La croix de Lorraine

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.

If you thought World War II Hollywood war movies were all sweetness and Casablanca fans, just wait till you see this gut-wrenching little propaganda piece, which must have come out the week the censors were all in Palm Springs. Perhaps the most realistic Hollywood portrayal of life as a prisoner of the Nazis until "Schindler's List," it's also quite intelligent and extraordinarily well-played by an excellent cast. You don't know the meaning of shock until you've seen Gene Kelly spit a huge gob of real sputum onto Peter Lorre's face--and then wait till you see what comes next. It's not Captain Renault and the roulette table, dearie.

Basically the story of the French resistance during the early '40s when the Nazis overtook France, THE CROSS OF LORRAINE is a forerunner of films like STALAG 17, but without the humor. Instead, it's a straightforward dramatic tale of the harsh treatment meted out to the French POWs in a German prison camp.

There are no real surprises in the plot--you know from the beginning that there will be an escape plan being hatched by JEAN PIERRE AUMONT, who takes over when the former translator/informer HUME CRONYN meets his fate at the hands of prisoners. Aumont and GENE KELLY have the leading male roles and both give earnest performances in this gritty drama directed by Tay Garnett.

Although it appears to be a low-budget film, there's a splendid supporting cast including SIR CEDRIC HARDWICKE, RICHARD WHORF, PETER LORRE (as a despicable German sergeant), WALLACE FORD and Joseph CALLEIA.

Film is engrossing all the way through but suffers from an ending that pushes the propaganda envelope too far as the French resistance overcomes the Nazi recruiters while Aumont and Kelly take aim with machine guns to help destroy a bunch of bad Nazis.

Summing up: A flag waving tribute to the French resistance, it's well done for most of the way but that ending is too over-the-top to be taken seriously.

Various Frenchmen head off to fight the Germans but the war is soon over for France. The soldiers have differing opinions on what's next for the country. Instead of returning home, they find themselves POWs in Germany.

The cast is international with some big names like Gene Kelly, Peter Lorre, and Hume Cronyn. I do wonder if surrendering French soldiers would end up in a POW camp. Maybe if they continue to fight after the amnesty. Anyways, it's good propaganda and that's what the country needed during this time.

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.