Grand Illusion

[Dave Monroe]

I got lucky and saw this on the big screen here,
without, however, the benefit of having seen any
interim version (I've also only ever seen the original
cut of The Big Sleep).  Note, by the way, not only how
The Great Escape (an favorite of mine) borrows from it
(e.g., the way the P.O.W.'s dispose of tunneled dirt),
but also that Madonna used the name of the actress who
shelters Jean Gabin, Dita Parlo, as her alter-ego in
Sex.  Seemingly prescient about WWII, and note notes
of antisemitism within, even amongst (however
jokingly) the P.O.W.'s.  Anyway, I'd thought that the
English dialogue was indicative of the educational
backgrounds of the aristocratic characters, but you
raise an interesting point.  Didn't find anything
addressing it in particular doing a quick search here,
but perhaps there is something a bit subversive going
on there, at that, in that said aristocratic learning
is not quite so learned.  Could be just formulaic
smalltalk, or even one character challenging another
by playing that multilingual card.  Have a screenplay,
will look into it ...

--- Jeremy Osner <jeremy at xyris.com> wrote:
> Saw a great movie last night, Renoir's *Grand
> Illusion* (1937!)
> 
> Anyways, I was wondering: most of the dialog in the
> movie is in German or
> French; but at occasional key moments the characters
> start speaking in English.
> The English they use at these times tends to be very
> stilted, and it sounded to
> me like they were probably quoting popular American
> movies of the time, though I
> did not recognize any of the lines. E.g. when the
> two lead characters first
> meet, they talk about a mutual acquaintance, and von
> Stroheim says (something
> like), "He was a marvelous rider, back in the day."
> Sounds like it's lifted from
> a Western, no? Can anyone confirm or shoot down my
> hypothesis, or give more
> info?
> 
> Thanks,
> Jeremy


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