Information
- BFI identifier619405
- Date1955-10-20 (Television)
- Production countryUnited Kingdom
- Production company
- SynopsisA television play set in a French farmhouse in the period just before D-Day. Madame Duclos runs a small guest house with the nominal support of her husband Henri, who has declared himself retired and cares only for his digestion and his games of draughts. With them live their painter son Michel, in a wheelchair since a climbing accident on his honeymoon, and his wife Janine. The household is completed by Gabriel, an old man whose son was shot at the beginning of the Occupation. Michel's portrait of Pierre, Gabriel's son, hangs proudly in the house. Madame Duclos is determined to maintain a family atmosphere in the house and will cooperate with the Germans to a certain extent. When a new German commanding officer is posted in their house, he creates tension by the fact that he seems a reasonable man. He has a great love of art and writes poetry himself. The only person not reconciled to him is Gabriel, who keeps his pistol from the battle of Verdun despite Madame Duclos' order to dispose of it. Janine finds herself in love with Bergmann, the German C.O., but when he confesses his feelings for her she tells him she will never desert her husband. One day, when Bergmann is away on manoeuvres, Sergeant Brandt, a German soldier, comes to the house looking for cognac. Janine is alone in the kitchen when he arrives drunk. He attempts to rape her but Gabriel enters and fights him off. Brandt destroys Pierre's portrait and Gabriel swears revenge. That night, Henri finds Gabriel and they return to the house. Gabriel has pushed Brandt down the cliffs and he confesses when Bergmann returns. The members of the house appeal to Bergmann to treat the case as an accident. He says he will recommend lieniency but that the matter is out of his hands. On the day of the Allied landings Bergmann leaves the house to join his retreating troops. Michel threatens to kill him with Gabriel's pistol but finds he cannot because of Bergmann's humanity. (NFA Catalogue)
- Genre
- Subject
- CreditsDirector: Alan Bromly
Production Company: Associated-Rediffusion
Production Manager: E.S. Laurie
view all - Cast
Title
Summer in Normandy (Original)
Category
Fiction- Collections
- Film / Video
- London Playhouse
Series Work - 768163
United Kingdom - TV - Fiction
- +Summer in Normandy
Work - 619405 - 1955-10-20 (Television)
United Kingdom - TV - Fiction
- +Summer in Normandy
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