April 06, 2001 07:09am
Top Paris Hotel Sees Red Over Blue Movie
Source: Reuters
(PARIS) -- A French court has fined producers of a pornographic movie that illegally used Paris's chic Hotel Crillon as a location for their hardcore film, the hotel's owners said Friday.
The Societe du Louvre, which controls the plush city center hotel, took out a court injunction earlier this year to get the producers to drop the offending scenes.
``It is unquestionably a blow to the image and the reputation of our luxury palace,'' said Pascal Malbequi, the head of the Societe du Louvre's legal department.
``Our customers would not be very pleased to know that they could appear in such movies without being aware of it,'' he told Reuters.
He added that a Paris court this week had awarded the hotel, which caters to many visiting VIPs, a provisional 30,000 francs ($4,105) in damages ahead of full legal proceedings.
``It will take some time to sort this out,'' Malbequi said.
The Societe du Louvre wants the producers to drop all scenes that it says were secretly filmed in the lobby, including one featuring an unwitting Crillon employee, as well as all dialogue referring to the hotel.
Scenes shot in a Crillon bedroom could not easily be identified with the hotel and could therefore stay, he added.
The movie, called An American in Paris, features top Italian porn star Rocco Siffredi. The producer was Hungarian and the video was distributed by French and U.S. firms, Malbequi said.
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