The best Claude Rich’s war movies

Near the end of World War II, Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz receives orders to burn down Paris if it becomes clear the Allies are going to invade, or if he cannot maintain control of the city. After much contemplation Choltitz decides to ignore his orders, enraging the Germans and giving hope to various resistance factions that the city will be liberated. Choltitz, along with Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling, helps a resistance leader organize his forces.

The last days of World War I, Eastern front. Captain Conan, a lone wolf, a true warrior, leads a band of ruthless French fighters who love hand-to-hand combat; they are not fit for peacetime, they only feel really alive in the chaos of the battlefield.

This French version of the notorious spy's life centers less on her romantic escapades, and more on those that reveal the person she actually was during WW I when her German superiors ordered her to seduce the French captain Trintignant so she can steal classified papers from him. Instead she falls in love with him, blows the cover, and ends up convicted of espionage and shot. (AllMovie)

"Le Crabe Tambour" ("Drummer Crab") is the nickname for the mysterious central character, Willsdorff (Jacques Perrin), an Alsatian, whose doomed, out-of-date career is recalled through the tales of three naval officers currently serving aboard a French supply ship in the North Atlantic.

The story serves as a companion piece to Renoir's 1937 film, Grand Illusion, once more bringing together men from across the broad social spectrum of French society to depict one man's Sisyphean efforts to escape captivity in a German POW camp.

A diverse group of friends gather to celebrate a witless woman's birthday in this comedy drama set in France during World War II. The guests include an uncle who is a Nazi collaborator, a blind war veteran, a simpering physician, an arrogant educator, a patriotic girl, and the husband of the guest of honor. When some German soldiers are killed outside the house, the group is told by the Gestapo that they must choose among themselves two who will be shot if the killer is not caught. If two victims are not chosen, all seven at the party will be captured. Things sound pretty grim, but the black comedy begins when all seven try to save themselves by any means possible.