives of those who have no need to work or, for that matter, any cares!

I was saved by the appearance of the gracious and handsome Mr. Jurgens who, shoeless and imposingly clad in black, silk pajamas (I suppose it was some sort of lounge outfit) summoned us to dinner.

The meal was superb and the rest of the evening continued to be – well, curious, but most memorable!

Movie poster for "The Enemy Below."

My movie was never made but the movie that inspired my choice of Curt Jurgens and Robert Mitchum as its stars has always been one of my favorites – “The Enemy Below” – a story of a Naval struggle between an American destroyer and a German submarine during the waning days of WWII and starring – of course, Curt Jurgens and Robert Mitchum.

Movie Review:

The Enemy Below

Directed by Dick Powell — 20th Century Fox 1957
Starring: Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens

The unique characteristic of this movie is that the protagonists are portrayed as fundamentally decent and equal human beings. The story is basically that of a deadly chess game between a German U-Boat Captain (Jurgens) and an American Destroyer Captain (Mitchum) as they match wits in a fatal naval battle in the South Atlantic during what I took for the latter days of WWII.

German U-Boat.

In 1957 I was 21 years old, an avid movie fan of life long duration thus, as a result, had seen virtually every war movie made up to that point. “The Enemy Below” was different – there are no bad guys except for Furher himself, and then, only in a passing, nonverbal reference.

So we have a film whose entire running time is dominated by two real movie “stars” who cannot act in say, the Brando manner, but who most definitely control the screen through sheer cinema presence! Mitchum and Jurgens are on the screen virtually every scene (but are not together until the final scenes). Thus we have an old-fashioned Hollywood war movie starring two “stars” – one from the United States and one from Germany who was making his first American film. Another oddity is that “The Enemy Below” is the directional debut of the veteran Hollywood actor and dancer Dick Powell, who went on to more wealth and fame in the television business.

The duel has been between two decent men.

I think Powell directed it very well as it was technically difficult for its day and having a foreign star would present its own challenges. And Robert Mitchum had the reputation of being quite difficult – he didn’t take the business very seriously. But, Curt Jurgens did tell me that “The Enemy Below” experience had been a good one and that he would welcome the opportunity to work with Mr. Mitchum again.

The movie is taut and suspenseful, with an ultimate message of hope that just maybe we human beings can stop fighting each other and get along with our respective lives marked with mutual understanding and shared respect.

An optimistic, Hollywood entertainment piece for sure but well enough done to merit attention. And 97 minutes of Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens at their best is well worth the price of admission – I loved seeing it again tonight. Remember when it was released — they were thirty feet high!