| The Battle of the Rails | |
| Director: | René Clément |
| Producer: | Pierre Lévy-Corti |
| Starring: | Marcel Barnault Jacques Desagneaux Jean Clarieux |
| Music: | Yves Baudrier |
| Cinematography: | Henri Alekan |
| Editing: | Jacques Desagneaux |
| Studio: | Coopérative Générale du Cinéma Français |
| Distributor: | Union Française de Production Cinématographique |
| Runtime: | 85 minutes |
| Country: | France |
| Language: | French |
The Battle of the Rails (French: La Bataille du rail) is a 1946 French war film directed by René Clément. It depicts the efforts by railway workers in the French Resistance to sabotage German military transport trains during the Second World War, particularly during the Invasion of Normandy by Allies.[1] Many of the cast were genuine railway workers.[2] While critics have often historically treated it as similar to Italian neorealism, it is closer to the traditional documentaries on which the director had worked.[3]
The film was shown at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Prix international du jury and Clément won the Best Director Award. The film also won the inaugural Prix Méliès. In 1949 the film was distributed in America by Arthur Mayer and Joseph Burstyn.