Renoir's celebrated WWI reverie on the vanishing aristocracy of blue-blooded military officers and the invincible fraternity of common fighting men. The film is constructed out of some of the most enduring and sentimental truisms about war; it achieves a fair number of unforgettable scenes (a smooth-cheeked young soldier dressing up in women's clothes for the hushed appreciation of his prison comrades; the interruption of the POW variety show with a spontaneous singing of "La Marseillaise"); and the actors -- Gabin, Fresnay, Von Stroheim -- are perhaps the once-in-a-lifetime cast they are reputed to be, but they nevertheless move at about the speed of oak trees and are just as haughty. (1938) — Duncan Shepherd
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