In 1955, Alfred Hitchcock directed “La main au Collet”, a romantic-police comedy starring Cary Grant, the biggest Hollywood star of the time, and the sublime Grace Kelly, whom Hitchcock had already directed in “Le meurtre était presque parfait” and “Fenêtre sur cour”. For the master of suspense, this film was a major first: all exterior scenes were shot on a natural setting on the Côte d’Azur.

Hitchcock’s version of the Côte d’Azur

“La main au Collet” takes viewers on a Technicolor journey through the rare and fascinating French Riviera of the time. For it is the Côte d’Azur that steals the show from Cary Grant and Grace Kelly for most of the film. From the Carlton to the Negresco, from the Croisette to Nice and its flower market to Eze, Monaco and the winding roads of the Grande Corniche, the viewer is treated to some of the most beautiful panoramas in the world. The film establishes itself as the best ambassador of France and its glamour to a population across the Atlantic in search of new summer horizons. It also won the Oscar for Best Cinematography in 1956.

Last but not least, Grace Kelly’s destiny is as romantic as it is tragic. During the picnic scene with Cary Grant, the outlines of her future kingdom take shape below the Grande Corniche. The same road on which she would lose her life almost thirty years later.

But the myth remains. And for all eternity, Cary Grant and Grace Kelly will remain at the wheel of their blue Sunbeam Alpine cabriolet, charmers and accomplices under the Riviera sun.

© Sébastien Didier for Valmont Riviera

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