Is Paris Burning?

""Burn Paris!" was the order that had come shrieking over the phone."

1966 2h 53m FR

👍

7.2

SOLID

🍅

75%

FRESH

⭐

6.8

IMDB

★7.2TMDB · 231🍅75%Rotten Tomatoes★6.8IMDB · 5,409

WarDramaHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Near the end of World War II, General Dietrich von Choltitz receives orders to burn down Paris if it becomes clear the Allies are going to invade, or if he's unable to maintain control of the city. After much contemplation, Choltitz ignores orders, enraging the Germans and giving hope to various resistance factions that the city will be liberated. Choltitz, alongside Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling, helps a leader organise his forces.

“"Burn Paris!" was the order that had come shrieking over the phone.”

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Cast

Jean-Paul Belmondo
Yvon Morandat
Charles Boyer
Doctor Monod
Leslie Caron
Françoise Labé
Jean-Pierre Cassel
Lt. Henri Karcher
George Chakiris
GI in Tank
Bruno Cremer
Colonel Rol Tanguy
Claude Dauphin
Colonel Lebel
Alain Delon
Jacques Chaban-Delmas

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: René Clément
Writers: Larry Collins, Francis Ford Coppola, Dominique LaPierre
Languages: English, French, German
Countries: France, United States of America

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

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 173 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

60 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, German.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: France, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by René Clément, shot by Marcel Grignon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Maurice Jarre. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jean-Paul Belmondo and Charles Boyer and Leslie Caron carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

René Clément directs. Marcel Grignon behind the camera. Maurice Jarre scores. Robert Lawrence cuts. A long sit — settle in. Produced in France, United States of America. Dialogue in English, French, German.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 173 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
260 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, German.
4International production across 2 countries: France, United States of America.
5Directed by René Clément, shot by Marcel Grignon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Maurice Jarre. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Robert Lawrence shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Jean-Paul Belmondo and Charles Boyer and Leslie Caron carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: ""Burn Paris!" was the order that had come shrieking over the phone.".
10IMDB entry: tt0060814 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 23 themes, including "france", "paris, france", "germany", "resistance".
12Released under 34 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Marcel Grignon
Original score: Maurice Jarre
Editing: Robert Lawrence
Production design: Willy Holt
Costume design: Pierre Nourry
Makeup / hair: Aïda Carange
Sound: Jacques Carrère
Runtime: 173 min · 2h 53m
Status: Released
Original language: FR
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Is Paris Burning? (1966)
Rotten Tomatoes: 75% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 6.8/10 · 5,409 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Nominated for 2 Oscars. 4 nominations total

Also by

René Clément

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-06-18
★ 6/10
With the Allies rapidly approaching Paris, the general in charge of the city is issued with orders by his Führer to prepare plans to destroy the city. Fortunately, von Choltitz (Gert Fröbe) is not convinced that in the face of imminent defeat, this is the right thing to do - so he obeys, but in a rather lacklustre and half-hearted fashion. Meantime, scenting victory, the resistance are starting to make their own plans to seize control of increasingly larger parts of the city ready for the arrival of George Patton's American troops. René Clément has assembled a pretty stellar cast here with Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Boyer, Leslie Caron, Alain Delon - a veritable who's who of French cinema supported by brief cameos from Kirk Douglas and Glenn Ford. The problem for me is with the pace of the thing. It's not just that it's fractionally shy of three hours long, it's that it tries to tell the story in too bitty a fashion. We dart about the chronology and geography just a bit too often for the story to have much cohesion and there are simply too many characters for us to keep up with - a little like "The Longest Day" from 1962. It serves as a useful piece of propaganda, though, illustrating that it was to the French that the Nazis surrendered and that they were poised to ease into the civilian government of France as soon as the Swastika fell. As is always the case, the best history is always written by the winners - so I'm not sure just how accurate this is, but at least we know who emerges victorious in the end.

Production companies