The change was underway in 1965. The US Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act, outlawing racial discrimination in voting, and labor unions were supported by 71 percent of Americans (a peak not reached again until 2022).
It was also the year that actress Olivia de Havilland, a hero in Hollywood’s labor history, served as the first female jury president of the Festival de Cannes—the only woman on that year’s panel. He and his fellow judges awarded the top prize to the British comedy, which captured the culture of swinging London (and marked Jane Birkin’s big-screen debut).
In 1943, de Havilland changed Hollywood when he sued Warner Bros., which, like other studios, maintained that an actor’s contract should be considered suspended any day an actor does not work. was or was being loaned to another studio. This led to a de facto extension of contracts beyond California’s statutory maximum of seven years. In 1944, California’s Second District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of De Havilland, declaring that such contracts could not be enforced beyond seven years. The resulting “De Havilland Law” changed the industry forever, expanding the creative freedom of actors and shifting power to talent agencies.
This year — amid historic labor activity — Greta Gerwig will become only the second American woman to head a Cannes jury. Gerwig, who had the top-grossing film of 2023 and the 14th-highest-grossing picture of all time, will be the 12th female president since the festival’s inception in 1939, and the first to hold the position. The second woman will be the director. Jane Campion was the first in 2014.
Credit : www.hollywoodreporter.com
