At the Brussels World Film Festival, last fortnight, the rancorous war between U.S. and British moviemakers came right out into the open. A fleet of taxicabs toured Brussels bearing pennants which tersely advised: SEE A GOOD BRITISH FILM. Americans, whose films occupy three out of four of the city's theaters, had the debatable taste to denounce this British tactic as bad taste.
When prize-day came, however, neither nation brought home a very hefty load of bacon. Carol Reed's Odd Man Out (Rank) was awarded honors as the best production job of 1946; but a U.S. picture was the only one to receive more than one award. William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives (Goldwyn) was honored as the best story (by Robert E. Sherwood from a MacKinlay Kantor novel), and Myrna Loy was named the year's best actress for her work in the picture. Brussels' equivalent to Hollywood's Oscar, a bronze statuette of St. Michel, went to René Clair's French Le Silence Est d'Or (Man About Town), starring Maurice Chevalier. A special award went to Roberto (Open City) Rossellini's Italian Paisa (Country Town). French Gerard Philipe was honored as the year's best actor for his work in Le Diable au Corps (The Devil Inside). And Mexico's Enamorada (Woman in Love) took the prize for the year's best photography.
Comforting thought for Americans: U.S. money (frozen in France) was largely responsible for the French prizewinners. RKO put up half the money for the 100 million franc ($840,000) Silence; Universal, four-fifth's of Diable's 52 million.