The Battle of the Rails explained

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.

Cast

See also

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Macron's Been Working on the Railroad . . Robert . Zaretsky . 4 April 2018 . René Clément’s classic 1946 film The Battle of the Rails suggests wartime life expectancy of cheminots was even lower – at least among those who sought to sabotage the Nazi war machine in France..
  2. Williams p.303
  3. Williams p.303