Grand Illusion (1937)
Grand Illusion (1937)
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Cast & Crew.
Jean Gabin
Le lieutenant Maréchal
Pierre Fresnay
Le capitaine de Boëldieu
Erich von Stroheim
Le capitaine von Rauffenstein
Marcel Dalio
Le lieutenant Rosenthal
Dita Parlo
Elsa
Julien Carette
Cartier, l'acteur
Gaston Modot
L'ingénieur
Georges Péclet
Le serrurier
Werner Florian
Le sergent Arthur
Jean Dasté
L'instituteur
Sylvain Itkine
Le lieutenant Demolder
Jacques Becker
L'officier anglais / First Assistant Director
Habib Benglia
Le sénégalais
Pierre Blondy
Un soldat / Manager of Operations
Albert Brouett
Un prisonnier
Roger Forster
Maison-Neuve
Georges Fronval
Le soldat allemand qui vise le capitaine de Boëldieu
Karl Heil
Un officier de la forteresse
Renée Lichtig
Editor
Carl Koch
Un gendarme de campagne / Technical Supervisor
Little Peters
Lotte, la petite fille d'Elsa
Claude Sainval
Le capitaine Ringis
Claude Vernier
L'officer prussien
Marthe Huguet
Editor
Jean Renoir
Director / Screenplay
Joseph Kosma
Original Music Composer
Frank Rollmer
Producer
Eugène Lourié
Set Decoration / Production Design
Joseph de Bretagne
Sound Designer
Christian Matras
Director of Photography
René Decrais
Costume Design
Raffels
Makeup Artist
Media.
Details.
Release DateJune 4, 1937
Original NameLa Grande Illusion
StatusReleased
Running Time1h 54m
Box Office$172,885
Genres
Wiki.
La Grande Illusion (French for "The Grand Illusion") is a 1937 French war drama film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who are German prisoners of war during World War I and are plotting an escape.
The title of the film comes from the 1909 book The Great Illusion by British journalist Norman Angell, which argued that war is futile because of the common economic interests of all European nations. The perspective of the film is generously humanistic to its characters of various nationalities.
La Grande Illusion is regarded by critics and film historians as one of the masterpieces of French cinema and among the greatest films ever made. Orson Welles named La Grande Illusion as one of the two movies he would take with him "on the ark".
In 1958, the film was voted number 5 on the prestigious Brussels 12 list at the 1958 World Expo. In 1995, the Vatican included La Grande Illusion in its list of 45 "great films" under the category of "Art." Empire magazine ranked it #35 in "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.