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:

An article in the 7 November 1966 issue of Boxoffice reported that four featurettes were made to promote the movie: "He Must Find There Nothing", in a 20-minute and a 10-minute version, a making of the production and how locations had to be modified to reflect the 1944 period; "Reality Must Not Be Left to Chance", 10-minute short behind the scenes; and a fourth featurette about composer Maurice Jarre.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the end of the movie, the lieutenant Henri Karcher calls his father to tell him he has just captured a general. Actually, his father died in 1914.

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)

Worth Seeing for World War II Buffs and Visitors to Paris

I made my first trip to Paris this past year. There are remembrances of World War Two on nearly every street corner, plaques with the names of resistance fighters who died during the war and during the Liberation. And France's military history is also on display, from monuments to Louis XIII, to Napoleon, and to their Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe. As Americans we forget sometimes that the French army lost millions during World War One, and struggled with how to fight the Second World War. Losing Paris was a humiliating defeat that the Free French army needed desperately to avenge. This film does a pretty engaging job of telling the story from a French point of view. Like many war films from the time it's a little too long, some celebrity cameos are miscast, and some facts and events are abridged. But unlike some other films from the period, it has some humor, and some great pathos. There's also great footage of the real liberation intercut with the narrative. If you've ever been to Paris, it's a beautiful travelogue of all the famous public spaces, seen through eyes from 1945 and 1966. I can only imagine seeing it in widescreen, and I hope to get a non-dubbed version soon.