The third Cannes Film Fest was held on September 2-17, 1949.
No festival was held in 1948.
The Grand Prize of the Fest went to the The Third Man, Carol Reed’s masterpiece starring Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles.
The festival opened with L’Arroseur Arrosé by Louis Lumière, a 1895 French comedy short-film, paying tribute to cinema’s first comedy.
Jury
The entire jury was French.
Georges Huisman (historian) (president)
Jules Romains (president)
Mme. Georges Bidault
Georges Charensol
Paul Colin
Roger Désormière
Jacques-Pierre Frogerais
Étienne Gilson (author)
Paul Gosset (author)
Georges Raguis (union official)
Rene-Jeanne (critic)
Carlo Rim
Films in Competition
- Feature films
Act of Violence directed by Fred Zinnemann (US)
Almafuerte directed by Luis Cesar Amadori
An Act of Murder directed by Michael Gordon
Au grand balcon directed by Henri Decoin
Der Apfel ist ab directed by Helmut Käutner
Der Ruf directed by Josef Von Báky
Die Buntkarierten directed by Kurt Maetzig
Eine große Liebe directed by Hans Bertram
Eroica directed by H. Walter Kolm-Veltee
Främmande hamn directed by Hampe Faustman
House of Strangers directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (US)
Images d’Ethiopie directed by Paul Pichonnier
L’amorosa menzogna directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
Le Mura di Malapaga directed by René Clement
Lost Boundaries directed by Alfred L. Werker
Mughamarat Antar wa Abla directed by Salah Abu Sayf
Na svoji zemlji directed by France Stiglic
Obsession directed by Edward Dmytryk (UK)
Occupe-toi d’Amélie directed by Claude Autant-Lara
Pueblerina directed by Emilio Fernández
Rendez-vous de juillet directed by Jacques Becker
Retour à la vie directed by Jean Drévill, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Georges Lampin, André Cayatte
Riso amaro directed by Giuseppe De Santis
Sertao directed by Joao G. Martin
The Passionate Friends directed by David Lean
The Queen of Spades directed by Thorold Dickinson
The Set Up directed by Robert Wise (US)
The Third Man directed by Carol Reed (UK)
Without Honor directed by Irving Pichel (US)
Films out of Competition
Passport to Pimlico directed by O. H. Cornelius]
AWARDS
- Feature Films
Grand Prize of the Festival: The Third Man by Carol Reed
Best Actor: Edward G. Robinson for House of Strangers
Best Actress: Isa Miranda for The Walls of Malapaga
Best Director: René Clément for The Walls of Malapaga
Best Screenplay: Eugene Ling and Virginia Shaler for Lost Boundaries
Best Cinematography: Milton R. Krasner for The Set-Up
FIPRESCI Prize: The Set-Up by Robert Wise
- Short Films
Short Film Palme d’Or:
Palle Alene i Verden by Astrid Henning-Jensen
Pacific 231 by Jean Mitry
Seal Island by James Algar
Bialy Redyk by Stanislas Mozdenski
Images Médiévales by William Novik
Notes:
The entire jury consisted of French members.
Hollywood films and actors did rather well.
Edward G. Robinson, who had never been nominated for a competitive Oscar, won the Best Actor. In 1973, Robinson received a compensatory Honorary Oscar.
There were several American film noir, such as Zinnemann’s Act of Violence, but it was Robert Wise’s The Set-Up, starring Robert Ryan, which made the strongest impression.
Dmytryk’s crime film Obsession was released in the U.S. as The Hidden Room. It was based on the book A Man About A Dog by Alec Coppel, who also wrote the script and then turned the story into novel.
David Lean, later known for the Oscar winners The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia, makes a first (modest) appearance in Cannes Fest.
