John Travolta was overcome with emotion at the Cannes Film Festival after being unexpectedly presented with an honorary Palme d’Or, the event’s highest lifetime honour, just before the premiere of his new film, Propeller One-Way Night Coach.
Now 72 and with 55 years in film behind him, Travolta had arrived at the Debussy Theatre believing he was simply attending the premiere of his directorial debut. Cannes artistic director Thierry Frémaux had told him months earlier that the film had been selected for the festival, becoming the first title accepted for this year’s event, five months before opening night. What Travolta did not know was that a major surprise had also been planned.
“You said this would be a special night”, Travolta said, visibly emotional, “but I didn’t think you meant this.”
“We knew!” Frémaux replied.
The honorary Palme d’Or is Cannes’ equivalent of a lifetime achievement award. Travolta, a two-time Oscar nominee, made clear how much the recognition meant to him, saying, “This is beyond the Oscars.”
He described the moment as humbling.
The award was presented just before the world premiere of Propeller One-Way Night Coach, a one-hour Apple TV film adapted from Travolta’s 1997 children’s book. The story follows a young aviation enthusiast and his mother as they fly across the United States to Hollywood during the Golden Age of Flight. Travolta’s daughter, Ella Bleu, 26, appears in the film as a flight attendant.
Travolta took on nearly every major role behind the scenes, producing, financing, narrating, directing and writing the film himself. He told the audience that while others had wanted to direct it, the material was too personal for him to hand over.
Frémaux praised Travolta as “one of the greatest artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.” He also joked that he had been “afraid Berlin could have stolen the film”.
Before the presentation, a montage celebrating Travolta’s long career was shown. Reflecting on it, he said it felt like watching “your whole life before you”. He also acknowledged his family in the audience, saying they were the reason the film had been made. He explained that the lead character was inspired by those closest to him, saying his sister Ellen was “a mixture of my sister and my mother because they both influenced me so deeply”.
After the screening, Travolta was asked whether he would direct again. He said he believed he could “navigate around all of that” after decades of observing directors at work, but added that he would only do so if he felt strongly about the material.
“For 55 years, I have watched people do it well. I have watched people do it not so well.”
The Cannes audience gave Travolta multiple standing ovations during the screening and another at the end. He closed the night with a simple message: “Thank you.”
Propeller One-Way Night Coach begins streaming on Apple TV on 29 May.
