Army In The Shadows: Reviews

ALTERNATE SYNOPSIS:
"Army of Shadows" ("L'Armee Des Ombres") refers to the French Resistance--a group of underground warriors who fought against the Nazi during German Occupation of France. Philippe Gerbier (Lino Ventura), a civil engineer, is one of the French Resistance's chiefs. Betrayed by a young agent, he is arrested by the French Vichy Police who handed him to German's secret police. He succeeds to escape and joins his network at Marseilles. With the help of other members, he executes the traitor. Gerbier and his right-hand man, Felix Lepercq (Paul Crauchet) soon traveled to the Resistance's headquarter in London by a submarine. Unfortunately, in the course of an operation, Lepercq is caught and tortured by the Gestapo secret police. Gerbier's rescue plan fails and Lepercq's only way-out is to swallow a cyanide pill. Another major figure of the Resistance, Mathilde (Simone Signoret) is menaced by the Gestapo to tell all the secrets of the Resistance or her daughter will be sent to a military brothel. The secret boss of Resistance, Luc Jardie ordered his members, including Mathilde's teammates to execute her immediately. One by one, these underground heroes are led to face their tragic destiny... With Characters based on real-life heros, this film reveals true stories of French Resistance's history as both the original story writer Joseph Kessel and the director Jean-Pierre Melville were members of this "Army of Shadows " under Hitler’s regime.