Paris brûle-t-il? (1966)

Director:

René Clément

Writers:

Larry Collins (book) and
Dominique LaPierre (book) ...

Release Date:

1966 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

The true story of the departure of the German occupiers from Paris in 1944.

Plot Keywords:

General | French Resistance | 1944 | Swedish | Tank

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Pierrelot - Yvon Morandat
Charles Boyer	...	Docteur Monod
Leslie Caron	...	Françoise Labé
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Lieutenant Henri Karcher
George Chakiris	...	G.I. devant Notre Dame / GI in Tank
Bruno Cremer	...	Colonel Rol Tanguy
Claude Dauphin	...	Colonel Lebel
Alain Delon	...	Jacques Chaban-Delmas
Kirk Douglas	...	Général Patton / Gen. George S. Patton Jr.
Pierre Dux	...	Cerat - Alexandre Parodi
Glenn Ford	...	Général Bradley / Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley
Gert Fröbe	...	Général Von Choltitz / General Dietrich von Choltitz
Daniel Gélin	...	Yves Bayet
Georges Géret	...	Le boulanger / Baker
Hannes Messemer	...	Général Jodl / General Jodl

Also Known As:

Is Paris Burning? (USA)

Runtime:

France:175 min | USA:173 min | Argentina:174 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

French | German

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Netherlands:12 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris 8, Paris, France

Company:

Marianne Productions

Trivia:

A French postman felt off his bicycle on the Champs Elysées, when he saw some extras dressed as German soldiers crossing the avenue during a lunch pause. He ran out screaming, "They're back! They're back!"

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The Allies advance into Paris through Porte D'Italie, which is in the SE of Paris, and advance up Boulevard St Michel towards Notre Dame. This doesn't make sense when they were approaching from Normandy, in the north/north west of the city.

Quotes:

Lieutenant Henri Karcher: [over the phone to his father] Hello, Papa? This is Lieutenant Karcher. Your son. In spite of your pessimstic view of my military career, I'd like to announce I've just made some prisoners of the general in command of Paris at the Hotel Maurice. He surrendered to me. But I'm still very bad at drill.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Paris Is Burning (1990)

A fair war picture

Before I comment I should note that I haven't read the book nor am I that familiar with figures in the French Resistance. One thing that I did notice was that the portrayal of the Nazis in this film wasn't quite as stereotypical as in most World War II movies. Of course Hitler has to be a rug chewing psychotic but many of the other Germans were actually depicted quite humanly. Gert Frobe (Goldfinger) is very believeable even sympathetic as the General in charge of Paris. On another note the star casting works in the case of Welles (Nordling) and is pointless in the case of Kirk Douglas and Anthony Perkins. All in all a fair war picture, 6/10.