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 good movie, if you have read the book

This is a good movie, but only if you have read the book. Otherwise, it would appear to be muddled and difficult to follow. There were so many different resistance factions operating in Paris at the time of the liberation it is difficult to keep them straight. The movie doesn't help you in that regard. Reading the book gives you a much better perspective on the part each faction played in the liberation.

The little vignettes you see with characters appearing in the film for only a few minutes are all true. Unfortunately, they don't always make sense to an uninformed viewer and they give the viewer the sense of a badly edited film.

The true story of the last few days before the liberation is extremely remarkable. Hitler sent a hard core general he trusted to destroy Paris. It is incredible that he disobeyed orders and saved the city.

What I really loved about the movie was the city itself. It is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The film was shot mostly in the actual locations where the events portrayed took place. As a lover of history, I have been fortunate to have visited Paris more than once and walked these locations fully aware of what happened there. That makes this movie special for me. But, the film does have problems.

Besides being a bit disjointed, the French and German dialog were dubbed in English. It would have been better with subtitles, although many of the same actors did their own English dubbing. The film is in black and white, which doesn't bother me, but it might have been better in color. One of the main reasons for B&W was the Nazi flags. The French authorities refused to allow red and black Nazi flags to fly in Paris, even for a movie. They agreed only to have black and gray flags. But the black and white filming also allowed the blending of authentic war footage with the movie. Also remember that another similar film, The Longest Day, was shot a couple of years earlier in B&W.

The film is filled with a small army of great international actors. That was fun, although I didn't buy Kirk Douglas as General Patton. Gert Frobe (Goldfinger) was excellent as the German general in charge of Paris and Charles Boyer was also excellent in his small role. The music was composed by Maurice Jarre and is just wonderful. Whenever I am in Paris, the music continually runs through my head. As a side note, Jarre obviously borrowed much of this soundtrack for use in "Grand Prix".

In short, this is a historical movie rather than a great film. I recommend you read the book to get the full impact of the movie. But understand this remarkable story of the liberation is stranger than fiction, which makes it a good read. And, if you ever visit Paris the movie will take on a whole new perspective.