August 1944, Paris: Parisians along the streets of the city. A convoy of Allied troops and vehicles passes by. Civilians cheer and greet the troops. Men remove road blocks and barricades erected by the Germans. Tanks and military vehicles on the streets. 25 August 1944: A large crowd gathered to greet the French 2nd Armored Division led by General Philippe Leclerc. Soldiers on tanks wave to the crowd as they cheer and welcome the troops. U.S. soldiers and tanks amidst the crowd. The convoy approaches the Eiffel Tower. Girls, women and children kiss the soldiers. Street fighting between the FFI, Allied troops and German soldiers. Soldiers run across the street. Civilians take cover. A man clicks photographs. Germans fire. People take cover. The Allied convoy on the road. Soldiers in the streets fight back. German snipers shoot from a building. Nazi officers and soldiers taken prisoners. They are marched out of the Institute of German, used as their headquarters. Prisoners sweep the street outside Hotel Majestic. Allied soldiers and civilians watch. French and U.S. troops ride past Parisian monuments including the Notre Dame Cathedral, Palace De La Concorde, Champs Elysees, and approach the Arc De Triomphe. Collaborationists are rounded up, hissed at, and man handled. French crowd deals roughly with a female collaborationist: Men paint a woman's face and pull her by the hair. Male collaborationists are also led away. German General Dietrich Von Choltitz, Commander of the Paris region, and his German Garrison surrender. The German soldiers are marched through the streets past. The people of Paris celebrate. Civilians hold banners and read the newspaper headlines as they celebrate and cheer. (World War II period).
An Allied tank drives past the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on August 25, 1944, during World War 2. Cheering Parisians hold up a newspaper reading: "Paris is delivered"and mentions French Forces entering Paris. A jeep filled with American soldiers passes through the celebrating crowd. View of American soldiers, including an Army chaplain, mingling with the citizens. More views of the people, including some carrying a large banner reading: "Liberated." They are followed by others carrying French tricolor national flags. Some carry placards thanking the Allies Some cite the Free French and display the Cross of Lorraine. Other placards contain the name "DeGaulle." American M4 Sherman tanks and jeeps drive along a tree-lined street. Closeups of children clapping their hands. A soldier drinks wine from a bottle. American soldiers kissing French girls. More scenes of celebration. A huge crowd gathered at Place de la Concorde with the Egyptian obelisk clearly visible. At this point, the film shifts to images of Paris before the war showing the gay night life of the city. Sidewalks in the artist section. Cafes with outdoor seating. Night clubs with risque shows. Fire works and displays that illustrate why Paris was called the City of Lights. Street open air markets with flowers, foods, and various other commodities for sale. A street vendor on a 3-wheel bicycle cart. The Egyptian obelisk at Place de la Concorde with the Arch of Triumph in the far background. Cars driving on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées near the Arch of Triumph. Notre Dame Cathedral. Sign for Metropolitan (subway). Imposing building along the River Seine with sightseeing boats plying the waters. Monumental bridges. A bus carries passengers along a city street. Men and boys carrying fresh newspapers for delivery. Parisians gather around the eternal flame at the Unknown Soldier Memorial under the Arc de Triomphe monument. A soldier memorial sculpture on the monument. Here the film reverts back to World War II. A German flag flying on a ship. Adolf Hitler showing delight at bringing the French to surrender on 22 June 1940, at the same railroad car of Compiegne, in which the armistice ending World War I was signed on Nov. 11, 1918. The Nazi German flag placed over the French monument in the “Glade of the Armistice”at Compiegne. German officers driving in staff cars past the Arc de Triomphe as German forces occupy Paris on June 14, 1940 in World War II. Views of French citizens listening to the voice of General Dwight D. Eisenhower over their radios, as he broadcasted from London, on June 6, 1944. Naval guns firing. Americans hitting the beach in Normandy (famous image, showing some soldiers falling to enemy fire). Members of the French forces of the Interior (FFI) preparing to engage occupying German forces. The Cross of Lorraine being placed on the sleeve of a woman member. The FFI setting up baricades and defenses in Paris. A tree being cut down for use in defense works. Young boys with shovels helping build fortifications. FFI members hunkered down behind sand-bagged defense positions. FFI firing their rifles and retrieving dead and wounded. German Panzer tanks in the streets. FFI engaged in Guerrilla warfare, sniper against sniper. FFI firing rifles in streets and one firing a machine gun from a building. A German tank burning on a street. Civilians hunkering down as snipers exchange fire. A German soldier captured and escorted by FFI. An Army M8 Greyhound armored car and jeeps and trucks, and M4 Sherman tanks, occupied by de Gaulle's Free French forces, head toward Paris. General de Gaulle standing in a jeep as it moves along a Paris street. FFI remove street barriers to allow an M4 Sherman tank to enter Paris. Free French soldiers and and Americans, accompanied by tanks, race under the Eiffel Tower. A line of Allied armored vehicles held up by last ditch defense actions by German forces. Explosions are heard. Gun fire seen emanating from many windows in a large building. Soldiers firing at the windows. German soldiers emerge from the building with arms raised. Surrendering German soldiers and officers are paraded with arms over their heads headed to prison camps. Some are put to work sweeping debris from a street. General de Gaulle leads a parade of Frenchman along the Champs-Élysées. He places a wreath near the eternal flame under the Arch of Triumph. French people sitting atop a line of Allied armored vehicles. More views of celebrating French people. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and General Omar Bradley speaking with a soldier. The French tricolor being raised on a flag pole.
