Grand Illusion

Overview

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.

Directed by Jean Renoir

Top 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)

Habib Benglia

Senegalese (uncredited)

P

Pierre Blondy

Soldier (uncredited)

A

Albert Brouett

Prisoner (uncredited)

Géo Forster

Maison-Neuve (uncredited)

Georges Fronval

German Soldier Who Kills Captain de Boëldieu (uncredited)

K

Karl Heil

Officer of the Fortress (uncredited)

C

Carl Koch

Von Rauffenstein's Orderly (uncredited)

L

Little Peters

Elsa's Daughter (uncredited)

Details