To add an interesting twist, check the subtitles on the DVD. The English subtitles say de Gaulle. The French ones say Weygand…
Eric
That doesn’t sound familiar. I believe de Gaulle was pretty much accepted as the leader of the Free French government. The issue was how much actual authority that government had.
As I said before, in 1941 the United States recognized the Vichy regime as the legitimate French government. After the US joined the war, it switched its support to de Gaulle. However in 1942, American forces occupied French territory in Northwest Africa and fortuitously captured Admiral Darlan, a Vichy military leader who was inspecting troops there. Local American generals made a deal with Darlan whereby he co-operated with the American occupation in return for recognition of his authority over French territory. De Gaulle was bitterly opposed to recognizing the authority of any Vichy leader. This was heading towards quite a controversy when it was resolved by Darlan’s assassination by partisans. Perhaps this is the rivalry you’re thinking of.
Probably.
Thanks.
I watched my DVD of the movie over the weekend, and Ugarte definitely, positively, unmistakably says “Weygand” in that scene.
But it’s only obvious because my mind was open to the idea that he could have been saying that. In the past I’d always assumed he was saying “de Gaulle,” so that’s what I heard.
I also noticed a continuity error that I’ve missed all of the umpteen other times I’ve seen the movie. In the flashback sequence set in Paris, Rick and Sam walk through the rain to board their train. We see them walking away through the camera, and they’re drenched; their coats and hats are glistening with water.
Then we cut to a shot of them stepping onto the train, and they’re both completely dry.
Not a big deal; I’m just surprised I never noticed before.
It appears I was wrong in my previous post. With a little further research, I found that there was an American backed rival used to attempt to challenge de Gaulle’s leadership. General Henri Giraud was captured by the Germans when France fell but escaped and made it to England. The Americans later attempted to promote him as an plausible leader to the Free French whenever they felt de Gaulle was acting difficult. Giraud however lacked any obvious real leadership potential and de Gaulle’s support within the Free French movement was never seriously threatened.
Thanks, Nemo.