Shock Troops (French: Un homme de trop) is a 1967 French-Italian action drama film directed by Costa-Gavras. It was entered into the 5th Moscow International Film Festival. Film producer Harry Saltzman has a "presented by" credit.
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Plot
Set in central France, the film follows a group of French resistance fighters who mount attacks on occupying German forces during World War II. They break into a prison and release some prisoners facing imminent execution, but suspect there may be an informer amongst them. As their campaign continues, they have to decide his fate.
Cast
Charles Vanel as Passevin
Bruno Cremer as Cazal
Jean-Claude Brialy as Jean
Michel Piccoli as The Extra Man
Gérard Blain as Thomas
Claude Brasseur as Groubec
Jacques Perrin as Kerk
François Périer as Moujon
Claude Brosset as Ouf
Pierre Clémenti as Lucian
Michel Creton as Solin
Paolo Fratini as Philippe
Julie Dassin as Girl
Nino Segurini as Lecocq
Marc Porel as Octave
Production
Following the success of his first feature film, The Sleeping Car Murders, Costa-Gavras was approached by American producer Harry Saltzman, who gave him free rein over his next project. The filmmaker then expressed a desire to adapt André Malraux's La Condition humaine, but this idea alarmed Saltzman. The latter subsequently proposed Jean-Pierre Chabrol's novel about the French Resistance.