Reunion in France
| Reunion in France | |
|---|---|
 Original theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Jules Dassin |
| Produced by | Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
| Written by | Story: Leslie Bus-Fekete Screenplay: Jan Lustig Marvin Borowsky Marc Connelly Contributing Writer: Charles Hoffman (uncredited) |
| Starring | Joan Crawford John Wayne Philip Dorn |
| Music by | Franz Waxman |
| Cinematography | Robert H. Planck |
| Editing by | Elmo Veron |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) |  December 25, 1942 |
| Running time | 102 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
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.
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[edit] Plot and cast
1940 in Paris, Michele de la Becque (Joan Crawford) is a career woman in love with industrial designer Robert Cortot (Philip Dorn). Together they enjoy a luxurious lifestyle unfazed by the approach of World War II. Michele discovers her lover is socializing with Nazi officers and his plants are manufacturing weapons for the Nazis. She confronts him and he does not deny her evidence. She is outraged. She aids a downed American in the Eagle Squadron of the Royal Air Force bomber pilot Pat Talbot (John Wayne) from Pennsylvania and finds herself falling in love with him. Later, she discovers Cortot is turning out defective weapons for the Nazis and organizing a French fighting force. Michele is happily reunited with Cortot.
The cast includes Reginald Owen as a Gestapo agent, John Carradine as Head of the Paris Gestapo, Moroni Olsen as Gerbeau, Ava Gardner in an uncredited role as shopgirl Marie, Natalie Schafer as Amy Schröder, and Henry Daniell as Fleuron.
[edit] Reception
Film Daily noted, "The film, directed capably by Jules Dassin, has been given a first-rate production by Joseph L. Mankiewicz."[1]
T.S. in the New York Times observed, "If Reunion in France is the best tribute that Hollywood can muster to the French underground forces of liberation, then let us try another time. [The film] ... is ...simply a stale melodramatic exercise for a very popular star. In the role of a spoiled rich woman who finds her "soul" in the defeat of France, Joan Crawford is adequate to the story provided her, but that is hardly adequate to the theme."[citation needed]
Years after making the film, Joan Crawford was quoting as saying this about Reunion in France: "Oh God. If there is an afterlife and I am to be punished for my sins, this is one of the pictures they'll make me see over and over again. John Wayne and I both went down for the count, not just because of a silly script but because we were so mismatched. Get John out of the saddle and you've got trouble." [2]
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