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Program Title
Credits Executive Producer: Ted Childs Producer: Chris Kelly Director: David Wheatley, Malcolm Mowbray Intro MONSIGNOR RENARD/Episode 1/Intro by Russell Baker In the spring of 1940, the German army astonished the world by conquering France in five weeks. Blitzkrieg, it was called. Lightning war. Tonight's story begins just one month later. It's set in a French town near the English Channel. The town is occupied by German troops. Its people are demoralized -- angry and uncertain how to cope with an army of occupation. Their religious leader, Monsignor Renard, is working to keep relations between townspeople and German conquerors as smooth as possible. But it's not an easy job. Some people want to get along with the Germans, some don't. When it's a French woman who wants to get along, explosive tensions may develop. Monsignor Renard was born in this town, but has just returned after years in other church positions. Some in the town knew him as a young man. One is his brother, a skilled woodworker. Another is the wife of the local pubkeeper. Years ago she and Renard were in love. She now has a teen-age daughter who's starting to be interested in men -- especially interested in a young German soldier. The town's German commander is a veteran with no enthusiasm for occupation duty. His aim is to keep friction to a minimum. Nazi police agents are also here, and creating friction is their business. They are hunting down soldiers of the defeated French and British armies and ready to use brutal Gestapo methods to make townspeople, like Monsignor Renard, help find them. First installment, Monsignor Renard. Extro MONSIGNOR RENARD/Episode 1/Extro by Russell Baker After conquering France, Hitler set up a puppet French government headquartered in Vichy, a small town then known chiefly for bottling mineral water and lending its name to a cold potato soup. As head of Vichy, France -- as it was called -- Hitler installed an 84-year-old hero of World War One: Marshal Petain, who had led the defense of Verdun in 1916. Petain was chosen to make the new government look respectable, but according to those who watched him was now just a feeble, frightened old man. The real power in Vichy was Pierre Laval, and he was operating under orders from Berlin. Vichy was so obviously a Nazi front operation that after the war, the French tried both Petain and Laval for treason. Petain, now in his late eighties, was sentenced to life in prison. Laval was sentenced to death and executed. The Nazi arrangement with Vichy created a border of sorts between the part of France occupied by the German army and the area assigned to Vichy. It's this border that figured in tonight's story. The soldier that Monsignor Renard is hiding from the Germans hopes to escape across it into Vichy France -- without the necessary pass -- where he thinks he'll be safe. I'm Russell Baker. Goodnight.  Episode number: 1 2 3
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