During 1st WW, two French officers are captured. Captain De Boeldieu is an aristocrat while Lieutenant Marechal was a mechanic in civilian life. They meet other prisoners from various backgrounds, as Rosenthal, son of wealthy Jewish bankers. They are separated from Rosenthal before managing to escape. A few months later, they meet again in a fortress commanded by the aristocrat Van Rauffenstein. De Boeldieu strikes up a friendship with him but Marechal and Rosenthal still want to escape.
|
Jean Gabin | Le lieutenant Maréchal |
|
Dita Parlo | Elsa |
|
Pierre Fresnay | Le captaine de Boeldieu |
|
Erich von Stroheim | Le captaine von Rauffenstein |
|
Julien Carette | Cartier - l'acteur |
|
Georges Péclet | Le serrurier |
|
Werner Florian | Le sergent Arthur |
|
Jean Daste | L'instituteur |
|
Sylvain Itkine | Le lieutenant Demolder |
|
Gaston Modot | L'ingénieur |
|
Marcel Dalio | Le lieutenant Rosenthal |
|
Jacques Becker | L'officier anglais |
|
Habib Benglia | Le sénégalais |
|
Pierre Blondy | Un soldat |
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Albert Brouett | Un prisonnier |
|
George Forster | Maison-Neuve |
|
Georges Fronval | Le soldat allemand qui tue le capitaine de Boeldieu |
|
Karl Heil | Un officier de la forteresse |
|
Carl Koch | L'ordonnance de von Rauffenstein |
|
Little Peters | La petite fille d'Elsa |
|
Claude Sainval | Le capitaine Ringis |
|
Michel Salina | |
|
Claude Vernier | L'officer prussien |
| Director | Jean Renoir |
|
| Writer | Charles Spaak, Jean Renoir | |
| Producer | Albert Pinkovitch, Frank Rollmer | |
| Musician | Joseph Kosma | |
| Photography | Christian Matras | |
| Edition | Criterion Collection |
|---|---|
| Packaging | Keep Case |
| Nr Discs | 1 |
| Screen Ratios | Fullscreen (4:3) |
| Audio Tracks | Dolby Digital Mono [French] Dolby Digital Stereo [French] SUB [English] |
| Subtitles | English |
| Layers | Single side, Single layer |
| Edition Release Date | Nov 23, 1999 |
| Regions | Region 1 |
| Watched | |
|---|---|
| Index | 133 |
| Added Date | Mar 10, 2012 13:58:31 |
| Modified Date | Jun 12, 2022 00:32:51 |
Disc Features
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
Newly restored digital transfer, created from the long-lost camera negative
New and improved English subtitle translation
A rare theatrical trailer in which Jean Renoir discusses both Grand Illusion and his personal war experiences
Audio essay by film historian Peter Cowie
Archival radio presentation: Renoir and Erich von Stroheim accept Grand Illusion’s Best Foreign Film honors at the 1938 New York Film Critics Awards
Press book excerpts: Renoir’s letter “to the projectionist,” cast bios, an essay on Renoir by von Stroheim, and essays about the film’s title and recently recovered camera negative
Restoration demonstration
Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition
Cover illustration by Paul Davis