Poster

The Grand Illusion ()

La grande illusion (original title)
Reference View | Change View
During WWI, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German P.O.W. camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are eventually sent to a seemingly inescapable fortress.
Director:
Writers:
Stars:
Awards:
  • Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 1 nomination.
  • See more »
Reviews:

Photos and Videos

71 photos | 1 video

Cast verified as complete

Edit
...
Le lieutenant Maréchal
...
Elsa
...
Le captaine de Boeldieu
...
Le captaine von Rauffenstein (as Eric von Stroheim)
...
Cartier - l'acteur (as Carette)
Georges Péclet ...
Le serrurier (as Peclet)
Werner Florian ...
Le sergent Arthur
...
L'instituteur (as Daste)
Sylvain Itkine ...
Le lieutenant Demolder (as Itkine)
...
L'ingénieur (as Modot)
...
Le lieutenant Rosenthal (as Dalio)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
...
L'officier anglais (uncredited)
Habib Benglia ...
Le sénégalais (uncredited)
Pierre Blondy ...
Un soldat (uncredited)
Albert Brouett ...
Un prisonnier (uncredited)
George Forster ...
Maison-Neuve (uncredited)
Georges Fronval ...
Le soldat allemand qui tue le capitaine de Boeldieu (uncredited)
Karl Heil ...
Un officier de la forteresse (uncredited)
Carl Koch ...
L'ordonnance de von Rauffenstein (uncredited)
Little Peters ...
La petite fille d'Elsa (uncredited)
...
Le capitaine Ringis (uncredited)
Michel Salina ...
(uncredited)
...
L'officer prussien (uncredited)

Directed by

Edit
Jean Renoir

Written by

Edit
Charles Spaak ... (scenario and dialogue) &
Jean Renoir ... (scenario and dialogue)

Produced by

Edit
Albert Pinkovitch ... producer (uncredited)
Frank Rollmer ... producer (uncredited)

Music by

Edit
Joseph Kosma ... (music)

Cinematography by

Edit
Christian Matras ... (photography)

Editing by

Edit
Marthe Huguet ... film editor (as Huguet)
Renée Lichtig
Marguerite Renoir ... film editor (as Margueritte)

Production Design by

Edit
Eugène Lourié ... (as Lourié)

Set Decoration by

Edit
Eugène Lourié ... (as Lourié)

Costume Design by

Edit
René Decrais ... (costumes) (as Decrais)

Makeup Department

Edit
Raffels ... make-up

Production Management

Edit
Raymond Blondy ... production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

Edit
Jacques Becker ... assistant director
Robert Rips ... assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department

Edit
Alexandre Laurié ... props (as Lourié)
Raymond Pillon ... props (as Pillon)
Eric Rohman ... poster artist: Sweden (as Rohman)
Gösta Åberg ... poster artist: Sweden (as Åberg)

Sound Department

Edit
Joseph de Bretagne ... sound engineer (as De Bretagne)

Camera and Electrical Department

Edit
Jean Bourgoin ... assistant cameraman (as Bourgoin)
Ernest Bourreaud ... assistant cameraman (as Bourreaud)
Sam Levin ... still photographer
Claude Renoir ... assistant cameraman

Costume and Wardrobe Department

Edit
Suzy Berton ... wardrobe (uncredited)

Location Management

Edit
Maurice Barnathan ... location manager (as Barnathan)

Music Department

Edit
Emile Vuillermoz ... musical director (uncredited)

Script and Continuity Department

Edit
Françoise Giroud ... script girl (as Gourdji)

Additional Crew

Edit
Pierre Blondy ... general manager
Carl Koch ... technical consultant
Robert Rips ... set manager
Herman G. Weinberg ... subtitler: English (uncredited)
Crew believed to be complete

Production Companies

Edit

Distributors

Edit

Special Effects

Edit

Other Companies

Edit

Storyline

Edit
Plot Summary

World War I. During an air-reconnaissance mission, German ace pilot Captain von Rauffenstein shoots down the plane of aristocratic French pilot Captain de Boeldieu and his civilian mechanic co-pilot, Lieutenant Maréchal. Before long, the captured officers wind up in the Hallbach POW camp for officers, and they befriend Lieutenant Rosenthal, a wealthy former Jewish banker. There, they organise an escape along with a handful of determined compatriots. However, fate has other plans in store for them. Now, a heavily guarded train transfers the team to the impregnable Wintersborn fortress prison in Alsace, France, overseen by Rauffenstein himself. But something unexpected has happened. As respect and appreciation unite von Rauffenstein and de Boeldieu, the question remains. Will this delicate relationship, and the grand illusion, stand in the way of freedom? Written by Nick Riganas

Plot Keywords
Taglines A Great Drama of Human Emotions See more »
Genres
Parents Guide View content advisory »
Certification

Additional Details

Edit
Also Known As
  • Grand Illusion (Canada, English title)
  • The Grand Illusion (United States)
  • La Grande Illusion (Japan, English title)
  • The Grand Illusion (World-wide, English title)
  • La Grande Illusion (World-wide, English title)
  • See more »
Runtime
  • 113 min
Country
Language
Color
Aspect Ratio
Sound Mix
Filming Locations

Did You Know?

Edit
Trivia Joseph Goebbels made sure that the film's print was one of the first things seized by the Germans when they occupied France. He referred to Jean Renoir as "Cinematic Public Enemy Number 1". For many years it was assumed that the film had been destroyed in an Allied air raid in 1942. However, a German film archivist named Frank Hansel, then a Nazi officer in Paris, had actually smuggled it back to Berlin. Then when the Russians entered Berlin in 1945, the film found its way to an archive in Moscow. When Renoir came to restore his film in the 1960s, he knew nothing of Hansel's acquisition and was working from an old muddy print. Purely by coincidence at the same time, the Russian archive swapped some material with an archive in Toulouse. Included in that exchange was the original negative print. However, because so many prints of the film existed at the time, it would be another 30 years before anyone realised that the version in Toulouse was actually the original negative. See more »
Goofs As the WWI German soldiers are celebrating a French fort's capture, the map on the wall of the officers club is clearly an inter-war (1919-1938) map of Germany. See more »
Movie Connections Edited into La monnaie de l'absolu (1999). See more »
Soundtracks Si tu Veux... Marguerite See more »
Quotes Capt. de Boeldieu: For me it's simple. A golf course is for golf. A tennis court is for tennis. A prison camp is for escaping.
See more »
Getting Started | Contributor Zone »

Contribute to This Page


Clear your history

Recently Viewed