Movies about the French Resistance, any suggestions?

[Blackjack]

IMO the Best movie on the Resistance is Army of Crime : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9qx_6eURWI
Excellent !Also Max Manus is great (Norwegian resistance) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbK4WTQFf9U
BTW we have formed a new French Resistance reenactment group here in the Pa. Md. Va. Area, Check us out !
http://ffireenactors.weebly.com/index.html

very interesting Rob! I wish you were in Illinois!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[GHQ1]

Just a few that came to mind:

ODETTE - 1950's

COUNTERFEIT TRAITOR - 1960's - William Holden (but my he did get the nice military roles, didn't he?! - Toko Ri, Kwai, Stalag 17 ,Devil's Brigade)

Plus any search of SOE/USAAC missions/bases might turn up some more info -- 138 Sqdn Tempsford or 801st Carpetbaggers

 

[_RAGNAR_]

I forgot about the Longest Day, terrific movie! A friend of mine has recently started doing WWII re-enacting and has been trying to get me interested. He was saying that they're short on french resistance fighters so I thought I'd look into it a bit.

cheapest way to try reenacting for sure, and you get to dress fun. I have my "french" resistance and my russian partisan impression put together. Just need an event when we have too many Germans so I can switch sides.

 

[_RAGNAR_]

thanks for all the movie suggestions, off to amazon!

 

[MissMittens]

Is Paris Burning?

Great 1966 film based on a great (non-fiction) book. Should be required reading for anyone who thinks the French were cowards during WW2.

You're right. Not all the French were cowards, but the French government that ordered a ceasefire against the German troops were.Tens of thousands of British troops were needlessly killed on the beaches of Dunkirk because of the speed at which the French waived the white flag.

The number of people involved in the resistance movement was minuscule compared with the number of German collaborators, although there has been a movement over the last 10-15 yrs to re-write history. If the revisionists had their way, we'd believe that the French forces were completely destroyed rather than the vast majority being ordered to stand down by the French government. To allow such revisionists an opportunity to re-write history is a disservice to those who died in the attempt to defend France, and to the gallant French resistance fighters who risked life and limb to try and oust the occupying forces from their country.

 

[_RAGNAR_]

Slighty of subject. If you are in the PNW and want to do french/western front, italian, or eastern front partisan/resistance at reenactments drop me a line.

 

[Deacon]

I agree, the Train is pretty good. It was filmed in black and white and has a gritty, rather stark quality, as I remember.

 

[Ian Hedley-Wakefield]

This is a good film about the Dutch Resistance. Black Book
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389557/

 

[TWLyon]

very interesting Rob! I wish you were in Illinois!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been thinking of doing FR reeinactment - I'm in Sycamore. I have friends who used to do Belgian Resistance, let me know if you're interested and I'll pursue it...

 

[Story]

A man drinking in a pub in German-occupied Lyon, France, didn’t like what he heard coming from the German soldiers partying nearby. Whatever else they might be going on about — boasting, criticizing or whatever — one had just crossed a line.

For some reason, one of the soldiers “damned” the United States Marine Corps.

The man was not going to have it. Hell, this was World War II and Marines fighting in Europe were few and far between. When would these Germans have even met a Marine?

The man left the pub. He stepped out into the pouring rain to return to his room, where he quickly changed clothes, donned his raincoat once more and headed back, where he ordered a round of drinks for the Germans.

Then, Maj. Peter Ortiz — an agent sent by the Office of Strategic Services to aid the French Resistance — threw off his coat to reveal his Marine Corps uniform.

“A toast to the President of the United States!” he declared, and forced the Germans to drink at gunpoint. He ordered a second round and a second toast, this one “to the United States Marine Corps!”

The Germans again emptied their glasses.

And Ortiz, his spontaneous mission completed, backed out the door with gun in hand, and vanished.

Sea story, or one of the boldest, brashest acts of World War II?

“I can’t guarantee you either way,” said his son, retired Marine Lt. Col. Peter Ortiz Jr., of Stafford, Va. “The only thing I can tell you is that when I talked to him about it … he said it was true. The reason for it was, the French were kind of down, and he wanted to get them up, to create a legend. So he used to do some crazy things.”

By any way you measure legendary, Ortiz was it. Born in the United States, raised in France, he spoke English, French, German and Arabic. He first fought the Germans while a member of the French Foreign Legion, was captured, escaped and then joined the Corps.

After the war, he flirted with Hollywood. Two films, “13 Rue Madeleine,” starring James Cagney, and “Operation Secret,” with Karl Malden and Cornel Wilde, were loosely based on his exploits, and he had parts in a handful of other films during the late 1940s and early ’50s.

