The Cross of Lorraine

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The Cross of Lorraine
Directed by	Tay Garnett
Screenplay by	Ring Lardner Jr. Michael Kanin Robert Hardy Andrews Alexander Esway
Story by	Robert Aisner
Based on	A Thousand Shall Fall by Hans Habe
Produced by	Edwin H. Knopf
Starring	Jean-Pierre Aumont Gene Kelly
Cinematography	Sidney Wagner
Edited by
Music by	Bronislau Kaper
Production company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	Loew's Inc.
Release date	November 12, 1943 (1943-11-12)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,010,000[1]
Box office	$1,248,000[1]

The Cross of Lorraine is a 1943 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer war film about French prisoners of war escaping a German prison camp and joining the French Resistance. Directed by Tay Garnett, starring Jean-Pierre Aumont and Gene Kelly, was partly based on Hans Habe's 1941 novel A Thousand Shall Fall. The title refers to the French Cross of Lorraine, which was the symbol of the Résistance and the Free French Forces chosen by Charles de Gaulle in 1942.^[2]

Plot[]

At the start of World War II, Frenchmen from all walks of life enlist. Defeated by the invading Germans in 1940, Marshal Philippe Pétain signs a peace agreement and the troops surrender. However, instead of being repatriated to their homes, a group of soldiers find themselves in a brutal prison camp. Most of the men resist as best they can, and some, like Paul (Jean-Pierre Aumont), are willing to spend time in solitary confinement and be subjected to beatings, while others, such as Duval (Hume Cronyn), collaborate with their jailers to get an easier life. The men find solace from Father Sebastian (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), a priest who was also in the army and who counsels them wisely. Eventually Paul helps his fellow prisoners to escape. When they liberate a village, they realise that continued fighting is the only option and join the French Resistance.

Production[]

The Cross of Lorraine is one of the many Hollywood World War II propaganda films showing life in occupied Europe, with the purpose of explaining to an American audience why US involvement in the European war was just as important as the war against the Japanese in the Pacific.

The film is partly based on the German refugee author Hans Habe's autobiographical Ob Tausend fallen (A Thousand Shall Fall) from 1941, about his war experiences fighting in the French Foreign Legion against his former homeland in 1940, being captured and then escaping from the German prison camp.

A number of German, Austrian, French and Dutch actors, who had fled Europe because of the war, participate in the film, not only Peter Lorre, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Richard Ryen and , but also several of those who participate in minor roles and as extras.

The Cross of Lorraine was the second Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production about the French Resistance, the first being Reunion in France, released in 1942.^[2]

Cast[]

Box office[]

According to MGM records the film earned $585,000 in the US and Canada and $663,000 elsewhere resulting in a loss of $179,000.^[1]

References[]

External links[]

• The Cross of Lorraine at the American Film Institute Catalog
• The Cross of Lorraine at IMDb
• The Cross of Lorraine at the TCM Movie Database
• The Cross of Lorraine at AllMovie