Inside the Carlton Hotel Cannes (TO CATCH A THIEF)
Let's go to Cannes, babes!
And let's get it out of the way early: this post is not sponsored by the Carlton Hotel Cannes. But, if they ever find this and want to gift me with a week's stay, I will not turn them down!
We're talking about the iconic Carlton Hotel Cannes, as featured in the Hitchcock classic, To Catch a Thief today. It's perhaps the most iconic and important hotel on the French Riviera, a backdrop to the Cannes Film Festival, and it's where the central action of To Catch a Thief takes place.
In To Catch a Thief, Grace Kelly plays an American socialite named Francie Stevens on vacation with her mother. The pair are traveling with a mint's worth of jewellery and they've stopped in Cannes at the most inopportune time: a jewel thief is on the loose and everybody thinks it's Cary Grant's character (spoiler alert: it's not!).
Not part of the set design but holy mackerel, look at the value of their jewellery!
The main bulk of the movie's action takes place in and around the Carlton Hotel Cannes, so let's talk about this beaut of a hotel.
It opened in 1911 at 58 La Croisette in Cannes and has 332 rooms. Its official website calls it "The French Riviera's Light."
Of filming the Hitchcock film there, the Carlton Hotel Cannes website notes: "Hitchcock slightly undresses his two actors on the hotel’s private beach, the Carlton Beach Club. He then sublimates his heroine with a strapless bright blue dress for a dinner in the hotel’s Grand Salon. An unforgettable moment where glamor vies with elegance.
"Several decades later, the magic still happens: regularly, Grace Kelly fans push the hotel doors to evoke the memory of their idol for a few instants."
In the film, Francie and her mother Jessie stay in Rooms 623 (Jessie) and 625 (Francie). The interiors were recreated back on a soundstage and much of the action inside was filmed not at the Cannes, but a girl can still dream, right?
Look how opulent the furniture looks!
And the stationery! I would love Carlton Hotel Cannes stationery!
The iconic lobby and the iconic Grace Kelly.
The beach scenes were filmed on the Carlton's beach, The Carlton Plage.
Another soundstage set-up.
Nice bling!
Another angle into Francie's room.
And now we're back in Jessie's room.
Room 623 was renamed in Hitch's honour as the Alfred Hitchcock Suite.
I love the headboard!
Another angle of Jessie's room.
It just looks so fab!
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I took all the screencaps in this post.
Read the Apartment Therapy posts for Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Ladies Man, Bachelor in Paradise, Pillow Talk, Any Wednesday, The Thrill of It All, Critic's Choice, Gidget, Boys' Night Out, If a Man Answers, The Best of Everything, The Long, Long Trailer, Duchess of Idaho, Lover Come Back, That Touch of Mink, It Happened to Jane, Thrill of a Romance, Send Me No Flowers, Bells Are Ringing, Susan Slept Here, Who's Got the Action?, The Girl Most Likely, The Wheeler Dealers, I'll Take Sweden, Texas Carnival, and For Love or Money!
Loved the post, Jess! I haven't seen this movie in decades, and didn't know anything about the hotel. It was a delight to revisit it here!
ReplyDelete-- Karen
Unfortunately this splendid hotel lost all its charm and unique soul after the major renovation they did during pandemic, hopefully the main building and some architectural details were saved, but decoration, furnitures, bedrooms etc looks so cheap and like any Marriott or Hyatt worldwide, but nothing left from baroque grandeur style of Carlton Cannes, very sad, thank you for posting theses pictures reminding us the grandeur of this iconic landmark.
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