Many of the rifles are not authentic

Sorry, I finally rechecked this forum after having seen the movie today (I hadn't seen it before).

Before I answer, I have to say that I too was rather displeased with the portrayal of the rifles used; not only was the MAS 36 not supposed to have been portrayed in the quantity shown in the film (if at all), but they used the incorrect post-1945 model MAS 36. The primary visual external difference between the post-1945 and pre-1945 models was the forward sight; the circular pattern seen on the rifles in the film was only put into place post-1945.

I'm not sure what Lebel 1932 you are referring to. I only know of two updates to the Lebel 1886/M93: the Lebel 1886 M93 M27 and the Lebel 1886 M93 R35. The former was a shortened Lebel rifle converted to 7.5 x 58 mm (the 7.5 mm used in the FM 1924 rather than the final 7.5 x 54 mm adopted for the FM 1924/M29 and 7.5 mm French rifles). It was not adopted due to prohibiting costs. In 1935, about 25,000 older Lebel rifles were reworked into Lebel 1886 M93 R35 carbines, which still used the 8 mm round and a tube magazine which only held 3 rounds. These were issued to rearguard troops (artillerymen, supply, drivers, etc.) in metropolitan France and French North Africa rather than the more common Mousqueton M1916.

However, those are only the official Lebel rifles considered and adopted (rejected in the case of the M27) by the French Army; there were certainly a vast number of rifles converted by the factories for civilian usage, and certainly this 1932 Lebel was probably one of those. My knowledge of French firearms is limited only to those officially used by the army at the time period.

As far as the film is concerned, in Italy the troops should have been using Springfield M1903 and Enfield M1917 rifles, except the goumiers. I'm surprised that all of the Moroccans in the film are goumiers; there were normal, non-goumier Moroccan units just like the Algerian ones too. That being said, the goumiers in Italy usually used French weaponry; they wouldn't have had the MAS 36, however, as their weapon of choice tended to be the Mousqueton M1916 (and converted Mousqueton 1982/M16, though other French weapons could be found).

Once the liberation of mainland France began, large numbers of hidden Vichy stocks of French weaponry were found; these alongside primarily British weapons used by the Resistance (who were usually incorporated into the French First Army or sent as part of the French Forces of the West who would clear the western border with the Atlantic) and captured German weaponry were used to arm newly formed units of the army, but for ammunition standardization, as you pointed out well, they were not usually thrown together in such hodgepodge fashion. Nevertheless, in some cases it is possible to find some interesting combinations; I saw one photograph of a unit in which the light machine gunner was using a Bren, a rifleman had the MAS 36, and near them was a captured Panzerfaust. Likewise, I've seen a photograph of one unit that wore 100% French uniforms but used solely captured German weaponry. For the most part, however, such makeshift units were kept for rearguard duty while the experienced forces using the M1917 and M1903 rifles, i.e. largely the French North African Army (which was the nucleus for most of the French First Army), were the ones sent to frontline duty both in Eastern France and in Germany/Austria.

In terms of the Tunisia Campaign (not portrayed in the film), the French XIX Corps (French North African Army) was still using mostly French weaponry; they were armed with about 3,000 Sten SMGs toward the end of the campaign (as they also received some British armor to replace their aging Renault D1 tanks). The Corps Francs d'Afrique used British weaponry, as did the First Free French Division in the British Eighth Army.

What the French XIX Corps used was rather different from the metropolitan Vichy Army, however.

Berthier M1916 - main rifle, as opposed to the MAS 36 (this is why it would have been non-existent in the hands of the troops portrayed in this film; the MAS 36 simply wasn't in any widespread usage in North Africa. Surprisingly, the official French Army's military history of the campaign states that there were supposed to have been 30,000 MAS 36 rifles stored in Tunisia at the time of Operation Torch; I have no clue what happened to them, but they were never officially issued as a standard weapon.)

Lebel 1886/M93 - used for reserves/guards, as well as frontline grenadiers (VB Rifle grenade) and snipers.

Mousqueton M1916 - artillerymen, other support troops

Hotchkiss M1914 and FM 1924/M29 were the primary machine guns, like in the metropolitan army. Unlike the metropolitan army, however, the MAS 38 SMG was not in use; it was an extremely rare weapon even in the 1940 campaign, and although it would be in enough quantities to supply the small mainland Vichy force (and later the Milice), it was not used in any officially known quantity anywhere else in the empire. The French North African Army did have a small number of 1928 Thompson guns that they had purchased before the armistice, but those were mostly stored; those combined with a small number of Thompsons issued by the Americans (and of course the 3,000 Stens later in the campaign) would be the only SMGs distributed in any significant number to the XIX Corps, and that was still an insignificant number. The French Army up until 1943 therefore mostly just did without SMGs.

Ruby pistols and M1892 revolvers made up the handguns used; I think in this film the officer of the reinforcements shown during the battle in Italy holds an M1892 revolver, but I'm not sure (it's hard to see).

In short, the only real time the MAS 36 and MAS 38 (which isn't in this film, thankfully) would see any official usage as the primary weapons of a single unit in active combat following the fall of France would have been when the last French Army unit loyal to the mainland Vichy regime (minus Indochina, which is a story all on its own), the 1er Regiment de France, joined the Resistance in combat against the Germans in August 1944, later to be integrated in the French First Army.

EDIT:

I forgot to address further the M1 Carbine. Yes, it was issued to French units; the United States high command relegated issue of it to the French as more important than for service/support personnel, but less important than issue to normal United States combat units. I don't remember the actual number (I'd probably have to fish out my copy of the official United States Army's military history of the Rearmament of the French Army in 1943), but I think it was issued in the quantity of around 20,000 (for some reason, I have the number 13,000 as the initial order in my head, with 8,000 as the second given; it's been at least a year or two since I've seen the numbers though, so I can't say for sure). I'm unaware if any M1A1 Carbines were ever given to the French, but I consider it highly unlikely.

And to the guy complaining about whether you understood the message of the film or not: we're looking at military history from an objective view, but I'm sure we understand just as well the moral and social meaning of the film. It's better to have an understanding of all the history rather than just one part of it, and this is simply discussion on the time period's military aspects. But yes, those of us who know this junk DO understand the point of the film.

I'm a history major after all.

EDIT 2:

Also, it just occurred to me that there were no parts of the movie where the French Army troops used light machine guns or medium/heavy machine guns. I wonder why. The only LMG I remember being used by the French in the entire film was an FM 1924/M29 shown in the hands of a soldier for a split second during the combat scene in Italy.

You all remind me of the comic-book store guy in The Simpsons. Are you all trainspotters too? No-one cares that the rifles were "wrong". Yes, I'd care if I saw an uzi or even an ipod but come on guys. This is the saddest post I've read for ages.