The score was written by the Hungarian composer Joseph Kosma, who also wrote the famous song "Autumn Leaves." The soundtrack also includes many well-known songs of the day from French, English, and German cultures. The uncredited musical director was the film and music critic Émile Vuillermoz, who had been a composer in his early career.
Songs:
- "Frou-Frou" (1897) lyrics written by Montréal and Blondeau, music by Henri Chatau, performed by Lucile Panis.[26]
- "Il était un petit navire" ("There Once was a Little Ship"), played by Boëldieu with his penny whistle to distract the German guards from Rosenthal and Maréchal's escape, a traditional French song[27] about a shipwrecked sailor who must cannibalize another sailor to survive. Later in the film, the fugitives Rosenthal and Maréchal shout the song sarcastically at one another as they have a near falling out. The lyrics speak to their own condition of running out of food. As Maréchal realizes this, his singing trails off.
- "Frère Jacques", a French nursery rhyme
- "It's a Long Way to Tipperary"
- "Si tu veux Marguerite" (1913) by Harry Fragson[28]
- "La Marseillaise", the French national anthem
