[Film History 01] The First Years of the Biennale of Venice
The first International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art (6th to 21th of August 1932) was born within the framework of the older 18th Venice Biennale for Arts, under the auspices of Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, President of the Biennale, the sculptor Antonio Maraini, Secretary General, and Luciano De Feo, Secretary General of the International Institute for Educational Cinema, based in Rome. In fact Luciano De Feo was the first director-selector.
The highest national authorities of the fascist regime in Italy gave their approval to what is rightly considered the first international event of its kind. The 1932 edition took place entirely on the terrace of the Hotel Excelsior on the Venice Lido, and although it was not yet a competitive exhibition, it presented important titles that would later become classics in the history of cinema: It happened one night by Frank Capra, Grand Hotel by Edmund Goulding, The Champ by King Vidor, Frankenstein by James Whale, Zemlja by Aleksandr Dovzenko, Gli uomini che mascalzoni... by Mario Camerini, A nous la liberté by René Clair. Other directors include top names: Raoul Walsh, Ernst Lubitsch, Nikolaj Ekk, Howard Hawks, George Fitzmaurice, Maurice Tourner, Anatol Litvak. The main stars of the time appeared on screen, from Greta Garbo to Clark Gable, from Fredric March to Wallace Beery, from Norma Shearer to James Cagney, from Ronald Colman to Loretta Young, from John Barrymore to Joan Crawford, and even the Italian star Vittorio De Sica, attracting over 25,000 spectators.
The first film screened in the history of the Festival, appearing on the screen at 9.15 p.m. on 6 August 1932, was Rouben Mamoulian's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde . The screening of the film, as “La Gazzetta di Venezia” reported, was followed by a grand ball in the halls of the hotel Excelsior, in a “picturesque bustle of the most exquisite toilets”. In the absence of official prizes, a referendum was held among the public: best director was the Soviet Nikolaj Ekk for Putjovka v zizn (The Path to Life), the funniest film was René Clair's A nous la liberté.
The second edition took place from 1st to 20th August 1934 and was the first competitive festival. There were already 19 nations and over 300 accredited journalists. The “Coppa Mussolini” was instituted to award the best foreign film and the best Italian film; however, there was no real jury.
The awards were attributed by the Presidency of the Biennale, after hearing the opinions of experts and the public, and in agreement with the “International Institute for Educational Cinematography”, an emanation of the League of Nations based in Rome. The “Grandi Medaglie d'Oro dell'Associazione Nazionale Fascista dello Spettacolo” were also awarded for best performances, and that for best actress was won by a young Katharine Hepburn for her performance in Cukor's Little Women.
From 1935 the Exhibition became annual (a clear sign of its international success) under the direction of Ottavio Croze. The number of films and participating countries grows (although from this edition until the post-war period Soviet films will no longer participate), and the prize for actors takes the name Coppa Volpi. It was a year of important films, such as John Ford's The Informer, Joseph von Sternberg's The Devil is a Woman (Spanish Capriccio) with Marlene Dietrich, and Clarence Brown's Anna Karenina (winner for best foreign film) with Greta Garbo.
In 1937 the new Palazzo del Cinema (architect Luigi Quagliata) was inaugurated, built in record time according to the modernist tendencies of the time, and except for the years from 1940 to 1948 never abandoned. The Exhibition thus grew: the number of participating nations and films accepted increased. It is the year of Marlene Dietrich who arrives in Venice and wreaks havoc on the Lido, but also of Bette Davis, who wins the Best Actress award, and Jean Gabin who reveals himself in La grande illusion.
1938 marked the moment when political pressures became heavier: Leni Riefenstahl's German Olympia and Goffredo Alessandrini's Luciano Serra pilota won, both of which, apart from their aesthetic qualities, were explicit propaganda films. It is also the last year in which American cinema is present at the Festival.
(Source: www.labiennale.org/it/storia-della-mostra-del-cinema)