The Topless Scandal At The Cannes Festival Which Shook The World
A topless starlet, a Hollywood hunk and hordes of paparazzi. Here is the scandal which rocked the French Riviera
The world’s most glamorous festival at Cannes, which
unspools from today to May 28, will no doubt yield fashion and gossip
stories galore. Yet, nothing quite compares to the scandal which rocked the
fest on the French Riviera, way back in 1954.
Simone Silva, a B-grade starlet of the British movies had
exposed herself topless in the arms of the Hollywood hunk Robert Mitchum.
Simone Silva And Robert Michum's Controversial Photo Shoot
Silva maintained that she had taken off her bikini top at
the request of photographers. A little before the incident, she had said she
would was game to do anything for publicity. Mitchum played along with her but
when the photos were printed across the world’s newspaper, he backtracked,
saying he was just trying to “cover her up as any gentleman would do.”
Then why was he grinning and looking quite amused with
himself?
Incidentally, the paparazzi had gone wild, three paps had
fallen into the Mediterranean waters, a fourth broke his ankle and
another,fractured his elbow.
Instantaneously, the festivalgoers and the media of that
time named Simone Silva ‘Miss Festival’. But the French organisers of the fest
were enraged and told her to leave the event pronto. The Egyptian-born Silva,
who had French and Italian parents, became a sensation momentarily and
travelled to the U.S. to cash in on her new-found ‘fame’.
Tragically though, she did not land any worthwhile
assignments and was found dead in her apartment three years later. One
version is that the starlet had suffered from a stroke at the age of 29, others
claimed it was suicide.
As for Robert Mitchum, the topless scandal added to his
popularity and he was frequently cast as the macho hero of the leading sex
symbols of his time, including Marilyn Monroe (River of No Return), Kim Novak
(Halloween) and Rita Hayworth (Fire Down Below). Mitchum passed away at the age
of 79 in 1997.
Occasionally, Mitchum did return to the Cannes festival
during his lifetime but took care never to ‘slip up’ before the paparazzi.
We wonder how many of the visitors to Cannes from India
are aware that to go topless in Cannes would spark a furore once upon a time.
Today on the same Croisette beach, however, it is
commonplace to see festival revellers –from locals to visitors from all over
the globe --sun-bathing, topless
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