The most brilliant part of that scene was that it was designed to lead Americans to believe the French were on our side (as did the “Sahara” movie released the same year). The movie was released a couple of months after French troops had killed Americans landing in French North Africa.
At least in “Kelly’s Heroes” (released 25 years after the war ended) when Carroll O’Connor’s character is mobbed by French civilians and an aide tells him they think he’s de Gaulle, he points out the French aren’t even in the war...
***after French troops had killed Americans landing in French North Africa.***
A lot of people have never heard of this. We learned it decades ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Torch