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Just got home from "Grand Illusion" and recommend it
to everyone who is interested either in movies or history. It was
more about the disintegrating European aristocracy than about the
war. Some of the scenes that apparently weren't intended to be
funny made me want to laugh, e.g., the scenes between the German
Captain Von Rauffenstein (Von Stroheim) and the captured French
Captain (& Count)de Boldieu. For example, after Rauffenstein
shot de Boldieu and de Boldieu was on his death bed and
Rauffenstein was apologizing for shooting him I thought
Rauffenstein was going to break into tears and bend over and kiss
de Boldieu as he died. Renoir portrayed the bond between the
German and French aristocrats, despite the war, as greater than
between de Boldieu and his fellow French prisoners, one of whom
was working class and the other a rich Jew. Some of the scenes in
Stalag 17, including the "17" were lifted straight from
"Grand Illusion." Jean Gabin was good as the working
class French prisoner and has been echoed as a salt of the earth
character by Ives Montand and now, Gerard Depardieu. Von
Stroheim, of course, was superb as a caricature of a WWI German
officer as was Pierre Fresnay, a David Nivenesque, french actor
who matched monocles with Von Stroheim.
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