The Cross of Lorraine (1943)

Jean-Pierre Aumont, Gene Kelly, Peter Lorre, Hume Cronyn, and Cedric Hardwicke star in "The Cross of Lorraine," a 1943 propaganda film.I mean a propaganda film in the best way. Propaganda films made by the U.S. during World War II were often intended to inspire and show the people back home that their sacrifices meant something.The Cross of Lorraine, referencing Joan of Arc's standard, adopted by Charles de Gaulle during World War II to mean the Free France, tells the story of French soldiers who surrender to Nazis and are lied to, and taken to a prisoner of war camp. There they endure terrible conditions and for some, death.Hume Cronyn portrays a sniveling collaborator whom the Germans use as an interpreter. Cedric Hardwicke is a priest, whom he portrays with great dignity and quiet courage. Gene Kelly plays a defiant soldier put into solitary confinement. Jean-Pierre Aumont decides to cooperate with the Nazis on the surface only; he has another agenda. Aumont was older than God when he was still working in the '90s, and to see him as a young, gorgeous man, robust with incredible hair, is really something! The bravery of the French people is exhibited at the end of the film, when they make a decision to take action before the Nazis arrive at their town.A really stirring film.

The Cross of Lorraine has many virtues - but also some serious flaws.It is gripping and involving, and has excellent performances and characterisations. Gene Kelly's excellent performance gives the lie to the claims by most of the leading film critics (eg. Leslie Halliwell, David Quinlan) that he couldn't really act (Halliwell said that his acting ability was 'minimal', whilst Quinlan said that he 'never convinced' as an actor). Had they forgotten his terrific performance here? As another reviewer has also said, the half-forgotten German character actor Tonio Selwart is also very good as the German commandant, as is Jean-Pierre Aumont as the hero.The film is also very well directed, for the most part, and has many good scenes.However, there are some disturbing aspects, partly due to the presence as co-scriptwriter of Ring Lardner Jr. Lardner was a member of the American Communist Party, despite the fact that Communism had been responsible for millions of deaths in Russia in the 1920s and 1930s. His sympathies can be seen in the film in a number of ways. The traitor, Duval, played by Hume Cronyn, is shown as a capitalist wine merchant who puts business above loyalty. The traitor could have been given any occupation at all by the scriptwriters (French collaborators were from all sorts of occupations in real life) but Lardner had to make a heavy-handed swipe at capitalism.Similarly, the Spanish republican, Rodriguez (Joseph Calleia), is shown as as a heroic figure even though this charming character's aim in life is to kill as many fascists as possible. His positive portrayal is despite the fact that Spanish republicans were responsible for the murder of thousands of priests, nuns, middle class figures and other 'enemies of the state' in republican-controlled areas of Spain in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39).There is also another uncomfortable aspect to the film, due presumably to a combination of script and direction. The film positively revels in the slaughter of German soldiers in the climatic battle - even though in actual fact those particular Germans hadn't killed anyone in the village at the point when the insurrection starts. The film gleefully shows German soldiers being burnt alive, bludgeoned to death, and so on, seeming to take pride in allocating them grisly deaths.So, although this is a high quality film in most respects, it is also deeply flawed.

You hear "la Marseillaise " during the cast and credits ;you hear "La Marseillaise" during the whole movie;then again as the finale;Rouget De Lisle should thus be credited for the soundtrack but as he wrote it in 1792,he will not get any royalties."The Cross of Lorraine" suffers from a very low budget (the "village" where the French rebel) and a rather weak screenplay.One of these countless propaganda movies,it features French romantic young lead Jean -Pierre Aumont who really joined the "Forces Françaises Libres" .Other luminaries include the always reliable Hume Cronyn as the fellow-who-betrays-his-pals (compare with Sefton in Billy Wilder's "stalag 17");Peter Lorre ideally cast as the sadistic but dumb warden;sir Cedric Hardwicke as the noble priest who comfort his hungry brothers;Gene Kelly a soldier who has feelings of self-doubt.This first-class cast partly saves the movie .But there are colossal mistakes: all the prisoners are supposed to be French and they never speak a word in their first language (at least Aumont -obvious- and Hardwicke were fluent in French).Besides,the Germans often speak English between them ,so why an interpret?and the young resistant fighter they meet as soon as they are out of the camp? In spite of the excellent cast ,all sounds bad.

Directed by Tay Garnett, who was a Naval pilot in WWI, this war drama has substance. French soldiers, believing that WWII is over, unwittingly surrender to German forces and are placed in a POW camp. A terrific and realistic look at being held prisoner under the thumb of the Nazis. A very good collection of talent featuring: Jean-Pierre Aumont, Gene Kelly, Hume Cronyn, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Peter Lorre, Wallace Ford and Richard Whorf.