Ortiz is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

 

[David Conwill]

Then, Maj. Peter Ortiz — an agent sent by the Office of Strategic Services to aid the French Resistance — threw off his coat to reveal his Marine Corps uniform.

Apocryphal or not, that is a great story.

-Dave

 

[Monsoon]

Another good movie about the French Resistance that everyone seems to be forgetting is the Val Kilmer movie, "Top Secret". Really an eye-opener on some of their secret actions.

 

[dr greg]

The number of people involved in the resistance movement was minuscule compared with the number of German collaborators, although there has been a movement over the last 10-15 yrs to re-write history. If the revisionists had their way, we'd believe that the French forces were completely destroyed rather than the vast majority being ordered to stand down by the French government. To allow such revisionists an opportunity to re-write history is a disservice to those who died in the attempt to defend France, and to the gallant French resistance fighters who risked life and limb to try and oust the occupying forces from their country.

Let's not forget that according to unbiased accounts, the biggest and by far the best-organised and most effective component of the resistance were the Communists, which didn't suit lots of people then or now.

 

[Stearmen]

Dunkirk

You're right. Not all the French were cowards, but the French government that ordered a ceasefire against the German troops were.Tens of thousands of British troops were needlessly killed on the beaches of Dunkirk because of the speed at which the French waived the white flag.

There is a misconception that the French surrendered then the British evacuated Dunkirk. It was the other way round. The french fought just as bravely, and the real unsung heros were the Scottish troops! The French 1st Army held Rommel up for four long days, completely cut off, and keeping Rommel out of the majority of the Dunkirk battle. At Dunkirk, the British only defended one sector of the perimeter, the rest was held by the French and Scottish forces. The French held until June 4th, two days after the last British soldier left Dunkirk. To Churchill's credit, he did order the Royal Navy to make one last rescue attempt of French soldiers on June 4th! On June 4th French and the Scottish 51st Highlander Division counterattacked at Mareuil ridge, unfortunately they were outnumbered and the offensive ground to a halt. The 51st surrendered on June 12th and the 1st Royal Scots ceased to exist as a unit. Their are many in Scotland that are bitter to this day, and felt that Churchill sacrificed the Scot's to keep France fighting while the British troops pulled out of France. June 22nd the formal surrender was signed. When the tattered remnants of the British army returned home, there were wide scale cases of men throwing their rifles out the train windows, and simply going home. Only two Canadian Divisions were completely equipped, most of the BEF's heavy equipment was still on the Dunkirk beach. France fought bravely for their country, Austria and Czechoslovakia gave up with out a single shot being fired! Of course, I will leave the final words to Churchill, 'Wars are not won by evacuations'.

 

[botty]

Last time I checked Scotland was part of Britain so a slightly strange turn of phrase above.

As to movies you could try: 'The sorrow and the pity' a 1969 documentry about all aspects of the German occupation of one particular town in France from all sides.

 

[Stearmen]

Last time I checked Scotland was part of Britain so a slightly strange turn of phrase above.

As to movies you could try: 'The sorrow and the pity' a 1969 documentry about all aspects of the German occupation of one particular town in France from all sides.

Actually, you are wrong! The Highlanders were under the command of the French IXth Corps during the Dunkirk battle. This was after Churchill promised Britain would "never abandon her ally in her hour of need". They fought on until the 12th of june when they were surrounded by troops of Erwin Rommel , and abandoned by the British who had left France, with no way to escape, they surrendered. In that last battle at St. Valery, 1200 Highlanders were killed. The rest were marched to Poland for their long term imprisonment. Most Highlanders spoke well of their French counterparts.

 

[botty]

No, you misunderstand the term British. Scotland was and still remains British, therefore the Scotish troops in France in 1940 were BRITISH. They may have been under French command but they were still British.

Imagine US troops under British command during WWII, they did not stop being American.

Edited to try to clarify. I suspect this statement would read equally as oddly to an American reader:

The Americans only defended one sector of the perimeter, the rest was held by the French and Texan forces. The French held until June 4th, two days after the last American soldier left.

 

[Stearmen]

No, you misunderstand the term British. Scotland was and still remains British, therefore the Scotish troops in France in 1940 were BRITISH. They may have been under French command but they were still British.

Ok, the English troops under English Generals failed to tell the French and Scottish troops that they were retreating and pulling their troops from France! Hardly what you would do to members of your own army. It was a low point in the British armies history.

 

[Alain Laterre]

Evening all. To add to the excellent list of films mentioned two great films were made just after the war -
'Bataille du Rail' (1946) by Rene Clement and
'Au Coeur de l'Orage' (1948) by Jean-Paul Le Chanois.

 

[filfoster]

To answer the original question, two very accessible movies, in English, are 'The Train' and 'Is Paris Burning?'
Both involve the French resistance to a considerable degree.