1940: Taking over French Cinema

9.0
201955m

Paris, 1940. German occupation forces create a new film production company, Continental, and put Alfred Greven – producer, cinephile, and opportunistic businessman – in charge. During the occupation, under Joseph Goebbels’s orders, Greven hires the best artists and technicians of French cinema to produce successful, highly entertaining films, which are also strategically devoid of propaganda. Simultaneously, he takes advantage of the confiscation of Jewish property to purchase film theaters, studios and laboratories, in order to control the whole production line. His goal: to create a European Hollywood. Among the thirty feature films thus produced under the auspices of Continental, several are, to this day, considered classics of French cinema.

Production

Logo for Talweg Production
Logo for France Télévisions
Logo for Histoire TV

Cast

Photo of Jean Dréville

Jean Dréville

Self (archive footage)

Photo of Marcel Carné

Marcel Carné

Self (archive footage)

Photo of Jean-Paul Le Chanois

Jean-Paul Le Chanois

Self (archive footage)

Photo of Michel Duran

Michel Duran

Self (archive footage)

Photo of Henri-Georges Clouzot

Henri-Georges Clouzot

Self (archive footage)

Photo of Danielle Darrieux

Danielle Darrieux

Self (archive footage)

Photo of Max Douy

Max Douy

Self (archive footage)

Photo of Charles Spaak

Charles Spaak

Self (archive footage)

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