Reunion in France (1942)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Jules Dassin

Writers:

Leslie Bush-Fekete (story)
Jan Lustig (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 December 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

WHAT A THRILL! Startling drama of a stranded Yankee flyer and a Parisian beauty!

Plot:

Frenchwoman Michele de la Becque, an opponent of the Nazis in German-occupied Paris, hides a downed American flyer...

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Paris | Hotel | Train | Gestapo

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 (as Ann Ayars)
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)

Also Known As:

Mademoiselle France (UK)
Reunion

Runtime:

104 min | USA:99 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #8877) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

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.

Quotes:

Martin: The bedroom suite is this way.
Michelle 'Mike' de la Becque: Wait. Martin, you've known me for a long time.
Martin: When you were very little, you wanted to marry me so that you could always have chocolate pudding.
Michelle 'Mike' de la Becque: At my first ball, it was you who fastened my dress when it came undone.
Martin: Such memories belong to another lifetime, mademoiselle. One which has come to an end. And which, unfortunately, some of us have outlived.
Michelle 'Mike' de la Becque: But why have our lifetimes come to an end, our private little worlds?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Xtro (1983)

Soundtrack:

La Marseillaise

Insignificant work of Jules Dassin

I saw the film because of the director, Jules Dassin. Dassin has made much better films in later years. I thought there was quite a lot of resemblance in Joan Crawford's performance if compared to that of Dassin's wife Melina Mercourri in the later works of the director, especially "Dream of Passion." Did he like to make the leading ladies passionate, tender and honest? I will know if I will get to see all his films. I thought Philip Dorn or Fritz van Donitz had an impressive screen presence and totally overshadowed John Wayne. I also liked John Carradine, but neither Carradine could sound like a German nor Crawford a Frenchwoman. The greatest flaw in the film was pronunciations of the characters. Yet the film was credible--thanks to the director. It was good to spot Ava Gardner in an unbilled role. Even with all its flaws, the film was good to watch just once.