March of Time -- outtakes -- Head shaving of French women accused of collaboration with the Germans
Creator(s)
- March of Time, Inc. (Producer)
- United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Motion Picture Reference
Scope and Content
Scenes of retaliation against accused collaborators in Cherbourg (first scenes), Rennes, and perhaps elsewhere in France. A group of women with shaved heads, who collaborated or consorted with the Germans, sit in the back of an open truck. The truck is surrounded by male onlookers. Two men hold a paper sign above the heads of the women. The women start moving down the street, and a man lifts and then drops a pile of hair. Shots of men cutting the hair of two women. The women hide their faces while a man cuts off their hair with scissors. Close-up of the sign, which reads, "Le Char des Collaboratrices." An American soldier photographing the scene is visible in a wider shot. Crowds on the street as women and men, holding their hands in the air, are led from a building. One woman's face is smeared with what appears to be blood. The police attempt to hold the crowd in check, but a woman is punched and kicked from behind as she walks past. One of the last men to be brought out is held by the back of his shirt. A man in the crowd attacks him and punches him a couple of times before the fight is broken up. The next scene shows some kind of informal trial and punishment of women accused of collaboration. A woman stands before a table set up outside, behind which a few men sit. The women plead their cases (or confront their accusers?), some of whom who are wearing the armbands of the Free French Forces of the Interior (FFI) resistance movement. The women then have their heads shaved. One woman accepts her punishment meekly but another argues vehemently. A long line of the women walks through a crowd and boards a truck, on which is painted "Les Poules a Boches." A huge crowd surrounds the truck as it moves slowly down the street.
Note(s)
The identifying slate reads 1107 JJJ, KKK, YYY but 1107 YYY is the only footage on this part of the tape.
Subjects
- HEAD-SHAVING
- WOMEN
- TRUCKS
- FRANCE
- SUMMARY PUNISHMENT/REVENGE
- CAMERA OPERATORS
- COLLABORATORS (FRENCH)
- MARCH OF TIME
- SPECTATORS
- BEATINGS
- CROWDS
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (AMERICAN)
- RESISTERS/RESISTANCE
- TRIALS
- HUMAN HAIR
Places
- Rennes, France
- Cherbourg, France
- , France
Genre
- Outtakes.
- Film