L'Âge d'Or (1930)

L'Âge d'Or (The Golden Age) is a 1930 surrealist film directed by Luis Buñuel and written by Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. The film cost a million francs to produce and was financed by the nobleman Vicomte Charles de Noailles, who beginning in 1928 commissioned a film every year for the birthday of his wife Marie-Laure de Noailles. When it was first released, there was a storm of protest. The film premiered at Studio 28 in Paris on 29 November 1930 after receiving its permit from the Board of Censors. In order to get the permit, Buñuel had to present the film to the Board as the dream of a madman. On 3 December 1930, a group of incensed members of the fascist League of Patriots threw ink at the screen, assaulted members of the audience, and destroyed art works by Dalí, Joan Miró, Man Ray, Yves Tanguy and others on display in the lobby. On 10 December, the Prefect of Police of Paris, Jean Chiappe, arranged to have the film banned after the Board of Censors reviewed the film. The Noailles family pulled the film from distribution for nearly 50 years. The film did not have its official United States premiere until 1-15 November 1979 at the Roxie Cinema in San Francisco.

While in Paris last week we took tea at Studio 28 where L'Âge d'Or was first shown in 1930, in the foyer of the cinema are pictures of the wrecked theater after the opening night when a riot ensued.



Anyone visiting Paris I recommend a visit to Le Studio 28, 10 rue Tholozé, 75018 Paris (in Montmartre just up the hill from Pigalle Metro)It provides a glimpse of a Paris that has all but disappeared over the past half century.