A group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal, grapple with their own class differences after being captured and held in a World War I German prison camp. When the men are transferred to a high-security fortress, they must concoct a plan to escape beneath the watchful eye of aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, who has formed an unexpected bond with de Boeldieu.
Elenco: Jean Gabin , Dita Parlo , Pierre Fresnay , Erich von Stroheim , Georges Péclet , Werner Florian , Jean Dasté , Sylvain Itkine , Marcel Dalio , Julien Carette , Gaston Modot , Jacques Becker , Habib Benglia , Pierre Blondy , Albert Brouett , George Forster , Georges Fronval , Karl Heil , Carl Koch , Little Peters , Claude Sainval , Michel Salina , Claude Vernier .