Henry Decoin was a fighter pilot during WW2 ,and he made his film "with a recovered youth";although fictionalized ,his film is based on trues stories ,and his characters pay a tribute to real-life figures : Didier Daurat , who would manage the airlines (the young pilot is named Didier , it was also the director's son 's name ,a man who became a famous writer),and famous pilots such as Guillaumet,Mermoz and Saint-Exupéry whose "Petit Prince" is known all around the world.
And this is a brilliant movie ,to be ranked among Decoin's best .
This "Grand Balcon" is the name of a boarding-house ,run by two spinsters .The arrival of pilot Fabien and his pack of chums ,all his colleagues , will turn the place upside down : to hear them the song of their company during the war ,led by a wild George Marchal is just a joy ;all the petits bourgeois of the house have nothing by contempt for those boys who risked their lives for them ....
Although there's a real sense of humor , "au grand balcon" is also a film noir , to be mentioned in the same breath that " non coupable" or "l'homme de Londres ";what does it matter if there's no real villain ?;enemy is the storms, the snow, the mountain,the wind :the French airmail service is no picnic ; every time they have to carry the mail to Africa , their life is at stakes .
And there are plenty of deaths in this movie , but Decoin's mastery of directing is so strong that he avoids any form of sentimentality ; but not emotion :an example : the way Carbot announces a tragedy to the old maids ,and the cigarette case : thanks to it,we understand that the boss is also a human being.
The flights often take a back seat to the human relations .
Carbot (Pierre Fresnay ) is the adamant ruthless boss ,who never cracks a smile and who ,deadpan, wipes off a name on the board every time one of his pilots perishes .Insensitive to pain,he intervenes in a harsh way when his men rejoice as one of their pals has returned safe after being believed dead.
The relationship with pilot Fabien (Georges Marchal) is intense and full of hate ;
the best way to humiliate his subordinate is to make him "ground crew" and he makes no bones about it .
Both actors are at the top of their game and eventually , Decoin makes us feel that hatred is close to love ( Carbot's last words).
A father/son grows between seasoned Fabien and young Didier ,whose only family is the pair of old maids who runs the boarding-house .Even though he does not know what fate has in store for him, he escapes from a confined life for the broader horizons of Africa ;when he receives his pilot's licence , dead drunk ,he wants to deliver a speech ,surrounded by his pals, but the boss' s secretary spoils the party by bringing bad news.
One expects a love story between Fabien and the secretary ,but those men's real lover is their plane.
A splendid tribute to these courageous men !
