A MOTION PICTURE TO COMMAND THE ATTENTION OF THE WORLD!

The book is a classic, dramatized account of the liberation of Paris in 1944, creating a mosaic of exciting individual stories in the shadow of great historical events.

The movie adaptation tries to do the same thing, but ends up filling three hours with a whole lot of battle sequences and meetings between various Allied groups, without creating a compelling whole. Genuine locations in Paris is a plus, and so is Maurice Jarre’s music.

A star-studded flop in spite of its ambition; Gert Fröbe is well cast as the city’s last Nazi commandant. 

1966-France-U.S. 173 min. B/W. Widescreen. Directed by René Clément. Screenplay: Gore Vidal, Francis Ford Coppola. Book: Larry Collins, Dominique Lapierre. Music: Maurice Jarre. Cast: Gert Fröbe (Dietrich von Choltitz), Orson Welles (Raoul Nordling), Alain Delon (Jacques Chaban-Delmas), Jean-Paul Belmondo, Bruno Cremer, Claude Rich, Charles Boyer, Kirk Douglas, Glenn Ford, Leslie Caron, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Yves Montand, Michel Piccoli, Anthony Perkins, Robert Stack, E.G. Marshall, Michael Lonsdale, Simone Signoret, George Chakiris, Jean-Louis Trintignant.

Trivia: French title: Paris brûle-t-il? Rich plays two parts, General Leclerc and a lieutenant.