Animated map shows American forces advancing toward Paris. Views of German troops disorganized and making their way individually among burning and destroyed military tanks and vehicles. A U.S. Army colonel confers with U.S. Armored unit officers, using hood of jeep as a table. U.S. Sherman tanks and tank destroyers moving along dirt roads toward Paris, at high speed and passing beyond the Orleans region. They move rapidly through groups of cheering French citizens in a French town. American armored units moving to bypass Paris. U.S. Army Air Force airplanes dropping maps to the armored units by parachute, because they were moving too fast to be supplied by ground. French forces, armed with American tanks, vehicles, and arms, are ordered to advance and take Paris. As they proceed, U.S. Army Air Forces support them from the air. Formations of P-51 fighter and B-26 bombers are seen. The French forces advance at rate of 25km per day. They are joyously welcomed as they pass through French towns on their way. Scenes of Paris. Local residents in line at a shop. German occupiers are seen beginning to leave Paris. A line of horse-drawn wagons is seen in the street. On August 14, 1944, Paris Police go on strike. They are seen drawn up in formation. August 15, 1944, the Gestapo left Paris. French citizens and police open fire on German Army vehicle. Parisians begin to hang the tricolor from their windows. French resistance fighters seen running in streets of Paris and firing weapons as they work to find remaining German forces. A doctor and several nurses run for cover. Parisians begin to fill the streets during liberation of Paris as elements of the French Army enter Paris. General Charles de Gaulle walking along a street in Paris.
The capture of Avranches, France by U.S. soldiers during Operation Cobra in World War II. The map of Avranches, France superimposed on scenes depicting United States military vehicles moving in Normandy. Half track passes by a road sign “N 137 St. Servan 12 St. Malo 13”. A speeding truck passes by a road sign “Rennes N 137 St Malo”. A large artillery is being pulled by a military vehicle on the N 137 highway in Normandy. Bomber drops bomb over a village in France. View of a map showing “Mortain”. United States infantry engage in street fighting in Mortain, France. A United States soldier fires with rifle upwards during street fighting. A soldier fires bazooka during street fighting. A Churchill Mk VII Crocodile flame thrower tank fires at a house and tree. American soldiers running through burning field during a flame thrower tank attack. Multiple rocket launcher trucks fire rocket artillery. United States soldiers observe rocket artillery on the side of a forest. Map depicts “Argentan” and “Falaise”. Captured German prisoners march away through a destroyed French town. French people welcome United States troops in Paris. Map depicts the Seine River and Paris. Crowds of French men and women giving the “V-Sign” in Paris. French woman clapping her hands. French women crowd a Jeep with U.S. soldiers. Soldiers marching on the Avenue de Champs-Élysées, with the Arc de Triomphe (Place Charles de Gaulle, 75008 Paris, France) behind. Free France General Jacques Philippe Leclerc and an American general salute in the Place de la Concorde (75008 Paris, France). Crowds of Frenchmen cheer and welcome Allied forces after liberation from Nazi Germany. A French man waves his flag while he holds on to tree branches. Map depicting the eastern France, Luxembourg and western Germany superimposed over scenes of marching soldiers. Television host Alexander Scourby delivers a conclusion. Closing credits.
Allied troops advance from Paris into Broney, France during World War II, working to encircle Paris. French civilians gathered on either side of a road. People cheer and wave as they celebrate their liberation from Nazi German control. U.S. 3rd Armored Division soldiers enter the city on tanks. Tanks roll past cheering civilians. A tank moves on a pontoon bridge across Seine River. Tanks cross the bridge.
German newsreel opens with a map of France. French peasants drive their cattle to a safer place from Normandy after the Allied invasion of the area. German Mechanized Forces and German armor move forward to combat the Allied invasion as they pass amidst a herd of cattle. Allied airplanes bomb a French city as smoke rises due to bombing. People dig through debris and remove dead bodies. French civilians leave the city. Damaged buildings in the city. Women move away with their belongings. American prisoners march in Paris as French civilians kick and strike the U.S. soldier prisoners of war following the Allied bombings in France. Narrator explains the belief that it is clever film cutting propaganda and that this kind of reaction by the French was rare.