The Battle of the Rails

The Battle of the Rails (French: La Bataille du rail) is a 1946 French war film directed by René Clément. It depicts the efforts by railway workers in the French Resistance to sabotage German military transport trains during the Second World War, particularly during the Invasion of Normandy by Allies.^[1] Many of the cast were genuine railway workers.^[2] While critics have often historically treated it as similar to Italian neorealism, it is closer to the traditional documentaries on which the director had worked.^[3]

The Battle of the Rails
Directed by	René Clément
Written by	René Clément Colette Audry
Produced by	Pierre Lévy-Corti
Starring	Marcel Barnault Jacques Desagneaux Jean Clarieux
Cinematography	Henri Alekan
Edited by	Jacques Desagneaux
Music by	Yves Baudrier
Production company	Coopérative Générale du Cinéma Français
Distributed by	Union Française de Production Cinématographique
Release date	27 February 1946 (1946-02-27)
Running time	85 minutes
Country	France
Language	French

The film was shown at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Prix international du jury and Clément won the Best Director Award. The film also won the inaugural Prix Méliès. In 1949 the film was distributed in America by Arthur Mayer and Joseph Burstyn.