Is Paris Burning?

Is Paris Burning? (Paris, brûle-t-il ?)
Original movie poster
Directed by	René Clément
Produced by	Paul Graetz
Written by	Gore Vidal Francis Ford Coppola
Starring	Kirk Douglas Glenn Ford Gert Fröbe Yves Montand Jean-Paul Belmondo Robert Stack Alain Delon
Music by	Maurice Jarre
Cinematography	Marcel Grignon
Editing by	Robert Lawrence
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	26 October 1966 10 November 1966
Running time	173 minutes
Country	France USA
Language	French English

Is Paris Burning? (French: Paris brûle-t-il?) is a 1966 Franco-American film dealing with the 1944 liberation of Paris by rival branches of the French Resistance (communist and Gaullist) and the Free French Forces.

Plot

The title is Adolf Hitler's question to his chief of staff Alfred Jodl on the eve of the liberation of Paris (August 25): the military governor of Paris, General Dietrich von Choltitz, had been ordered to destroy Paris rather than let it fall undamaged into the hands of the Allies, but von Choltitz disobeyed.

The film follows historical events as U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, head of the Allied invasion, refuses to divert troops to liberate Paris. His hand is forced by the French military leader, Philippe Leclerc, and by a Resistance uprising in the city. Von Choltitz keeps details of the uprising from the German high command in an effort to save the city being destroyed in retaliation. The film follows his turmoil as a soldier and as the man who doesn't wish to be seen by history as the cause of a beautiful city's destruction. In this he is helped by the intervention of the Swedish consul.

The film looks not only at the taking of Paris by French and American troops but at rivalries within the Resistance. Of the two main sections, the branch loyal to General Charles de Gaulle was against an uprising by the Resistance while the branch linked to the communists believed action was necessary. De Gaulle tried to overcome communist influence during and after Liberation, believing the communists planned to take control of the city and then of France.

Production

The film is based on a best-selling book by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre and was directed by René Clément, from a screenplay by Gore Vidal and Francis Ford Coppola. The music is by Maurice Jarre. It later had words added by Maurice Vidalin and became a patriotic anthem sung by Mireille Mathieu under the title Paris en colère.

Is Paris Burning? stars Kirk Douglas, Glenn Ford, Gert Fröbe, Orson Welles, Anthony Perkins, Robert Stack, Charles Boyer, Yves Montand, Leslie Caron, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Simone Signoret and Alain Delon. It was fimed in 180 sites. Claude Rich plays two parts: General Leclerc, with moustache, and Lt Pierre de la Fouchardière, without moustache. He is credited at the end only with the part of Leclerc. His role as the young lieutenant is not by chance; Claude Rich, as a teenager, was watching soldiers in the street when the real-life Pierre de la Fouchardière called him into a building to protect him.

Box office receipts were disappointing.^{[citation needed]}

Cast

Awards

The film was nominated for two Academy Awards:^[1]

• Best Art Direction (Willy Holt, Marc Frédérix, Pierre Guffroy)
• Best Cinematography (Marcel Grignon)

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (November 2007)

• Spoofed in MAD Magazine in 1967 as "Is Paris Boring?"
• Referenced in The Sopranos episode "Cold Stones"
• In the video game Commandos 2: Men of Courage, there's also a level called "Is Paris Burning?"
• The video game Sakura Taisen 3 has the subtitle ~Pari wa Moeteiru ka~, Japanese for "Is Paris Burning?"

See also

• The Longest Day
• Battle of Britain
• Patton

References

External links

• Is Paris Burning? at the Internet Movie Database

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