The Honors of War (1961)
"Les honneurs de la guerre" (original title)

This is August 1944. In France the times are uncertain and some places can be in turns liberated by the Allies and reclaimed by the Occupiers. The place is Nanteuil, a provincial town. The ... See full summary »

Director:

Jean Dewever

Writers:

Jean Dewever, Jean-Charles Tacchella

Stars:

Albert Hehn, Bernard Verley, Serge Davri

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Albert Hehn	...	Le capitaine Rollingen
Bernard Verley	...	Gérard
Serge Davri	...	Clovis
Erwin Strahl	...	Le sergent Gerke
Willy Harlander	...	Hermann
Paul Mercey	...	Nieucourt
Jean Solar	...	Sauvage
Pierre Collet	...	Morizot
Gerhart Lippert	...	Le lieutenant Bergmann
Helmut Fischer	...	Le sergent-chef Holbrock
Danielle Godet	...	Mademoiselle Lherminier
Hans Elwenspoek	...	Horst Hollermann
Alix Mahieux	...	Madame Clovis
Gaby Basset	...	Madame Sauvage
Hans H. Nordmann	...	Wurzel

Storyline

This is August 1944. In France the times are uncertain and some places can be in turns liberated by the Allies and reclaimed by the Occupiers. The place is Nanteuil, a provincial town. The German troops present there are exhausted and leaderless and have offered the inhabitants to surrender. Exhilarated, the people from Nanteuil celebrate the event loudly and merrily but ...a bit prematurely. What they do not know is that a German officer has arrived and undertaken to galvanize the demoralized troops into resuming fighting...

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Plot Keywords:

france | world war two | free french | nazi soldier | military | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French German

Release Date:

16 February 1962 (France)

Also Known As:

The Honors of War

Filming Locations:

Arçais, Deux-Sèvres, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

AKO Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

The release of the film was delayed because of problems with French censors.

User Reviews

Give peace a chance

A small village in France.Tired German soldiers are here.They know they have lost the war and they are waiting to surrender as the Americans are getting closer.But near the village ,there are the resistant fighters:their country has been humiliated for four years and they need a revenge.

Jean-Claude Tacchella ,who wrote the script and would become a director -whereas Jean Dewever's career was short-lived (he mainly worked for TV)- uses the two languages ,German and French,which gives credibility to his story.

German soldiers are disheartened and they sometimes rebel against their non-coms.One of them goes as far as saying "should you order me not to believe in God anymore ,I would not!" The French are not shown in a flattering light.It seems that some of them are "new " resistant fighters who ,unlike the true ones,have waited that danger becomes minimal .The long scene of the wedding banquet,complete with songs including the perennial "On N'A Pas Tous les jours Vingt Ans" ,and where some of them have grotesque romantic affairs did not please the censorship:the movie was released in July 1962,after the Evian agreement for a narrow audience.It was a far cry from "Le Père Tranquille" "La Chatte" or "Babette S'En Va -T-En Guerre " ,all those efforts which glorify the country.

Actually those people having a wild time are dancing on a volcano.The smallest thing might spark off the incident.

Jean Dewever did not show the last pictures ,except for a dog killed by a stray bullet.The Honors of war?The horrors of war,more like!