La Grande Vadrouille

During World War II, when their combat aircraft is shot down by the Germans, three English airmen parachute to the comparative safety of Nazi occupied France. One lands on the scaffold of an amiable painter and decorator, Augustin. Another lands on top of a concert hall and is rescued by the irascible but patriotic conductor Stanislas Lefort. The third ends up in the otter enclosure of a Parisian zoo.

When they try to help the airmen keep a rendezvous at the Turkish baths in Paris, Augustin and Stanislas quickly find that they themselves have become targets for the German soldiers. Assisted by the daughter of a puppeteer and an anti-German nun, the two reluctant heroes accompany the three airmen on a reckless trek across France towards the safety of the neutral zone.

One of France’s most cherished films since 1966, La Grande Vadrouille will be screened in a glorious 4K restoration, to the accompaniment of a fine score which finds composer Georges Auric in cahoots with Hector Berlioz.