Elements of La Grande Illusion are semi-autobiographical in nature. Jean Renoir was a reconnaissance pilot during World War I, and received a change of post after being wounded in action. Renoir's life was saved by a French pilot, Armand Pinsard, when he was under attack by a German Fokker in 1915, during the First World War.[17] In 1935, during the production of Toni, Pinsard recounted his WWI history, shot down seven times, captured seven times, and escaping seven times from German POW camps, inspiring Grand Illusion, and Pinsard became the model for Lt. Maréchal.[17] Renoir used his own uniform as Jean Gabin's costume in the film.[18] Several other cast members had also fought in the war, Marcel Dalio won the Croix de Guerre for his actions with the French artillery during the Action at Villers-Cotterêts (1914),[19] and Pierre Fresnay was in the army between 1916 and 1919. Renoir developed the screenplay with Charles Spaak,[20] and spent several years trying to finance it.[17] Through Albert Pinkévitch,[21] an assistant to the financier, Frank Rollmer,[22] and the attachment of Jean Gabin, private producers finally supported a small production budget.[17][23]
The casting of Erich von Stroheim came as Renoir was a great admirer of the director's films, and had inspired him to pursue filmmaking. According to Renoir's memoirs, Stroheim, despite having been born in Vienna, Austria (then the Austro-Hungarian Empire) did not speak much German as he had been living in the United States since 1909, and struggled with learning the language along with his lines in between filming scenes. Renoir eventually resorted to hiring a dialect coach to help Stroheim with his lines.
La Grande Illusion was filmed in the winter of 1936-37.[24][17] The exteriors of "Burg Wintersborn" were filmed at the Upper Koenigsbourg Castle in Alsace.[25] Other exteriors were filmed at the artillery barracks at Colmar (built by Wilhelm II) and at Neuf-Brisach on the Upper Rhine. The interiors were shot at Epinay and Billancourt Studios.
