Reunion in France

Reunion in France is a 1942 American war film distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Joan Crawford, John Wayne, and Philip Dorn in a story about a woman in occupied France who, learning her well-heeled lover has German connections, aids a downed American flyer. Ava Gardner appears in a small uncredited role as a Parisian shopgirl. The movie was directed by Jules Dassin.

Reunion in France
Original movie poster
Directed byJules Dassin
Produced byJoseph L. Mankiewicz
Written byStory:
Leslie Bush-Fekete
Contributing Writer:
Charles Hoffman
Screenplay byJan Lustig
Marvin Borowsky
Marc Connelly
StarringJoan Crawford
John Wayne
Philip Dorn
Music byFranz Waxman
CinematographyRobert H. Planck
Edited byElmo Veron
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • December 25, 1942 (1942-12-25)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,054,000[1]
Box office$1,863,000[1]

Plot

1940 in Paris, Michele de la Becque (Joan Crawford) is a career woman in love with industrial designer Robert Cortot (Philip Dorn). They enjoy a luxurious lifestyle unfazed by the approach of World War II. After the Battle of France and subsequent German occupation, Michele discovers her lover is socializing with German officers and his plants are manufacturing weapons for them. 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 manufacturing defective weapons for the Germans and organizing a French fighting force. Michele is happily reunited with Cortot.

Cast

Reception

The movie made $1,046,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $817,000 in other markets, earning MGM a profit of $222,000.[1][2]

Film Daily noted "The film, directed capably by Jules Dassin, has been given a first-rate production by Joseph L. Mankiewicz."[3]

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."

Years after making the movie, Joan Crawford was quoted as saying: "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."[4]

See also

References
  1. The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. "Top Grossers of the Season", Variety, 5 January 1944 p 54
  3. Quirk, Lawrence J.. The Films of Joan Crawford. The Citadel Press, 1968.
  4. Bona, Damien. Starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan: Hollywood's All-Time Worst Casting Blunders. Citadel Press, 1996.
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