Strange Confession (1944)

On June 14th, 1940, as German troops enter the French capital, Paris, the French Army is in full retreat southward. At the same time, in the French prison of Tours, Clement, a condemned murderer is about to be executed by guillotine. Under intense German bombardment, the city of Tours is heavily damaged. A few bombs fall on the prison of Tours, killing the officials and guards overseeing Clement's execution. The bombs also damage the prison walls. Clement, who survives, the bombing, sees his chance to escape. He joins one of the large columns of civilian refugees fleeing South out of the way of the invading German armies. Clement hitchhikes and is picked up by a small truck carrying French soldiers. On a main road, the truck is strafed by a German fighter plane and overturns in a ditch. Clement apparently is the only survivor and decides to steal the uniform and military identity papers of a dead French Army Sergeant. By assuming the dead man's identity, Clement becomes Sergeant Maurice Lafarge. He joins other disparaged groups of French soldiers retreating to the yet unoccupied Southern France. When they reach a small French port on the Mediterranean Sea, past Bordeaux, many French soldiers are faced with the dilemma of whether to surrender to the approaching German troops or sail away on any ship willing to take them elsewhere. Some of them intend to sail to Britain while others want to sail to French Equatorial Africa where a Free French Army is forming with the aim of continuing the fight against Germany. Clement wants to disappear but many French soldiers urge him to join them in sailing to Africa to join the ranks of the newly forming Free French Forces there. The prospects of escaping France under the guise of a French soldier, and the idea of a regular army pay, food and shelter convinces Clement to join the others on their way to Africa. During the sea crossing, they all learn that in Britain, French General Charles De Gaulle, has rallied the French troops escaping the German encirclement at Dunkirk under his banner in England. In French Equatorial Africa, Clement re-born as Sergeant Maurice LaFarge gains the respect of his comrades and superiors through his actions and leadership. While continuing to dream of running away, Clement manages to stick with his men through thin and thick and win medals and raise in rank to the rank of Lieutenant. In the dense African jungle of the interior, they clear the trees and build a landing strip for Allied warplanes. Tough work and bouts of Malaria put a heavy strain on all of them. However, for Clement, the danger of being unmasked as an impostor and a fugitive criminal is becoming more real by the day and is a bigger threat than the war. Things come to a head when the fiancée of the real Maurice Lafarge, who died in France, shows up looking for him. To make matters worse, former comrades of the real Maurice LaFarge also show up at the Free French Forces headquarters at Fort Lamy, Chad and in Brazzaville, Congo. Sooner or later some of these individuals could face Clement and unmask him as an impostor, possibly sending him in front of a court-martial for impersonating an officer or, worse, unmasking him as the murderer who escaped the guillotine in France.