''The Elusive Corporal'' (french: Le Caporal épinglé) is a 1962 French film directed by
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent film, silent era to the end of the 1960s. ...
that stars
Jean-Pierre Cassel
Jean-Pierre Cassel (born Jean-Pierre Crochon; 27 October 1932 – 19 April 2007) was a French actor.
Early life
Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite (née Fabrègue), an opera si ...
,
Claude Brasseur
Claude Brasseur (15 June 1936 – 22 December 2020) was a French actor.
Life and career
Claude Brasseur was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine as Claude Pierre Espinasse, the son of actor Pierre Brasseur and actress Odette Joyeux. He was the godson of E ...
, and
Claude Rich
Claude Rich (8 February 1929 – 20 July 2017) was a French stage and screen actor. He began his career in the theater before his film debut in 1955.
Personal life
He married actress Catherine Renaudin on 26 June 1959. They had two daughters, ...
.
It was entered into the
12th Berlin International Film Festival
The 12th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 22 June – 3 July 1962. The Golden Bear was awarded to the British film '' A Kind of Loving'' directed by John Schlesinger.
Jury
The following people were announced as being on ...
.
Renoir shot his film in Austria in 1961 from
Jacques Perret's book based on his own
prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held 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 prisoners of wa ...
experiences. Renoir's friend and assistant director
Guy Lefranc
Guy Lefranc (21 October 1919 - 1 February 1994) was a French director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 ...
had also been a World War II prisoner of war and had developed the project for seven years.
[p.58 Durgnat, Raymond ''Jean Renoir'' University of California Press, 1974] The story serves as a companion piece to the director's 1937 film, ''
Grand Illusion
Grand Illusion may refer to:
Music
* ''Grand Illusion'' (album), by Nocturnal Rites, 2005
*''The Grand Illusion'', a 1977 album by Styx, and its title song
*"Grand Illusion", a song from the 2016 album ''In the Now'' by Barry Gibb
*"Grand Illusi ...
'', once more bringing together men from across the broad social spectrum of French society to depict one man's Sisyphean efforts to escape captivity in a German POW camp.
Plot
Among over a million French prisoners of war taken to work in camps in Germany in 1940 is the Corporal, a young man of good background who, finding the oppressiveness of Nazi Germany and the misery of prison life unbearable, makes repeated efforts to escape. Escapes from a logging camp, a brick factory, and a dairy farm all result in recapture, followed by weeks in a punishment camp. Taken into town for dental treatment, he wins the affection of the dentist's teenage daughter, Erika.
His last foray, with two companions, uses the trick of measuring the roadway through the camp gates and then disappearing once in open country. Ringing at the dentist's door, Erika lets them in and, when asked for civilian clothes, she kits them out. Taking a train. they are identified as foreigners by a passenger and the
military police
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...
are called. At that moment the train runs into an Allied bombing raid, upon which everybody jumps out. Escaping cross country, they encounter a farmer who proves to be another French escapee: he gives them food and describes a safe route to the frontier. The Corporal and his remaining companion part on a bridge in Paris, free men among friends in the country they love.
Cast
*
Jean-Pierre Cassel
Jean-Pierre Cassel (born Jean-Pierre Crochon; 27 October 1932 – 19 April 2007) was a French actor.
Early life
Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite (née Fabrègue), an opera si ...
as Le caporal / The Corporal
*
Claude Brasseur
Claude Brasseur (15 June 1936 – 22 December 2020) was a French actor.
Life and career
Claude Brasseur was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine as Claude Pierre Espinasse, the son of actor Pierre Brasseur and actress Odette Joyeux. He was the godson of E ...
as 'Papa' / 'Pop'
*
O. E. Hasse
Otto Eduard Hasse (11 July 1903 – 12 September 1978) was a German film actor and director.
Biography
Hasse was born to Wilhelm Gustav Eduard Hasse, a blacksmith, and Valeria Hasse in the village of Obersitzko, Province of Posen, German ...
as Le voyageur ivre dans le train
*
Claude Rich
Claude Rich (8 February 1929 – 20 July 2017) was a French stage and screen actor. He began his career in the theater before his film debut in 1955.
Personal life
He married actress Catherine Renaudin on 26 June 1959. They had two daughters, ...
as Ballochet
*
Jacques Jouanneau
Jacques Jouanneau (3 October 1926 – 19 July 2011) was a French actor. He was born in Angers, France.
Biography
Filmography
*1953: '' Capitaine Pantoufle'' - Le barman du Goéland (uncredited)
*1954: ''Les Intrigantes'' - Le Reporter (u ...
as Penche-à-gauche
*
Sacha Briquet
Sacha Briquet (1930–2010) was a French actor, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine.
Biography
He notably played the character of Albert Travling in the children's television program L'Île aux enfants. He signed a book of memories, ''Comédien, pourquo ...
as L'évadé grimé en vielle femme
* Raymond Jourdan as Hippolyte Dupieu
*
Guy Bedos
Guy Bedos (; né Guy René Bédos, ; 15 June 1934 – 28 May 2020) was a French screenwriter, stand-up comedian and actor (mostly known for his part in the film ''Nous irons tous au paradis''). He was a French man born in Algeria , a former Fr ...
as Le prisonnier qui bégaye
*
Philippe Castelli
Philippe Castelli (8 June 1926 – 16 April 2006) was a French film actor. He appeared in 100 films between 1960 and 1992.
Selected filmography
* ''Les Bonnes Femmes'' (1960) - Le régisseur
* '' Wise Guys'' (1961) - Le portier au vernissa ...
as Le prisonnier électricien
*
Gérard Darrieu
Gérard Darrieu (1925–2004) was a French actor.
Selected filmography
*1950: ''Three Telegrams'' (directed by Henri Decoin) - Jeune dragueur
*1951: ''Juliette, or Key of Dreams'' - Un prisonnier (uncredited)
*1951: ''Boîte de nuit'' - Le gr ...
as L'homme qui louche / The cross-eyed man
*
Cornelia Froboess
Cornelia Froboess (; born 28 October 1943) is a German actress and a teen idol of the 1950s and early 1960s. During that time, Froboess appeared in many West German and Austrian musical films, especially after the rock and roll wave had hit Germa ...
as Erika Schmidt (as Conny Froboess)
Production
Guy Lefranc
Guy Lefranc (21 October 1919 - 1 February 1994) was a French director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 ...
was assistant director on the film. The film's sets were designed by the
art director
Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...
Wolf Witzemann.
Location shooting
Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior.
The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for exam ...
took place around
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elusive Corporal, The
1962 films
1960s war comedy films
French war comedy films
1960s French-language films
French black-and-white films
World War II prisoner of war films
Military humor in film
Films based on French novels
Films set in Germany
Films shot in Austria
Films shot in Paris
Films directed by Jean Renoir
Pathé films
1962 comedy films
Films scored by Joseph Kosma
1960s French films