The Old Gun

1975 1h 43m FR

🙌

7.5

BANGER

⭐

7.5

IMDB

★7.5TMDB · 301★7.5IMDB · 5,024

DramaHistoryWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In Montauban in 1944, Julien Dandieu is a surgeon in the local hospital. Frightened by the German army entering Montauban, he asks his friend Francois to drive his wife and his daughter in the back country village where Julien has an old castle. One week later, Julien decides to meet them for the week end, but the Germans are already occupying the village.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Philippe Noiret
Julien Dandieu
Romy Schneider
Clara Dandieu
Jean Bouise
François
Joachim Hansen
SS Officer
Robert Hoffmann
German Lieutenant
Karl Michael Vogler
Dr. Müller
Caroline Bonhomme
Florence Dandieu (8 years old)
Catherine Delaporte
Florence Dandieu (13 years old)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Robert Enrico
Writers: Robert Enrico, Pascal Jardin, Claude Veillot
Languages: German, French
Countries: France, Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

51 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: German, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: France, Germany.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Robert Enrico, shot by Étienne Becker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by François de Roubaix. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Eva Zora shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Philippe Noiret and Romy Schneider and Jean Bouise carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0073864 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert Enrico directs. Étienne Becker behind the camera. François de Roubaix scores. Eva Zora cuts. Produced in France, Germany. Dialogue in German, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

151 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: German, French.
3International production across 2 countries: France, Germany.
4Directed by Robert Enrico, shot by Étienne Becker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by François de Roubaix. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Eva Zora shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Philippe Noiret and Romy Schneider and Jean Bouise carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt0073864 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 23 themes, including "dying and death", "rape", "repayment", "ss (nazi schutzstaffel)".
10Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Étienne Becker
Original score: François de Roubaix
Editing: Eva Zora
Costume design: Corinne Jorry
Makeup / hair: Didier Lavergne
Runtime: 103 min · 1h 43m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: FR
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Old Gun (1975)
IMDB rating: 7.5/10 · 5,024 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

4 wins & 6 nominations

César Award for Best Actor
César Award for Best Film
César Award for Best Music Written for a Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Robert Enrico

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-09-07
★ 7/10
The Allies are closing in on their small town, but not quite quickly enough for the liking of local surgeon “Dandieu” (Philippe Noiret) so he relocates his wife and daughter to their remote castle, well off the beaten track, in the hope that they can sit out the rest of the war safely. When he takes a drive out to see them some time after, he arrives at it’s small chapel to be met by a vision of carnage. Racing to the castle, he gets there just in time to see the brutality of the Nazis at their worst and immediately vows revenge. Just how, though, can this civilised old gent possibly inflict any sort of vengeance on this well armed troop? Well, for a start he has an old shotgun that had been carefully hidden amidst the tunnels beneath the building. Then there are these particularly useful tunnels themselves; there’s a secret passageway up into the salon and finally, he’s an ingenious chap who considers that he now has very little left to lose. Fuelled by some intermittent reminiscences of life with his wife (Romy Schneider) and nimble on his feet, Noiret now proceeds to present us with an almost entertaining rabbit-shoot of a scenario before a denouement that is entirely fitting and yet touching, too. There’s not a great deal of dialogue: the imagery does enough of the speaking, and the whole scenario paints quite a potent picture of the dangers faced by many decent people whose lives were terrorised by these brutes during WWII. It also touches, slightly, on the psychological effects of what he witnessed and their aftermath: his sense of purpose serving to divert his realisation of just what had happened long enough to get the job done. Schneider doesn’t feature so often, but when she does she not only lights up the production but her character’s brief appearances emphasise just how ghastly and inhumane their occupiers really were, and that presence is also well epitomised by Joachim Hansen’s SS officer. Some attention has gone into the look of the film and with a Noiret very much on-form, it’s well worth a watch.

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