L'armée des ombres/Army of Shadows (Film 1969 - ENG SUB)

Army of Shadows (French: L'Armée des ombres; Italian: L'armata degli eroi) is a 1969 Franco-Italian World War II suspense-drama film written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, and starring Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, and Simone Signoret. Audio in French with English subtitles (click on CC for subtitles).

It is an adaptation of Joseph Kessel's 1943 book of the same name, which mixes Kessel's experiences as a member of the French Resistance with fictional versions of other Resistance members.

The film follows a small group of Resistance fighters as they move between safe houses, work with the Allied militaries, kill informers, and attempt to evade the capture and execution that they know is their most likely fate. While portraying its characters as heroic, the film presents a bleak, unromantic view of the Resistance.

Cast & Characters:
Lino Ventura as Philippe Gerbier, a civil engineer who leads a French Resistance cell based in Lyon
Paul Meurisse as "Saint" Luc Jardie, who, unknown to his brother Jean-François, is a senior member of the Resistance. This character is partly based on the philosopher and Resistance leader Jean Cavaillès.
Jean-Pierre Cassel as Jean-François Jardie, Luc's younger brother, who joins Gerbier's Resistance cell through his friendship with Félix
Simone Signoret as Mathilde, who becomes Gerbier's assistant
Claude Mann as Claude "Le Masque" Ullmann, the youngest member of Gerbier's Resistance cell
Paul Crauchet as Félix Lepercq, a member of Gerbier's Resistance cell
Christian Barbier as Guillaume "Le Bison" Vermersch, a member of Gerbier's Resistance cell
Serge Reggiani as the barber who gives Gerbier a shave and a jacket
André "Colonel Passy" Dewavrin as himself, an official of the Free France intelligence services based in London
Alain Dekok as Legrain, the young Communist who works at the power plant of the internment camp to which Gerbier is sent
Alain Mottet as the commander of the internment camp to which Gerbier is sent
Alain Libolt as Paul Dounat, the young member of Gerbier's Resistance cell who is killed by for informing on his associates
Jean-Marie Robain as Baron de Ferté-Talloire, who lets Gerbier use his estate for Resistance activities
Albert Michel as the gendarme who escorts Gerbier to the internment camp
Denis Sadier as the doctor at the Gestapo headquarters in Lyon
Georges Sellier as Colonel Jarret du Plessis, who is held in the same building as Gerbier at the internment camp
Marco Perrin as Octave Bonnafous, a traveling salesman who is held in the same building as Gerbier at the internment camp
Hubert de Lapparent as Aubert, a pharmacist who is held in the same building as Gerbier at the internment camp
Colin Mann as the RAF soldier who rides in the plane with Gerbier
Anthony Stuart as the RAF Major who teaches Gerbier about his parachuting equipment
Michel Fretault as the "anonymous patriot" who escapes with Gerbier in Paris
Michel Dacquin as one of Gerbier's cellmates after he is apprehended in the restaurant
Jeanne Pérez as Marie, Luc's maid
Pierre Vaudier as the man at the antique shop
Jacques Marbeuf as the German officer and lead interrogator at the Gestapo headquarters in Lyon.
Marcel Bernier as the customs agent who comes across Jean-François on the beach at night (uncredited)
Nathalie Delon, who had made her big-screen debut in Melville's previous film, Le Samouraï (1967), has a cameo appearance in Army of Shadows as the woman with Jean-François at the bar in Marseille. The film's editor, Françoise Bonnot, plays the secretary at the talent agency in Lyon.