''The Cross of Lorraine'' is a 1943

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

about French

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

escaping a German prison camp and joining the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

. Directed by

Tay Garnett William Taylor "Tay" Garnett (June 13, 1894 – October 3, 1977) was an American film director and writer. Biography Early life Born in Los Angeles, Garnett attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served as a naval aviator in Wo ...

, starring

Jean-Pierre Aumont Jean-Pierre Aumont (born Jean-Pierre Philippe Salomons; 5 January 1911 – 30 January 2001) was a French actor, and holder of the Légion d'Honneur and the Croix de guerre 1939–1945, Croix de Guerre for his World War II military service. Ea ...

and

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

, was partly based on

Hans Habe Hans Habe (born János Békessy; 12 February 1911, Budapest – 29 September 1977, Locarno) was a Hungarian and American writer and newspaper publisher. From 1941, he held United States citizenship. He was also known by such pseudonyms as Anto ...

's 1941 novel ''A Thousand Shall Fall''. The title refers to the French

Cross of Lorraine The Cross of Lorraine (french: Croix de Lorraine, link=no), known as the Cross of Anjou in the 16th century, is a heraldic two-barred cross, consisting of a vertical line crossed by two shorter horizontal bars. In most renditions, the horizont ...

, which was the symbol of the ''Résistance'' and the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...

chosen by

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

in 1942.Hilmar Hoffmann, John Broadwin, Volker R. Berghahn: ''The triumph of propaganda: film and national socialism, 1933-1945'' (pages 188 and 189)
/ref>

Plot

At the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Frenchmen from all walks of life enlist. Defeated by the invading Germans in 1940, Marshal

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of World ...

signs a

peace agreement A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surren ...

and the troops surrender. However, instead of being repatriated to their homes, a group of soldiers find themselves in a brutal prison camp. Most of the men resist as best they can, and some, like Paul (

), are willing to spend time in solitary confinement and be subjected to beatings, while others, such as Duval (

Hume Cronyn Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer. Early life Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...

), collaborate with their jailers to get an easier life. The men find solace from Father Sebastian (

Sir Cedric Hardwicke Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893 – 6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of William Shakespeare, Shakes ...

), a priest who was also in the army and who counsels them wisely. Eventually Paul helps his fellow prisoners to escape. When they liberate a village, they realise that continued fighting is the only option and join the

Production

''The Cross of Lorraine'' is one of the many Hollywood World War II propaganda films showing life in occupied Europe, with the purpose of explaining to an American audience why US involvement in the European war was just as important as the war against the Japanese in the Pacific. The film is partly based on the German refugee author

's autobiographical ''Ob Tausend fallen'' (''A Thousand Shall Fall'') from 1941, about his war experiences fighting in the French Foreign Legion against his former homeland in 1940, being captured and then escaping from the German prison camp. A number of German, Austrian, French and Dutch actors, who had fled Europe because of the war, participate in the film, not only

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...

Richard Ryen Richard Ryen (13 September 1885 – 22 December 1965) was a Hungarian-born actor who was expelled from Germany by the Nazis prior to World War II. Early life Ryen was born Richard Anton Robert Felix Revy in Hungary. He began working in Germany a ...

and

Frederick Giermann Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

, but also several of those who participate in minor roles and as extras. ''The Cross of Lorraine'' was the second Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production about the French Resistance, the first being ''

Reunion in France ''Reunion in France'' is a 1942 American war film distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Joan Crawford, John Wayne, and Philip Dorn in a story about a woman in occupied France who, learning her well-heeled lover has German connections, aids ...

'', released in 1942.

Cast

as Paul *

as Victor *

as Father Sebastian *

Richard Whorf Richard Whorf (June 4, 1906 – December 14, 1966) was an American actor, writer and film director. Life and acting career Whorf was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts to Harry and Sarah (née Lee) Whorf. His older brother was linguist Benjamin Le ...

as François *

Joseph Calleia Joseph Calleia ( ; born Joseph Alexander Caesar Herstall Vincent Calleja, August 4, 1897 – October 31, 1975) was a Maltese-born American actor and singer on the stage and in films, radio and television. After serving in the British Transport ...

as Rodriguez *

as Sergeant Berger *

as Duval *William Roy as Louis *

Tonio Selwart Antonio Franz Theus "Tonio" Selmair-Selwart (June 9, 1896 – November 2, 2002) was a German actor and stage performer. Biography Selwart was born in Wartenberg, Bavaria, Germany, and raised in Munich. After studying medicine like his fathe ...

as Major Bruhl * Jack Lambert as Jacques *

Wallace Ford Wallace Ford (born Samuel Grundy Jones; 12 February 1898 – 11 June 1966) was an English-born naturalized American vaudevillian, stage performer and screen actor. Usually playing wise-cracking characters, he combined a tough but friendly-face ...

as Pierre *

Donald Curtis Donald Curtis (born Curtis D. Rudolf; February 27, 1915 – May 22, 1997) was an American actor who had roles in dozens of films and television series. Biography Curtis was born in Spokane, Washington, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl W. Rudol ...

as Marcel *Jack Edwards, Jr. as René *

as Lieutenant Schmidt *Frederick Giermann as Corporal Daxer

Box office

According to MGM records the film earned $585,000 in the US and Canada and $663,000 elsewhere resulting in a loss of $179,000.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cross Of Lorraine, The 1943 films American black-and-white films Films based on Austrian novels Films directed by Tay Garnett Films scored by Bronisław Kaper World War II films made in wartime World War II prisoner of war films Films about the French Resistance Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films with screenplays by Ring Lardner Jr. 1940s English-language films