Summary
In a quiescent French village, the intertwined destinies of the orphaned siblings Gabrielle and Anatole Picard, bound by an almost sacred devotion, are irrevocably altered by the encroaching specter of war. Their tranquil existence, further complicated by Pierre Dupont's heartfelt, if unrequited, affection for Gabrielle, shatters when the clarion call to arms beckons. Pierre, driven by love and duty, extracts a solemn vow from Gabrielle: marriage upon his return, contingent on his safeguarding Anatole. On the blood-soaked fields, Anatole, elevated to the regiment's bugler, and Pierre find themselves tragically isolated with the young drummer boy, Peppy, who perishes. The village receives the crushing news of their presumed demise, a cruel twist of fate that leaves Gabrielle vulnerable to the invading forces. Her defiant act—a splash of liquor in an officer’s face rather than a toast against her homeland—underscores her indomitable spirit. Years crawl by, the war-torn landscape slowly mending, when Anatole and Pierre, ghosts returned from the front, reappear. Their frantic search for Gabrielle proves futile, her fate a haunting enigma. They rebuild their lives amidst the ruins, Pierre perpetually recounting Anatole's legendary valor: how, under duress, he chose the call to charge over a guaranteed retreat, routing the enemy. Fate, however, is not done with its cruelties. As a French government official, Dissard, seeks a hero to honor, Anatole is chosen. The journey to Paris, meant for glory, ends in a humble peasant's cabin, where Anatole succumbs to his wounds, dying on the cusp of recognition. Pierre, bearing the mantle of his fallen comrade, receives the decoration, his eloquent, heartfelt speech inadvertently convincing the audience he is Anatole. In a dramatic twist of cosmic timing, an aged Gabrielle, drawn by an unspoken force, enters the banquet hall, uniting with Pierre after decades of separation and loss. Their journey back to Anatole's resting place, where Pierre bestows the hero's cross upon his friend’s flag-draped body, is a poignant testament to enduring loyalty, sacrifice, and the profound, often tragic, cost of war.
Synopsis
In a little town in France live orphan siblings Gabrielle and Anatole Picard. Gabrielle has been a mother to her brother since their own mother died and they are devoted to each other. Their friend is Pierre Dupont, who is in love with Gabrielle. When the call comes to fight for France, the two men join the colors. Gabrielle promises Pierre that if he will watch out for her brother that she will marry him upon his return. In the field, Anatole becomes the bugler of the regiment and during one of the skirmishes he and Pierre become separated from the main division of the army and with them, Peppy, the drummer boy, who dies. So it is that the report comes to the village that the two men are dead. Later the invading army reaches the village. They enter the cottage of Gabrielle and order her to serve them with drinks, which she does, but when they order her to drink a toast against France, she throws the liquor in the officers' face. Years elapse and Anatole and Pierre return to the village. No one knows of Gabrielle's whereabouts, as she was last seen when the invading army entered the village. Their search is fruitless. At last they settled down in the rebuilt cottage. But never does Pierre lose an opportunity to recount the valor of Anatole when the commander of the foe ordered him to give the bugle call for retreat with the promise that he would be spared and instead Anatole had given the call to charge. Thus the enemy was routed. Dissard, an officer of the French government, is at the head of a committee to bestow honors upon those who have done brave deeds. It so happens that the reception which he has planned for a certain officer will have to be abandoned, owing to the hero's death, unless Dissard can find some other one to take his place. The records are searched and it is decided to decorate Anatole Picard. Accordingly he is sent for. Pierre and Anatole decide to march to Paris in spite of the protest of the villagers, but just as they are at the gates of Paris, Anatole becomes so weak that he cannot go further and dies in a peasant's cabin. Pierre goes on alone and receives the decoration from the President and makes a speech which wins the hearts of his audience. He tells them of Gabrielle and the part she had had in making a hero of Anatole, spectators thinking that Pierre is Anatole. Much to his surprise, Gabrielle, now an old woman, enters the banquet room and the two are united. On their way back to the village, she asks where her brother is and Pierre promises to take her to him. They go to the little peasant cabin where Pierre left Anatole and shrouded in the flag of France. Then Pierre decorates the body with the cross which he received for Anatole, as he never intended keeping the honor for himself.
