The Battle of the Rails

The Battle of the Rails (French: La Bataille du rail) is a 1946 French docudrama war film co-written directed by René Clément in his feature directorial debut, and narrated by Charles Boyer. 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. Many of the cast were genuine railway workers. 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. The film was shown at the inaugural Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize and Clément won the Best Director Award. The film also won the inaugural Prix Méliès.