"Cadet Rousselle" is an old French folk song from the eighteenth century ; it laughs at a bailiff ,which is very appropriate in Asquith's movie; it became a marching song for the Armée Du Nord in the French Revolution;in the film , not only the nurse ,serving quiche lorraine ,sings the first verse ,but the hero himself also invents new words for the tune ....
Based (reportedly) on true facts,it's an excellent thriller happening towards the last days of the Occupation in France .It's a gripping movie,from start to finish ,very well written and very well acted, mainly the supporting cast .A quarter of the time is given over to the training ,with a documentary side often botched in this kind of movie,,in which the excellent James Robertson Justice talks about the guilty feeling which ,according to him,did not exist formerly,but is characteristic of the civilized country :it leads the hero to soul-searching (did his former bombings spare the innocents?) ,which would continue when he met Leonie , who remains straight-faced in front of her sewing -machine when he tells her that this informer he has to do away with might be innocent ;the brave resistant fighter 's answer is cynical but true: at war ,both innocents and culprits are killed .Like the psychiatrist before ,she soon realizes that the killer is too jejune ,too sentimental (she's not : her own tragedy is represented by a photograph of her dead son killed in action,and that's it ).
Irene Worth is remarkable as the apparently cold-hearted adamant resistant .
Another good support comes from Leslie French , as the traitor: a family man, who takes care of a cute cat ,Minou (= Pussy);cats and dogs were not eaten , this occured during the siege of Paris in 1870,but in the occupation,if it happened ,it must have been very rare .Till his last moment, he makes us think that perhaps it was a mistake ;brilliant performance from a brilliant actor.
One of the best cliffhanger I know : after the scene in the cemetery (Le Père Lachaise) ,the action abruptly takes us to the Liberation ,complete with Marseillaise,forgetting the young soldier and his contact (in jeopardy) ; the very last scene is deeply moving and proves that the cocky boy has finally understood his elders' words.
Based (reportedly) on true facts,it's an excellent thriller happening towards the last days of the Occupation in France .It's a gripping movie,from start to finish ,very well written and very well acted, mainly the supporting cast .A quarter of the time is given over to the training ,with a documentary side often botched in this kind of movie,,in which the excellent James Robertson Justice talks about the guilty feeling which ,according to him,did not exist formerly,but is characteristic of the civilized country :it leads the hero to soul-searching (did his former bombings spare the innocents?) ,which would continue when he met Leonie , who remains straight-faced in front of her sewing -machine when he tells her that this informer he has to do away with might be innocent ;the brave resistant fighter 's answer is cynical but true: at war ,both innocents and culprits are killed .Like the psychiatrist before ,she soon realizes that the killer is too jejune ,too sentimental (she's not : her own tragedy is represented by a photograph of her dead son killed in action,and that's it ).
Irene Worth is remarkable as the apparently cold-hearted adamant resistant .
Another good support comes from Leslie French , as the traitor: a family man, who takes care of a cute cat ,Minou (= Pussy);cats and dogs were not eaten , this occured during the siege of Paris in 1870,but in the occupation,if it happened ,it must have been very rare .Till his last moment, he makes us think that perhaps it was a mistake ;brilliant performance from a brilliant actor.
One of the best cliffhanger I know : after the scene in the cemetery (Le Père Lachaise) ,the action abruptly takes us to the Liberation ,complete with Marseillaise,forgetting the young soldier and his contact (in jeopardy) ; the very last scene is deeply moving and proves that the cocky boy has finally understood his elders' words.