May 4, 1959 –
François Truffaut’s seminal New Wave film, The 400 Blows, starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on this date.
Jean-Pierre Léaud’s answers to the questions given to him by the psychologist at the camp near the end of the film were not scripted. Francois Truffaut told Leaud in advance about the scene for what to expect to a certain extent, and did provide some minor coaching when Leaud answered the question in between takes as to what was working and what was not, but at large, Leaud’s answers are unscripted and ad-libbed, per Truffaut’s wishes, who wanted the scene to feel spontaneous and believable.
The Haus of Dcaligari 