Posts from ethanedwards in thread „Reunion In France (1942)“

Watched this again, and it's just as dreadful as the first time.
Made to look even more silly and dated in today's climate

Reunion in France (1942) is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer feature film
starring Joan Crawford, John Wayne, and Phillip Dorn
and in a story about a woman who, suspecting her well-heeled lover has Nazi connections,
aids a downed American flyer.
The screenplay by Jan Lustig, Marvin Borowsky and Marc Connelly
was based upon an original screen story by Leslie Bush-Fekete.
The film was directed by Jules Dassin and produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

Well, what a strange old film, this one is!
Firstly, of course, this is a Joan Crawford film.
MGM bosses, had hoped that the casting of Duke, would boost
Crawfords flagging career...it didn't!!

The casting of Duke and Joan Crawford, producing absolute,
zero chemistry, and .Duke for once, looking strangely out of place.
Crtics found Duke unconvincing as Crawford's love interest.

It is not a picture that I enjoy but is watchable.

Critics however, objected to the films glib attitude, towards serious matters.
Normally, Hollywood is Hollywood and gets away with it,
but Nazi occupation, was not funny, and the film got it wrong!

User Review

Quote

The second half is fabulous, worth getting through the long set up...
11 April 2011 | by secondtake (United States)

Reunion in France (1942)

First important fact: this movie, about the first year of WWII when Hitler took over France, was released a month before "Casablanca." It does not compare in most ways with the drama, the humor, the writing, the music, the velocity, and the legendary actors of the more famous movie. But it is a very good movie with an interesting early pro-American, pro-French message. Joan Crawford crackles as much as she can in a topsy turvy role, going from spoiled and frivolous rich woman Michele de la Becque to (briefly) a refugee to, finally, an ordinary woman fighting with all her heart for France.

There are two male actors with important roles and they couldn't be more different. One is Michele's lover and fiancé, played with a cultured perfection by Philip Dorn, a Dutch actor who pulls off the pan-Euro, mostly French aristocrat and businessman well. Opposite him in every way is the homey, tough, humble American who shows up halfway through the film, John Wayne. I don't know if this really makes sense in the film, but I can see it on paper, since Wayne played a non-cowboy merchant seaman in the terrific John Ford film which prefigures this one in some ways, "The Long Voyage Home." He doesn't seem as wily and smart as a fugitive from the Nazis would have to be, behind the lines in occupied Paris, but he at least plays the role of an ordinary American ready to help the French, and this is the political message throughout.

In fact, the movie borders on a brilliant propaganda device, putting message ahead of plot now and then, just perceptibly. Crawford is so good even her speeches make a convincing case, and I'm assuming American audiences cheered her on by December of 1942 when it was released (on Christmas day). The scenes of the Germans taking over Paris are always horrifying, and they are again here. There is even a deliberate homage to Soviet director Eisenstein when a baby carriage runs off after the mother is killed by gunfire.

But back to "Casablanca." It's an interesting problem to solve, feeding the American audience worried about the war and about U.S. involvement. Because Hollywood was both a symptom of public opinion and a shaper of it, and these are two rather different kinds of films with very similar messages. Director Jules Dassin, who is not French but American, had just started making films in 1941, and there is a sense of expertise at the expense of intuitive magic. "Reunion in France" is strong, smart, and convincing. But it doesn't sizzle or build the aura of the time like it could. And yet, in its defense, it has no perspective at all on the events, since it was made while they were unfolding, even before they were unfolding since it has to anticipate to some extent how the film will settle six months after being written and shot. Watch it. It's really good.

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INFORMATION FROM IMDb

Plot Summary
Frenchwoman Michele de la Becque, an opponent of the Nazis in German-occupied Paris,
hides a downed American flyer, Pat Talbot,
and attempts to get him safely out of the country.
Written by Jim Beaver

