FIRST OFF . . .

Paul Newman’s interpretation of Tennessee Williams’ play “The Glass Menagerie,” French director Barbet Schroeder’s film “Barfly” and Soviet emigre Andrei Konchalovsky’s “Shy People” will compete with 15 other films for the Palm D’Or award at next month’s 40th annual Cannes Film Festival, festival organizers announced Thursday. A British film, “Aria”--a construct of opera sequences directed by 10 film makers from Britain, France, the United States and Australia--has been given the honored final screening. The festival opens May 7 and runs through May 19 on the French Riviera. The films will be judged by an international panel headed by French actor-singer Yves Montand and including Soviet film makers union chairman Elem Klimov, British producer Jeremy Thomas and Greek producer Theo Angelopoulos. Four other U.S. films to be shown at special screenings: Woody Allen’s “Radio Days”; Jonathan Demme’s “Something Wild”; Ethan and Joel Coen’s “Raising Arizona,” and Norman Mailer’s “Tough Guys Don’t Dance,” the author’s film version of his novel. (Mailer is also a member of the Cannes jury.)