Grand Illusion (1937)

What it’s about

A group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal, grapple with their own class differences after being captured and held in a World War I German prison camp. When the men are transferred to a high-security fortress, they must concoct a plan to escape beneath the watchful eye of aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, who has formed an unexpected bond with de Boeldieu.

Cast

• 

  Jean Gabin

  Lieutenant Maréchal

• 

  Dita Parlo

  Elsa

• 

  Pierre Fresnay

  Captain de Boëldieu

• 

  Erich von Stroheim

  Captain von Rauffenstein

• 

  Julien Carette

  Cartier, the Vaudeville Performer

• 

  Georges Péclet

  Officer

• W

  Werner Florian

  Sergeant Arthur

• 

  Jean Dasté

  Teacher

• S

  Sylvain Itkine

  Lieutenant Demolder

• 

  Gaston Modot

  Engineer

• 

  Marcel Dalio

  Lieutenant Rosenthal

• 

  Jacques Becker

  British Officer (uncredited)