Full Cast
Joan Crawford .... Michelle 'Mike' de la Becque
John Wayne .... Pat Talbot
Philip Dorn .... Robert Cortot
Reginald Owen .... Schultz, Gestapo agent. assumed name of Pinkum
Albert Bassermann .... General Hugo Schroeder
John Carradine .... Ulrich Windler, head of Gestapo in Paris
Anne Ayars .... Juliette Pinot
J. Edward Bromberg .... Durand, a French policeman
Moroni Olsen .... Paul Grebeau
Henry Daniell .... Emile Fleuron
Howard Da Silva .... Anton Stregel, Gestapo agent
Charles Arnt .... Honore, Robert's butler
Morris Ankrum .... Martin
Edith Evanson .... Genevieve
Ernst Deutsch .... Captain occupying Michelle's house (as Ernest Dorian)
Margaret Laurence .... Clothilde, a saleswoman
Odette Myrtil .... Madame Montanot, the couturier
Peter Whitney .... Soldier with candy
Harry Adams .... Mons. Clémens (uncredited)
George Aldwin .... Pilot (uncredited)
Martha Bamattre .... Newsstand woman (uncredited)
Muriel Barr .... Girl in cafe (uncredited)
Felix Basch .... Pawnbroker (uncredited)
Barbara Bedford .... Mme. Vigouroux (uncredited)
Trude Berliner .... Customer (uncredited)
Joseph E. Bernard .... R.R. mechanic (uncredited)
Rodney Bieber .... Little boy (uncredited)
Wilda Bieber .... Little girl (uncredited)
Oliver Blake .... Hypolite (uncredited)
Basil Bookasta .... Delivery boy (uncredited)
Elfriede Borodin .... Saleslady (uncredited)
Frederic Brunn .... Soldier (uncredited)
George Calliga .... Mons. Bertheil (uncredited)
David Clarke .... Soldier (uncredited)
Ann Codee .... Rosalie (uncredited)
Louise Colombet .... Customer (uncredited)
John W. Considine .... Little boy (uncredited)
James Craven .... Officer (uncredited)
Jean Del Val .... Porter (uncredited)
Guy D'Ennery .... Station master (uncredited)
Ray De Ravenne .... Bartender (uncredited)
Kay Deslys .... Wife (uncredited)
Bobby Dillon .... Boy (uncredited)
Ludwig Donath .... Hotel desk clerk (uncredited)
Claudia Drake .... Girl (uncredited)
William Edmunds .... Horse and buggy taxicab driver (uncredited)
Carl Ekberg .... Soldier (uncredited)
Fred Farrell .... Porter (uncredited)
Arno Frey .... Guide (uncredited)
Joel Friedkin .... Frenchman (uncredited)
Hans Fuerberg .... Soldier (uncredited)
Ava Gardner .... Marie, a salesgirl (uncredited)
Jody Gilbert .... Brunhilde, stout customer (uncredited)
Larry Grenier .... Mons. de Brun (uncredited)
Eddie Hall .... German officer dancing in the nightclub (uncredited)
Stuart Hall .... RAF pilot (uncredited)
Bert Hicks .... Undetermined role (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler .... Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Sheldon Jett .... Tourist (uncredited)
Greta Keller .... Baroness von Steinkamp (uncredited)
Henry Kolker .... General Bartholomew (uncredited)
Paul Kruger .... Soldier (uncredited)
Peter Leeds .... Boy (uncredited)
Eddie Lee .... Japanese man (uncredited)
Tommy Lee .... Japanese man (uncredited)
Adolf E. Licho .... Hawker (uncredited)
Louis Mercier .... Conductor (uncredited)
John Meredith .... RAF navigator (uncredited)
Greta Meyer .... Customer (uncredited)
Adolph Milar .... Gestapo agent (uncredited)
Sandra Morgan .... Mme. Berthil (uncredited)
Lotte Palfi Andor .... Unpleasant German customer (uncredited)
Otto Reichow .... Soldier (uncredited)
Edward Rickard .... Chauffeur (uncredited)
Henry Rowland .... Sentry (uncredited)
Natalie Schafer .... Frau Amy Schröder (uncredited)
Allen Schute .... RAF pilot (uncredited)
Harry Semels .... R.R. mechanic (uncredited)
Lester Sharpe .... Warden (uncredited)
Arthur Space .... Henker, a German officer (uncredited)
Walter O. Stahl .... Baron 'Pookie' von Steinkamp (uncredited)
Hermine Sterler .... Woman (uncredited)
Bob Stevenson .... Emile (uncredited)
Christine Steward .... Woman (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Norma Thelan .... Girl in cafe (uncredited)
George Travell .... Jeannot, the violinist (uncredited)
Lisl Valetti .... German customer (uncredited)
Philip Van Zandt .... Customer (uncredited)
Michael Visaroff .... Vigouroux (uncredited)
Wilhelm von Brincken .... Major (uncredited)
Hans von Morhart .... Officer (uncredited)
Paul Weigel .... Old man (uncredited)
Jacqueline White .... Danielle (uncredited)
Crane Whitley .... Officer (uncredited)
Gayne Whitman .... Maitre d'hotel (uncredited)
Ira Buck Woods .... Jazz singer in nightclub (uncredited)
Jack Zeller .... Young man (uncredited)

Writing Credits
Leslie Bush-Fekete (story) (as Ladislas Bus-Fekete)
Jan Lustig (screenplay) &
Marvin Borowsky (screenplay) and
Marc Connelly (screenplay)
Charles Hoffman contributing writer (uncredited)

Original Music
Franz Waxman

Produced
Joseph L. Mankiewicz .... producer

Cinematography
Robert H. Planck (director of photography) (as Robert Planck)

Trivia
Look quickly for Ava Gardner's one-line bit as a fashion salon assistant.

At a Nazi party, Frau Amy Schröder is introduced. She is played by Natalie Schafer, who would later go on to play Eunice "Lovey" Wentworth Howell on Gilligan's Island (1964).

Pat Talbot's disc identifies him as member of the Eagle Squadron. The Eagle Squadrons were RAF squadrons comprised of US pilots. There were three squadrons, nos 71, 121 and 133, formed in September 1940, May 1941 and July 1941 respectively. In 1942, the three squadrons were turned over to the USAAF.

Originally scheduled as a February 1943 release under the name "Reunion", the movie was moved up to a Christmas 1942 release with the final title because of the increased interest in the war in France. Most trade papers reviewed the film with the title "Reunion" due to early press previews, and the copyright registry bears that title also.

This film received its initial television showing in New York City Friday 2 August 1957 on WCBS (Channel 2), followed by Philadelphia Friday 9 August 1957 on WFIL (Channel 6); in Los Angeles it was first telecast 9 May 1958 on KTTV (Channel 11) and in San Francisco 10 October 1959 on KGO (Channel 7).

Joan Crawford tried to seduce John Wayne on the set, but he did not respond.

Howard Da Silva, who played the Nazi secret agent in a street scene, would later play MGM boss Louis B. Mayer in the film version of star Joan Crawford's life, Mommie Dearest (1981).

Keenan Wynn was listed in an early production chart as a cast member, and Hans Conried was in a news item as a cast member, but neither were in the final release print.

Keenan Wynn was listed in an early production chart as a cast member,
and Hans Conried was in a news item as a cast member, but neither were in the final release print.

Memorable Quotes

Filming Locations
Unknown

Watch this Trailer

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