The Cross of Lorraine (1943)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Tay Garnett

Writers:

Lilo Dammert (story) and
Robert Aisner (story) ...

Release Date:

12 November 1943 (USA)

Genre:

War | Drama

Plot:

A group of French soldiers during WWII are captured by Nazis troops and sent to a military prison. There they will have to make use of his best resources to keep alive... and sane, while at the same time scheming a way out. |

Plot Keywords:

WWII | Nazi | Prisoner Of War Camp | Interrogation | Prison Camp

Cast

Jean-Pierre Aumont	...	Paul (as Jean Pierre Aumont)
Gene Kelly	...	Victor
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Father Sebastian (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Richard Whorf	...	François
Joseph Calleia	...	Rodriguez
Peter Lorre	...	Sergeant Berger
Hume Cronyn	...	Duval
William Roy	...	Louis (as Billy Roy)
Tonio Selwart	...	Major Bruhl
Jack Lambert	...	Jacques
Wallace Ford	...	Pierre
Donald Curtis	...	Marcel
Jack Edwards Jr.	...	René
Richard Ryen	...	Lieutenant Schmidt
Frederick Giermann	...	Corporal Daxer

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Gritty WW2 POW drama years before "Stalag 17"...

Basically the story of the French resistance during the early '40s when the Nazis overtook France, THE CROSS OF LORRAINE is a forerunner of films like STALAG 17, but without the humor. Instead, it's a straightforward dramatic tale of the harsh treatment meted out to the French POWs in a German prison camp.

There are no real surprises in the plot--you know from the beginning that there will be an escape plan being hatched by JEAN PIERRE AUMONT, who takes over when the former translator/informer HUME CRONYN meets his fate at the hands of prisoners. Aumont and GENE KELLY have the leading male roles and both give earnest performances in this gritty drama directed by Tay Garnett.

Although it appears to be a low-budget film, there's a splendid supporting cast including SIR CEDRIC HARDWICKE, RICHARD WHORF, PETER LORRE (as a despicable German sergeant), WALLACE FORD and Joseph CALLEIA.

Film is engrossing all the way through but suffers from an ending that pushes the propaganda envelope too far as the French resistance overcomes the Nazi recruiters while Aumont and Kelly take aim with machine guns to help destroy a bunch of bad Nazis.

Summing up: A flag waving tribute to the French resistance, it's well done for most of the way but that ending is too over-the-top to be taken seriously.