Watch The Grand Manoeuvre For Free

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Admirable film.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

or, more precise, charming. for its delicate elegance , for the presence of Michele Morgan, Gerard Philippe and Brigitte Bardot, for the French spirit of a so old period and for impeccable performances. and, in same measure, for a form of... magic. because it is a simple story about appearances, love and seduction, about charm and bets, about an innocent age of Europe before the WW I. and this transforms the film of Rene Clair not only in a seductive work but in support for reflection about art and illusion and the work of remarkable actors."The Grand Maneuver" is a classic. but the motifs of this status are many and fragile. like a letter from a lost world. so, see it !

I admit, I was not very big in this film for the most part of it. But hey, is very good from a visual standpoint. We have very unexpected angles and a weird set of lights. Look at how messy the lights are in this film. It helps even more to put focus in the characters. In fact, it alone put a focus in the characters, because they become darken than the set's natural light. And the plot is kinda ugh, you know what I mean? Very cliché. Sure, back in 1955, this kind of 'Guy wants to date girl because of bet with friend" must have been interesting and very original, but nowadays? Not very much, if you ask me. Maybe this is the film that started all these clichés? Well, I don't know, further research is welcomed. But anyway, the editing, the transition of scenes is very crazy, and certainly a very good technique aesthetically talking. This technique alone can change completely the film's ambient.Is kinda interesting and even funny at times, but yeah, for the most part there is nothing that you already haven't seen before made much better than in this film.

Is it possible to hurt those who are incorrigibly superficial? Probably. In René Clair's Les Grandes Manoeuvres, an amusing film of manners, morals and seduction, you can watch how to do it in style. Lieutenant Armand de la Verne (Gerard Philipe) is a dashing young officer of the 33rd Dragoons. His regiment is based in a small provincial French town. The time is well before World War I. de la Verne has a reputation of having seduced just about every daughter, wife and mistress among the town's grande bourgeoisie and petit nobility, not to mention their maids and a number of night club singers. He's charming, confident, light-hearted and may even mean some of those endearments and pledges he whispers, at least when he's whispering them. His regiment will be going on maneuvers in 30 days, and a wager is placed between his friends in the regiment and their civilian friends. A woman will be chosen at random, and if Armand has not seduced her before the regiment leaves, he and his friends will pay for a sumptuous farewell dinner. If he succeeds, their friends will pay. Armand is supremely confident. So are his friends. The woman turns out to be Marie-Louise Riviere (Michelle Morgan), single, divorced and the proprietor of a millinery shop. The women of the town have been polite toward her but suspicious. She is, after all, an outsider and divorced. A reputation can be extraordinarily fragile when upper-class gossips start whispering together. Not only does Lt. de la Verne begin finding reasons to be gallant toward Madame Riviere, so does Victor Duverger (Jean Desailly), a cautious citizen of the town who is just as worried about his own reputation. He has two sisters who don't approve. Marie-Louise has no wish to see her reputation ruined, despite all those who are observing and who love to have something to talk about behind their fans. Then, to Armand's befuddlement, in the process of seduction he begins to fall in love. By then, everyone is aware of his attempts with Marie- Louise, and all his well-worn (and previously successful lines) are repeated with laughter by his friends, by the women he has seduced and in some cases even by those he didn't. Marie- Louise hears the whispers...even worse, she learns of the wager. This movie which is so stylish, which glows and smiles with such elegant artificiality, has a decidedly ironic ending. The movie is permeated with a gorgeous sense of unreality. The costumes and colors are vibrant; the scenes in the town streets, the drawing rooms, the ball rooms are almost like exquisite drawings. The officers strut along in their red pants, polished black boots and stiff collars. It's apparent that to be a success as an officer one must dance well. Michelle Morgan is a vision with her long neck, blond hair and enigmatic eyes. Gerard Philipe, however, is the center of the story. He's a seducer, a happy comrade, a man who loves a challenge in love and is unafraid of a challenge for a duel. He is so completely superficial that his growing acquaintance with love and his final look at a pair of closed shutters is touching. Gerard Philipe was one of France's greatest actors and leading men in the Fifties. He was 33 when he made this film. He was dead four years later. He said he was feeling poorly and went to his doctors for a check up. They discovered he had cancer of the liver. He died weeks later at the age of 37. And for those whose pulse may not quicken at the thought of watching a foreign language film, remember that René Clair worked in Hollywood during WWII (and was stripped of his French citizenship by the Vichy government). Look for I Married a Witch, It Happened Here and And Then There Were None.

I couldn't disagree more with the disappointed viewer. Maybe my Frenchness helps me put up with the "chauvinism" depicted in the film (lord knows I'm not into male chauvinists, but this film doesn't necessarily treat them well), the fact is I love it and this is one of my favourite films. Gérard Philipe is wonderful (his character isn't that bad - he is very good at pulling women and very charming, and besides none of this does him any good, he is unhappy in the end), Michèle Morgan has quite a few good lines, I like the music and the song (Magali Noël sings in the movie), and the supporting cast is grand. Sure, Le Million is a great film, but Les Grandes Manoeuvres is nothing René Clair should be ashamed of.