During World War I, three french soldiers, the working class Marechal (Gabin), the middle-class Jew Rosenthal (Dalio) and the aristocratic Boieldieu (Fresnay), after attempting to escape from various German POW camps, are held prisoner in a fortress run by the commandant Von Rauffenstein (von Stroheim). Boieldieu dies so that Marechal and Rosenthal can escape. They make their way to a farm, where a German war widow (Parlo) gives them refuge before they can get across the border to Switzerland.

Jean Renoir's most popular film, based on a true story, is not only a moving anti-war statement (though none of the war is seen), but a rich exploration of class loyalties and transcending friendships. Von Rauffenstein believes he has more in common with Boieldieu than they have with their fellow countrymen because of class. The fluid deep-focus photography (Renoir tried to keep people in frame at the same time giving them equal status), the set-pieces like the singing of "La Marseillaise" during theatricals by prisoners in drag, and the extraordinarily sensitive performances, make La Grande Illusion one of cinema's most enduring masterpieces.