Army of Shadows (1969)
"L'armée des ombres" (original title)

France, 1942, during the occupation. Philippe Gerbier, a civil engineer, is one of the French Resistance's chiefs. Given away by a traitor, he is interned in a camp. He manages to escape, ... See full summary »

Director:

Jean-Pierre Melville

Writers:

Joseph Kessel (novel), Jean-Pierre Melville (adaptation)

Stars:

Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lino Ventura	...	Philippe Gerbier
Paul Meurisse	...	Luc Jardie
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Jean François Jardie
Simone Signoret	...	Mathilde
Claude Mann	...	Claude Ullmann dit 'Le Masque'
Paul Crauchet	...	Felix Lepercq
Christian Barbier	...	Guillaume Vermersch dit 'Le Bison'
Serge Reggiani	...	The hairdresser
André Dewavrin	...	Colonel Passy
Alain Dekok	...	Legrain
Alain Mottet	...	Commander of the camp
Alain Libolt	...	Paul Dounat
Jean-Marie Robain	...	Baron de Ferte Talloire
Albert Michel	...	Gendarm
Denis Sadier	...	Gestapo's doctor

Storyline

France, 1942, during the occupation. Philippe Gerbier, a civil engineer, is one of the French Resistance's chiefs. Given away by a traitor, he is interned in a camp. He manages to escape, and joins his network at Marseilles, where he makes the traitor be executed... This non-spectacular movie (do not expect any Rambo or Robin Hood) shows us rigorously and austerely the everyday of the French Resistants : their solitude, their fears, their relationships, the arrests, the forwarding of orders and their carrying out... Both writer Joseph Kessel and co-writer and director Jean-Pierre Melville belonged to this "Army in the Shadows".

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Plot Keywords:

traitor | civil engineer | camp | marseille | resistance | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Rialto Pictures

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French German English

Release Date:

12 September 1969 (France)

Also Known As:

Army of Shadows

Filming Locations:

Avenue Hoche, Paris 8, Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$12,620 (USA) (28 April 2006)

Gross:

$741,733 (USA) (20 April 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films Corona, Fono Roma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

145 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Dolby Digital (2006 restoration)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the dubbed Italian version for the film, Lino Ventura is dubbed by Emilio Cigoli; Simone Signoret by 'Adriana De Roberto' and Paul Meurisee by Roberto Villa.

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Goofs

In the scene where the prisoners share cigarettes amongst each other, one of the man saves his cigarette for later and puts it behind his right ear. In the next shot of him, the cigarette isn't there, but we see him picking it from behind his ear just a few seconds later.

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Quotes

Philippe Gerbier: See you later, Comrade.
Legrain: ...You're a communist?
Philippe Gerbier: No. But I can still have comrades.

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Connections

Features Gone with the Wind (1939)

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Soundtracks

"Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter)"
(uncredited)
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

User Reviews

Seldom Seen Human's in War and Resistance.

I saw this brilliant drama-piece a long time ago and it bound me to my chair. I couldn't move. It is so dramatic and meaningful, and full of betrayal. A choice of life and death never before so condemning in film registered as Jean Pierre Melville himself. He was here recounting his memory as a underground member.

Never before I saw a movie where betrayal had such an impact. I wanted to scream and to help them, but Melville does a little about that.

Spend a lot of nights with bad dreams and a complete loss of human insight.

This masterwork deserves the maximum score. 10*