Le Grand cirque (1950)
Directed by Georges Péclet

Film Review

Le Grand cirque is an easily overlooked French war film adapted from a book of the same title by Pierre Clostermann, recounting the latter's experiences as a fighter pilot in the Free French Forces during WWII.  This was the fourth of ten films directed by Georges Péclet, who began his career as an actor and appeared in over eighty films, often in military roles in such film as Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion (1937) and André Hugon's Le Héros de la Marne (1938).  The dialogue was written by the journalist-turned-novelist Joseph Kessel, shortly after he adapted his own war-time novel as the far better known Le Bataillon du ciel (1947).  In common with many French war films made in the late 1940s, Le Grand cirque was a box office hit - it attracted an audience of three million.

Péclet was never a great director and Le Grand cirque is marred by some obvious flaws which undermine its impact somewhat.  Most of the film is set in England (at Biggin Hill), and a fair chunk of the dialogue is in English, and yet only one member of the cast is English, Pamela Skiff.  The aerial combat sequences are impressively shot and edited but there is an all too obvious mismatch between the archive material (including excerpts from German propaganda films) and footage that was shot for the film.  The film lacks a strong narrative thread to hold it together, and the characters are so poorly developed that it is hard to engage with any of them.  The abundance of war film clichés has the unfortunate effect of making parts of the film resemble a cruel parody of a wartime melodrama.

But there are also some good points.  Imperfect though it is, the film does convey a real sense of the strong bond of camaraderie between the airmen, and also their courage and tenacity, without making them out to be archetypal iron-willed action heroes.  Whilst many scenes are stiffly acted, awkwardy staged and fail to ring true, some have a blistering authenticity.  The best of these is the one set in rural France, where Pierre Larquey, playing a priest, comes to the aid of a pilot, saving him from a German patrol by hiding him in a coffin on his hearse ('Allo 'Allo wasn't so far fetched after all).  The presence of seasoned pros like Larquey and Édouard Delmont gives the film some badly needed jolts of down-to-earth realism, which the rest of the cast (most apparently made of wood) appear ill-equipped to provide.  Le Grand cirque is by no means a great film but it merits attention by dint of the heroic exploits it depicts, in a surprisingly casual and understated manner.  The most striking thing about Péclet's film is that war is presented not as an adventure or a great human tragedy, but as an unfortunate bit of business to be dealt with as best you can.

Film Synopsis

During WWII, French pilots are assigned to the British squadron at Biggin Hill and take part in a series of dangerous reconnaissance and combat missions.  Pierre Despont, Jacques Desmarets and Jean Loessig are three of these pilots, bound together by a close bond of friendship.  The casualty rate is high and the pilots' ranks are gradually thinning.  Shortly after embarking on a love affair with an English woman in the RAF, Jacques is sent on a disastrous mission.  He parachutes to safety but will not rejoin his squadron before the Allied invasion.  His fiancée learns of his fate by listening to reports on the radio...