Criterion’s Best Picture Oscar Nominees
February 22, 2012
Film Info
- France
- 1937
- 114 minutes
- Black and White
- 1.33:1
- French
- Spine #1
One of the very first prison escape movies, Grand Illusion is hailed as one of the greatest films ever made. Jean Renoir’s antiwar masterpiece stars Jean Gabin and Pierre Fresnay as French soldiers held in a World War I German prison camp, and Erich von Stroheim as the unforgettable Captain von Rauffenstein.
Cast
| Lieutenant Maréchal | Jean Gabin |
| Elsa | Dita Parlo |
| Captain de Boeldieu | Pierre Fresnay |
| Captain von Rauffenstein | Erich von Stroheim |
| Cartier, the actor | Julien Carette |
| The schoolmaster | Jean Dasté |
| Demolder | Sylvain Itkine |
| Charpentier | Georges Peclet |
| The engineer | Gaston Modot |
| Rosenthal | Marcel Dalio |
Credits
| Director | Jean Renoir |
| Screenplay | Jean Renoir and Charles Spaak |
| Cinematography | Christian Matras |
| Producer | Frank Rollmer and Albert Pinkovitch |
| Editing | Marguerite Houllé |
| Music | Joseph Kosma |
Disc Features
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- Newly restored digital transfer, created from the long-lost camera negative
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- A rare theatrical trailer in which Jean Renoir discusses both Grand Illusion and his personal war experiences
- Audio essay by film historian Peter Cowie
- Archival radio presentation: Renoir and Erich von Stroheim accept Grand Illusion’s Best Foreign Film honors at the 1938 New York Film Critics Awards
- Press book excerpts: Renoir’s letter “to the projectionist,” cast bios, an essay on Renoir by von Stroheim, and essays about the film’s title and recently recovered camera negative
- Restoration demonstration
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition
Cover illustration by Paul Davis
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