Film Snail

7.2

Is Paris Burning?

PG·1966·173m

War

Drama

History

War

Drama

History

Summary

Near the end of World War II, Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz receives orders to burn down Paris if it becomes clear the Allies are going to invade, or if he cannot maintain control of the city. After much contemplation Choltitz decides to ignore his orders, enraging the Germans and giving hope to various resistance factions that the city will be liberated. Choltitz, along with Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling, helps a resistance leader organize his forces.

Cast

Jean-Paul Belmondo

Yvon Morandat

Charles Boyer

Doctor Monod

Leslie Caron

Françoise Labé

Jean-Pierre Cassel

Lt. Henri Karcher

George Chakiris

GI in Tank

Bruno Cremer

Colonel Rol Tanguy

Claude Dauphin

Colonel Lebel

Alain Delon

Jacques Chaban-Delmas

Kirk Douglas

General Patton

Pierre Dux

Cerat - Alexandre Parodi

Glenn Ford

Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley

Gert Fröbe

Von Choltitz

Daniel Gélin

Yves Bayet

Georges Géret

Baker

Hannes Messemer

General Jodl

Harry Meyen

Lieutenant von Arnim

Yves Montand

Sgt. Marcel Bizien

Anthony Perkins

Sgt. Warren

Michel Piccoli

Edgar Pisani

Wolfgang Preiss

Capitaine Ebernach

Claude Rich

General Leclerc

Robert Stack

General Sibert

Simone Signoret

Cafe Owner

Jean-Louis Trintignant

Captain Serge

Pierre Vaneck

Maj. Roger Gallois

Marie Versini

Claire Morandat

Skip Ward

Charlie, U.S. soldier

Orson Welles

Konsul Nordling

Michel Etcheverry

Prefect Luizet

Billy Frick

Adolf Hitler

Ernst Fritz Fürbringer

General von Voineburg

Konrad Georg

Gen. Field Marshal Model

Joachim Hansen

Commander of Fresnes prison

Félix Marten

Georges Landrieu

Paloma Matta

Lilane Charvet, young bride

Günter Meisner

SS Commander in Pantin

Sacha Pitoëff

Joliot-Curie

Albert Rémy

Policeman / Gendarme

Christian Rode

Burned German soldier

Helmuth Schneider

German adjutant in the subway

Otto Stern

German soldier in the subway

Tony Taffin

Bernard Labé

Jean Valmont

F.F.I. bazooka

Karl-Otto Alberty

SS (Bayeux Tapestry)

Pierre Collet

Resistant policeman

Paul Crauchet

Priest

Germaine de France

Old lady

Bernard Fresson

F.F.I liaison officer

Michel Gonzalès

Resistant student

Peter Jacob

Infantry General Burgdorf

Hubert de Lapparent

Bailiff at Matignon

Roger Lumont

Jade Amicol

Pierre Mirat

Owner of the Medicis bistro

Francis Nani

Resistant student

Peter Neusser

SS (Bayeux Tapestry)

Sébastien Poitrenaud

Resistant student

Jean-Michel Rouzière

Gentleman with the little dog

Georges Staquet

Captain Dronne

Hénia Suchar

Prefecture's switchboard operator

Claude Vernier

German prisoner

Georges Claisse

Intern with Monod (uncredited)

Suzy Delair

Parisian woman (uncredited)

Patrick Dewaere

Young resistant (uncredited)

André Falcon

Member of Resistance council (uncredited)

Michel Fugain

Young resistant (uncredited)

Jeanne Herviale

Bit part (uncredited)

Michael Lonsdale

Debu-Bridel (uncredited)

Jacques Léonard

American soldier (uncredited)

Maria Machado

Stella (uncredited)

E.G. Marshall

Intelligence Officer Powell (uncredited)

Mike Marshall

F.F.I. member (uncredited)

Georges Poujouly

Landrieux (uncredited)

Serge Rousseau

Col. Fabien (uncredited)

Cécile Vassort

Young woman (uncredited)

Michel Sardou

Young resistant (uncredited)

Crew

Director

René Clément

Original Story

Larry Collins

Original Story

Dominique LaPierre

Screenplay

Francis Ford Coppola

Screenplay

Gore Vidal

Reviews

Geronimo1967

June 18, 2023

With the Allies rapidly approaching Paris, the general in charge of the city is issued with orders by his Führer to prepare plans to destroy the city. Fortunately, von Choltitz (Gert Fröbe) is not convinced that in the face of imminent defeat, this is the right thing to do - so he obeys, but in a rather lacklustre and half-hearted fashion. Meantime, scenting victory, the resistance are starting to make their own plans to seize control of increasingly larger parts of the city ready for the arrival of George Patton's American troops. René Clément has assembled a pretty stellar cast here with Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Boyer, Leslie Caron, Alain Delon - a veritable who's who of French cinema supported by brief cameos from Kirk Douglas and Glenn Ford. The problem for me is with the pace of the thing. It's not just that it's fractionally shy of three hours long, it's that it tries to tell the story in too bitty a fashion. We dart about the chronology and geography just a bit too often for the story to have much cohesion and there are simply too many characters for us to keep up with - a little like "The Longest Day" from 1962. It serves as a useful piece of propaganda, though, illustrating that it was to the French that the Nazis surrendered and that they were poised to ease into the civilian government of France as soon as the Swastika fell. As is always the case, the best history is always written by the winners - so I'm not sure just how accurate this is, but at least we know who emerges victorious in the end.