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Le Comite de Liberation du Cinema FrancaisLa Liberation de Paris (1944)

La Libération de Paris is a documentary shot by the French Resistance during the battle of Paris in August 1944.
On August 15, the French Resistance set an uprising in the capital of France then occupied by the German. On August 25, the partisan snipers received backup as the Free French 2nd Armored Division of general Leclerc enters Paris. Urban warfare ensues involving Free French Forces and the German garrison. German and Vichy loyalists are taken prisoners as general Von Choltitz surrenders to Leclerc on August 25. The US enter the city later and de Gaulle delivers a famous speech.


This movie is part of the collection: Open Source Movies

Producer: Le Comite de Liberation du Cinema Francais
Production Company: le Comité de Libération du Cinéma Français
Audio/Visual: sound, black & white
Language: French
Keywords: liberation, de, paris, leclerc, FFI, resistance, von choltitz, de gaulle, france, world war II

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: hingerty - - September 14, 2009
Subject: von Choltitz the real hero
Theres another good flick with Orson Welles. "Is Paris Burning". I just dont ever see partisans as heroes. France was defeated. They lost fair and square. In fact many welcomed the Germans. There were Frenchmen dying in Russia when this happened. The Barbarossa Div was one of the last units in Berlin. HAd the good general not defied Adolfs orders to burn the city..things would have been different. This took courage. How was he repaid? His soldiers were attacked, killed, the ceasefire was violated. Parisian mobs just like to break the law. They also forget that Marshall Petain had a lot of followers. Prewar France was a mess. The occupation could have been worse. Like the way the Russians occupied Berlin. Parrtisans had their chance to play soldier. The penalty for being a terrorist is death. Liberation? Gimme a break. Germany was fighting communism. We were helping Stalin.

Reviewer: oscar100 - - April 22, 2008
Subject: Paris - free again !
And so, Paris became a free city again on 25 August 1944. Paris had showed its strength many times earlier, in 1830, 1848 and in 1870. Building barricades and fighting the invading troops was no less than a tradition. The many fighting situations, both with and without the supporting French Second Exile Army together with American units, show the fierceness and the bloody endings for many of the humans involved. There are glimpses of Allied tanks, proceeding directly into Hitler´s last counterstrike - the Battle of the Bulge, in the Ardennes during the winter of 1944. This film was shown in cinemas all over the world for a long time after the war had ended. As a boy, I saw parts of it during the Fifties in Malmö, Sweden. An important document, all about one of this world´s true gems - Paris.

Reviewer: Eva Vikstrom - - July 5, 2007
Subject: La Marseillaise
An excellent movie about the liberation of Paris in August 1944. It's a montage of films by cineasts within the resistance movement, depicting the events 16-26 August and commented by a speaker. A movie like this has great historical value, of course - the picture given by the newsreels is broadened. The heroes of this movie are partisans, Parisians and the Allies together. There are lots of impressive, moving and unforgettable scenes - partisans, capitulating Nazis, ordinary people and places. The story ends with the victory: cheering crowds, de Gaulle and "la Marseillaise".

The copy is very good, sharp and clear, but 320 x 240 only. I hope to see a copy of this great movie in higher resolution. Thanks for sharing anyway! A must see for anyone interested in WW2 history and footage.

Credits

le Comité de Libération du Cinéma Français (disbanded)