''Atlantic Wall'' (, ) is a 1970 French-Italian war-comedy film written and directed by

Marcel Camus Marcel Camus (21 April 1912 – 13 January 1982) was a French film director. He is best known for '' Orfeu Negro'' (''Black Orpheus''), which won the Palme d'Or at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival and the 1960 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Fi ...

and starring

Bourvil André Robert Raimbourg (; 27 July 1917 – 23 September 1970), better known as André Bourvil (), and mononymously as Bourvil, was a French actor and singer best known for his roles in comedy films, most notably in his collaboration with Loui ...

and

Peter McEnery Peter Robert McEnery (born 21 February 1940) is a retired English stage and film actor. Early life McEnery was born in Walsall, Staffordshire, to Charles and Ada Mary (née Brinson) McEnery. He was educated at Ellesmere College, Shropshire. Hi ...

. It was Bourvil's last film.

Plot

The story is set during the Second World War, under the occupation of France, and shortly before the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the N ...

. Léon Duchemin is a peaceful restaurateur whose wife left him twenty years earlier. He lived in the company of his eccentric sister Maria, and his

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

daughter Juliette. His clients represent the whole of society in the village, ranging from

Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel (; 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), popularly known as The Desert Fox (, ), was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (field marshal) during World War II. He served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of N ...

's driver, to resistance fighters and black market traffickers. One evening, during an air raid, Jeff, a British aviator whose plane was shot down, almost falls into Juliette's room. The next day, Leon hangs out with Charlus, the craftsman responsible for repainting his storefront. Leon is misidentified as the painter in question and is taken to the Kommandantur, where they have a similar job to offer him. Leon inadvertently carries a secret plan concerning the fortifications of the

Atlantic Wall The Atlantic Wall () was an extensive system of coastal defence and fortification, coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defense (military), d ...

. Having made the acquaintance of Jeff who understands the interest of the discovery made by Leon, the latter is therefore obliged to join the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

. The resistance takes the two men to England. Leon then finds himself in a British army training camp, under the orders of Jeff himself. He does not yet know that his daughter Juliette is pregnant and that the aviator will become his son-in-law.

Cast

as Léon Duchemin *

as Jeff *

Sophie Desmarets Sophie Desmarets (; 1922–2012) was a French film actress.Davis p.145 Selected filmography * ''Battement de coeur'' (1940) - (uncredited) * ''Premier rendez-vous'' (1941) - Henriette Lefranc * ''The Man Who Played with Fire'' (1942) - Gabrielle ...

as Maria Duchemin *

Jean Poiret Jean Poiret, born Jean Poiré (17 August 1926 – 14 March 1992), was a French actor, director, and screenwriter. He is primarily known as the author of the original play ''La Cage aux Folles (play), La Cage aux Folles''. Early career Poire ...

as Armand * Reinhardt Kolldehoff as Lt. Heinrich Jakobus Steinbichler aka Totor * Sara Franchetti as Juliette Duchemin *

Pino Caruso Giuseppe Caruso (12 October 1934 – 7 March 2019), best known as Pino Caruso, was an Italian actor, author and television personality. Life and career Caruso was born in Palermo, Sicily and debuted as a dramatic stage actor in his home town i ...

as Lt. Friedrich *

Terry-Thomas Terry-Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens; 10 July 1911 – 8 January 1990) was an English character actor and comedian who became internationally known through his films during the 1950s and 1960s. He often portrayed disreputable members ...

as Comm. Perry * Jean-Pierre Zola as Colonel Muller *

Georges Staquet Georges Staquet (1932, in Bruille-lez-Marchiennes – 2011) was a French actor. Partial filmography * '' The Day and the Hour'' (1963) - L'aubergiste (uncredited) * '' Bande à part'' (1964) - Legionary * ''Marie Soleil'' (1964) * '' Pierrot ...

as Hippolyte * Jacques Préboist as Ernest * Johannes Eppler as

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel (; 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), popularly known as The Desert Fox (, ), was a German '' Generalfeldmarschall'' (field marshal) during World War II. He served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of ...

Annabel Leventon Judith Annabel Leventon (born 20 April 1942 in Hertfordshire, England) is an English actress who has acted in various roles on stage and television. While reading English at the University of Oxford she made several appearances at the Oxford Pl ...

as Sybil *

Jackie Sardou Jackie Sardou (7 April 1919 – 2 April 1998) was a French actress. Personal life She was born Jacqueline Labbé in Paris, and married Fernand Sardou, a singer. She was the mother of singer Michel Sardou Michel Charles Sardou (; born 26 J ...

as Angèle Charlus *

William Mervyn William Mervyn Pickwoad (3 January 1912 – 6 August 1976) was an English actor best known for his portrayal of the bishop in the clerical comedy ''All Gas and Gaiters'', the old gentleman in ''The Railway Children'' and Inspector Charles Rose i ...

as Jeff's Father *

Jess Hahn Jesse Beryle Hahn (October 29, 1921June 29, 1998) was an American- French character actor who mostly starred in French films. Biography After serving with the Marines in the Second World War, he moved to France in 1949 and took French citi ...

as British Colonel * Patrick Préjean as British Officer * Michel Robin as The Shoemaker *

Jacques Balutin Jacques Balutin is a French actor.Norman Mitchell Norman Mitchell Driver (27 August 1918 – 19 March 2001), known professionally as Norman Mitchell, was an English television, stage and film actor. Born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, his father was a mining engineer and his mother ...

as First Cop *

Stephen Yardley Stephen Yardley (born 24 March 1942) is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1963, he became known for his many roles on UK television between 1964 and 2004. Career In the mid-1960s, Yardley was a perm ...

as Second Cop

Reception

The film was the second most popular film in France in 1970, after '' Le Gendarme en balade''.

References

External links

* French war comedy films Italian war comedy films 1970s war comedy films Films directed by Marcel Camus 1970 comedy films 1970 films French World War II films Italian World War II films Films scored by Claude Bolling Films set in France Cultural depictions of Erwin Rommel 1970s French-language films 1970s French films 1970s Italian films French-language war comedy films {{1970s-Italy-film-stub