| Arch of Triumph (1985 film) | |
|---|---|
DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Waris Hussein |
| Produced by | Mort Abrahamson Peter Graham Scott John Newland |
| Written by | Charles E. Israel Erich Maria Remarque (novel) |
| Starring | Anthony Hopkins Lesley-Anne Down Donald Pleasence |
| Music by | Georges Delerue |
| Cinematography | Bob Edwards |
| Distributed by | Harlech Television (HTV) |
| Release date(s) | 1985 |
| Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Arch of Triumph is a 1985 British made-for-television film by Harlech Television. It is a remake of the 1948 film of the same name with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. Both films are based on the novel Arch of Triumph by Erich Maria Remarque, author of All Quiet on the Western Front.
This version was directed by Waris Hussein and produced by Mort Abrahamson, Peter Graham Scott and John Newland. The adaptation was by Charles E. Israel, the music score by Georges Delerue and the cinematography by Bob Edwards.
The film stars Anthony Hopkins, Lesley-Anne Down and Donald Pleasence with Frank Finlay, Joyce Blair and Richard Pasco.
In the film, Joan Madou (Lesley-Anne Down) sings J'attendrai.
Ravic (Anthony Hopkins), is an Austrian doctor who helped Jews escape from the Nazi regime. He was tortured in a concentration camp. In 1939 he is living in Paris, under a false name and without any documents, constantly aware of the risk of being arrested. At night, on one of Paris bridges over the Seine, Ravic meets Joan Madou (Lesley-Anne Down), a woman about to (possibly) attempt suicide, and helps her. This is the start of a romance. But the prickly Ravic has unfinished business with the Nazis, and he is separated from Joan after being discovered as refugee without papers. With no communications possible between them, they each try to manage under difficult circumstances and, when they finally met up again after six months of unexplained absence, there are shadows hanging over their relationship. They cautiously try to mend their broken affair as international events spin out of control around them.