The French film La bataille du rail/The Battle of the Rails (René Clément, 1946) dealt with the courageous efforts of French railroad workers who were part of organized resistance during the Second World War. In 1944, the train workers derailed a train destined for German military transports. The Nazis killed hostages at a station as revenge. At the 1946 Cannes Film Festival the film won the International Jury Award, while René Clément won the Best Director Award.
![La bataille du rail]()
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
![La bataille du rail]()
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
![La bataille du rail]()
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
![La bataille du rail]()
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
![La bataille du rail]()
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
La bataille du rail/The Battle of the Rails (René Clément, 1946) was in part commissioned by the Associations of the Resistance soon after the end of the Second World War. 'La résistance' wanted to show international audiences what the French population had been facing under Nazi oppression.
The Resistance was also keen to let the world know that they had been actively involved in disrupting the German war machine in France as the international perception at the time was that the French had capitulated and collaborated a little too easily with their Nazi captors.
Based on real life events that occurred between the Normandy Landings and the liberation, when the French resistance frustrated the effort of the Nazis to use the rails to reinforce their army in many ways - ranging from sabotaging the tracks and equipment to even attacks on the trains themselves by partisans.
Johnek Bloomfield at IMDb: "Clément carefully avoids making the film too didactic or sentimental. We can see how the ruthlessness of the occupying forces in rooting out the saboteurs and their anti-Semitism is not overplayed as their portrayal seems appropriate to a modern audience not directly scarred by the events shown. Another way in which he achieves this is through the way the camera stays relatively detached from the action, showing the events almost like a documentary rather than forcing us to identify with any of the characters. It has been said that the cast was made up of unprofessional actors and in some cases real railwaymen. This adds to the realism and creates an effect where no one film star stands out as an obvious 'hero', enforcing a message of 'ordinary men doing what they had to'."
La bataille du rail was director René Clément's first feature. The film was shot on the actual locations with a cast of non-professional actors, who are all only referred to by their surnames in the opening credits. Cinematographer Henri Alekan actually had been a member of the Resistance, having escaped from a Nazi POW camp.
The film was a huge success in France when it premiered in 1946, one year after liberation. At the Cannes Film Festival, the film won the Prix international du jury and Clément won the Best Director Award. La bataille du rail also won the inaugural Prix Méliès.
However, La bataille du rail was quickly withdrawn from circulation, as it showed how to sabotage the railroads. At the time France was at war in Indochina and didn't want to feed the Việt Minh with ideas.
In 2010, La Bataille Du Rail/The Battle of the Rails was hailed as one of the classics of world cinema when it was shown in the Cannes Classics section during 63rd Cannes International Film Festival. It has been fully restored by INA in France.
![La bataille du rail]()
French postcard. Photo A. Delage. Publicity still for the French film La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946). The film dealt with the courageous efforts during the Second World War of French train workers to derail a train destined for German military transports. The Germans kill hostages at a station as revenge.
![La bataille du rail]()
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
![La bataille du rail]()
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
![La bataille du rail (1946)]()
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
![La bataille du rail]()
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
![La bataille du rail]()
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
![La bataille du rail]()
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
Trailer La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946). Source: Yves Lemerce (YouTube).
Sources: Johnek Bloomfield (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
Disrupting the German war machine
La bataille du rail/The Battle of the Rails (René Clément, 1946) was in part commissioned by the Associations of the Resistance soon after the end of the Second World War. 'La résistance' wanted to show international audiences what the French population had been facing under Nazi oppression.
The Resistance was also keen to let the world know that they had been actively involved in disrupting the German war machine in France as the international perception at the time was that the French had capitulated and collaborated a little too easily with their Nazi captors.
Based on real life events that occurred between the Normandy Landings and the liberation, when the French resistance frustrated the effort of the Nazis to use the rails to reinforce their army in many ways - ranging from sabotaging the tracks and equipment to even attacks on the trains themselves by partisans.
Johnek Bloomfield at IMDb: "Clément carefully avoids making the film too didactic or sentimental. We can see how the ruthlessness of the occupying forces in rooting out the saboteurs and their anti-Semitism is not overplayed as their portrayal seems appropriate to a modern audience not directly scarred by the events shown. Another way in which he achieves this is through the way the camera stays relatively detached from the action, showing the events almost like a documentary rather than forcing us to identify with any of the characters. It has been said that the cast was made up of unprofessional actors and in some cases real railwaymen. This adds to the realism and creates an effect where no one film star stands out as an obvious 'hero', enforcing a message of 'ordinary men doing what they had to'."
La bataille du rail was director René Clément's first feature. The film was shot on the actual locations with a cast of non-professional actors, who are all only referred to by their surnames in the opening credits. Cinematographer Henri Alekan actually had been a member of the Resistance, having escaped from a Nazi POW camp.
The film was a huge success in France when it premiered in 1946, one year after liberation. At the Cannes Film Festival, the film won the Prix international du jury and Clément won the Best Director Award. La bataille du rail also won the inaugural Prix Méliès.
However, La bataille du rail was quickly withdrawn from circulation, as it showed how to sabotage the railroads. At the time France was at war in Indochina and didn't want to feed the Việt Minh with ideas.
In 2010, La Bataille Du Rail/The Battle of the Rails was hailed as one of the classics of world cinema when it was shown in the Cannes Classics section during 63rd Cannes International Film Festival. It has been fully restored by INA in France.
French postcard. Photo A. Delage. Publicity still for the French film La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946). The film dealt with the courageous efforts during the Second World War of French train workers to derail a train destined for German military transports. The Germans kill hostages at a station as revenge.
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
French postcard. Photo: A. Delage. Publicity still for La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946).
Trailer La bataille du rail (René Clément, 1946). Source: Yves Lemerce (YouTube).
Sources: Johnek Bloomfield (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.