1940: Taking over French Cinema
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.
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Cast
15 people
Sarah-Jane Sauvegrain
Self (voice)
Also in
Chicks
Paris
Louis-Émile Galey
Self (archive footage)
Claude Heymann
Self (archive footage)
Known for
Shoot the Piano Player
Jean Dréville
Self (archive footage)
Also in
Intermediate Landing in Paris
Cinématon XVI
Marcel Carné
Self (archive footage)
Raoul Ploquin
Self (voice) (archive footage)
Henri Calef
Self (archive footage)
Jean-Paul Le Chanois
Self (archive footage)
Also in
It's in the Bag
The Gardener of Argenteuil
Michel Duran
Self (archive footage)
Also in
Bad Seed
Night at the Crossroads
Henri-Georges Clouzot
Self (archive footage)
Also in
Bardot, The Misunderstanding
Morceaux de Cannes
Hans Borgelt
Self (archive footage)
Danielle Darrieux
Self (archive footage)
Known for
Persepolis
The Earrings of Madame de...
Pierre-Henri Gibert Director · Christine Leteux Author Arnaud Guillemant Composer
First release May 19, 2019 · Produced in France · Languages French, German
Production
Talweg Production
Production
France Télévisions
Production
Histoire TV
Production
France
Produced in
Languages
Original title
1940, main basse sur le cinéma français
Original language
French
Spoken on screen
French · German
Release dates
France · May 19, 2019
TV · France 5
No release date listed for United States.
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