Why a 1966 War Epic Used Green Nazi Flags Instead of Red Ones
In short: The 1966 war epic Is Paris Burning? captured the liberation of Paris with an international cast and massive scale. Yet, behind the scenes, the production faced bizarre constraints, including a ban on red Nazi flags, intense political censorship from Charles de Gaulle, and a volatile, ego-driven clash between its director and stars.
Directed by René Clément, Is Paris Burning? was a massive French-American co-production released in 1966. Based on the 1965 book by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, the film depicts the tense final days of the German occupation of Paris in August 1944. It follows the conflicting strategies of the French Resistance—divided between Gaullists and communists—and the moral dilemma of General Dietrich von Choltitz, who was ordered by Adolf Hitler to destroy the city before the Allies arrived.
The film's production was marked by peculiar technical and political hurdles. Because French authorities forbade the display of red Nazi flags on public buildings, the crew utilized green swastika flags, which appeared authentic when filmed in black and white. Beyond aesthetics, the production was subject to strict oversight by Charles de Gaulle. Screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola later described this as blatant political censorship, noting that de Gaulle insisted on minimizing the role of the French Communist Party in the city's liberation to preserve a specific national narrative.
Tensions were equally high among the cast and crew. Orson Welles, who played Swedish consul Raoul Nordling, reportedly refused to speak directly to Clément, despite being fluent in French. Meanwhile, a young Coppola found himself in a heated dispute with producer Paul Graetz over script revisions. Graetz, who died in 1966, famously clashed with the future director, leading to a legendary exchange where Coppola predicted his own long-term success. Despite these internal conflicts and the film's complex, multi-lingual production process—where scenes were shot in native languages and later dubbed—the film became the fourth-most-popular movie in France in 1966 and earned two Academy Award nominations.
The film remains a significant, if contested, historical dramatization. While it captures the dramatic tension of the liberation, its reliance on specific historical interpretations and the heavy hand of de Gaulle’s influence highlight the gap between cinematic spectacle and historical reality. By the time the final frames transition from black and white to contemporary color, the film cements its status as a grand, albeit flawed, monument to a pivotal moment in World War II.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Is Paris Burning? (film)
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