Main Cast: Stephen Bekassy, Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Roman Bohnen, Curt Bois, Charles Laughton, Louis Calhern, J. Edward Bromberg, Michael Romanoff
Release Year: 1948
Country: US
Run Time: 120 minutes
Plot
Based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, Arch of Triumph is a complicated war romance directed by Lewis Milestone. Dr. Ravic (Charles Boyer) is a refugee physician practicing medicine illegally in Paris under a false name. He saves Joan Madou (Ingrid Bergman) from committing suicide after the sudden death of her lover. He gets her a job singing at the nightclub where his only friend, Boris Morosov (Louis Calhern), is the doorman. Joan falls in love with Ravic, but he is deported and she finds herself the mistress of wealthy Alex (Stephan Bekassy). Meanwhile, Ravic seeks revenge against a Nazi officer (Charles Laughton) and war is declared between France and Germany. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Review
Without its stars, Arch of Triumph would be a terribly dull reduction of Erich Maria Remarque's complex novel into a standard Hollywood soap opera. Truth to tell, it's the kind of novel that is very hard to bring to the screen, for it features a very large cast of characters with many different, though interconnected, storylines. This density and volume are crucial to the novel's success, but trying to translate that accurately to the screen would result in a six-hour movie. So the makers of Arch did what seems the only practical thing -- concentrated on the main storyline and included only a handful of the extraneous characters. But reducing the story to its bare essentials removes the poetry and richness, leaving a plot that is perhaps of some interest but which is presented in fairly bold strokes, while making the characters into stock figures we've come across many times before. Fortunately, Charles Boyer is in very fine form as the doctor who must sacrifice love for his higher mission, and he deserves credit for keeping Arch alive. As his would-be paramour, Ingrid Bergman is a bit off her form; she's as luminous as ever and certainly as skillful, but she doesn't seem to quite connect with the character on a gut level. Charles Laughton is very far off the mark as the Nazi villain, but Louis Calhern is aces as the doorman who was once a proud Russian soldier. Lewis Milestone's direction is adequate, but much more is needed. However, he does get a grand assist from the beautiful chiaroscuro cinematography of Russell Metty. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
The film's name is a reference to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, where the film is set. The rough cut of the film was four hours long, and in reducing it to two hours several actors were cut. Irwin Shaw spent five months writing the screenplay, but then quit when Lewis Milestone wanted him to add a love story. Milestone then rewrote the script, which was then used for the film. Ingrid Bergman's salary for the part was $175,000 + 25% of net profits.
The MPAA's head of the Production Code Administration at the time, Joseph Breen, made the film's studio tone down the violence in the script. The scene where Ravic kills Haake also included him stuffing Haake in the car's trunk, stripping him naked, burying him and burning his clothes, was cut from the film. Breen also objected to the murder going unpunished, but relented.
Pre-World War II Paris is crowded with illegal refugees, trying to evade deportation. One of them is Dr. Ravic (Charles Boyer), who under a false name practices medicine illegally, helping other refugees. He saves Joan Madou (Ingrid Bergman) from committing suicide after the sudden death of her lover. They become involved, but he is deported and she becomes the mistress of a wealthy man, Alex (Stephen Bekassy). All this time Ravic seeks revenge against the Nazi officer Haake (Charles Laughton), with war eventually declared between France and Germany.
