A va Gardner, Orson Welles, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlene Dietrich are just some of the stars of the new Cervantes Institute ex- hibition “MAD about Hollywood”. The exhibition comprises photos from the 1950s and 1960s, as well as magazines and audiovisual ma- terials featuring Ava Gardner, Or- son Welles, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlene Dietrich and oth- er stars, thanks to which we have the impression of walking through the streets of Madrid. The exhibi- tion introduces us to Madrid’s Hol- lywood heritage, but also highlights Spain’s contribution to the universe of art, with places like the Prado Mu- seum, Paseo de la Castellano street, Manzanares Palace or the La Pedriza mountain range having gained roles in these mega productions. “The photographs, the majority of which haven’t been published pre- viously, are spontaneous, natural and everyday, created on the boundary between photojournalism and de- cent paparazzi photography,” says exhibition curator Esperanza García Claver. During the 1950s, following the relocating of film sets outside Hollywood, mega productions ar- rived in Madrid and the city became the seat of international projects like MAD ABOUT HOLLYWOOD Madrid remembers film stars This photography exhibition reveals the traces left in Madrid during the middle of the last century by the stars of Hollywood’s golden age, while they were living and working in the Spanish capital
Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus, Orson Welles’ Chimes at Midnight, David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago and Antho- ny Mann’s El Cid. Famous movie stars could be en- countered in Madrid: Grace Kelly at- tending Mass at the Jerome Royal Church, Audrey Hepburn shopping in the Salamanca district, Charlton Heston visiting Manzanares Palace... Still, when it comes to the stars of that era who resided in Madrid, men- tioning Ava Gardner, who found her second home in Spain, is unavoid- able. She spent more than a decade in the Spanish capital, working and having fun like few of her Hollywood colleagues. Journalists and reporters encountered her in the must varied of situations, as she bravely leapt in- to the shoes of a matador, learned to dance flamenco and fell passionately in love with bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín. And while many Madrid resi- dents were happy to have a Holly- wood star as their neighbour, she even had the good fortune of meet- ing her favourite actress, Bette Da- vis, right there in Madrid. She wrote about that meeting in her memoirs: “I’ll never forget seeing Bette Davis at the Hilton in Madrid. I went up to her and said, “Miss Davis, I’m Ava Gardner and I’m a great fan of yours.” And do you know, she behaved ex- actly as I wanted her to behave. “Of course you are, my dear,” she said. “Of course you are.” And she swept on. Now that’s a star.” Interestingly, it was in 1958 that Bette Davis shot the film John Paul Jones in Madrid. The Spanish au- thorities permitted the team to film certain scenes at the Royal Palace in Madrid, and Bette had the opportu- nity to film some scenes while sit- ting on the royal throne, which peo- ple who aren’t members of the royal family generally aren’t allowed to do. For the purposes of shooting the film Circus World (1964), a Big Top was erected in Madrid’s El Reti- ro Park, which was accompanied by giant circus constructions. But even that wasn’t enough for this megalo- maniacal production, with permis- sion also being sought to drain the
large lake at the heart of the park in order to place decor for the film there too. Rita Hayworth, who played one of the lead roles alongside Clau- dia Cardinale and John Wayne, lat- er spoke of how the news of John F. Kennedy’s assassination reached them on the set. And while she and Cardinale were in tears upon receiv- ing the news, Wayne and the film’s director, Henry Hathaway, seemed not to have been saddened in the slightest by the death of the Amer- ican president. Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus was filmed partly in Hollywood and part- ly in Spain, at the request of the di- rector himself. At the time, Kubrick had as many as 8,000 members of the Spanish military at his dispos- al, who played extras in scenes that were quite demanding. Due to the censoring of Boris
The exhibition is part of the ancillary programme of the 13 th “Spanish Meters” festival of contemporary film and will remain open at the Yugoslav Film Archives Cinematheque until the end of June, then at the Cervantes Institute until 16 th August
Pasternak and the ban on publish- ing his works, there was never any mention of the film adaptation of Doctor Zhivago (1965) being shot in Russia. And so the film, with its stars Omar Sharif and Julie Chris- tie, was shot in Spain. The produc- ers had hoped that a snow-covered Madrid would succeed in represent- ing Moscow, but the winter of 1965 was the warmest of the previous 50 years. These are just a few fragments from the stories of the films and stars whose glorious past this unique ex- hibition brings us. If you are in Bel- grade, stop by at the Cervantes In- stitute...
Exhibition » Izložba | 59
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