Reunion in France (1942)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Pretty Good

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Blistering performances.

This should not be taken seriously.Michele de LA Becque 's(sic)adventures in a chocolate box occupied France can net only horselaugh! A propaganda movie,and what is worse ,like Renoir's "This land is mine" -Renoir who had left France at the beginning of the war-a BAD propaganda movie.Who could believe Crawford a French would be Joan of Ark?These Nazis full of bonhomie and stupidity? John Wayne as a British pilot? Or worse as an American student(at 35!)?The final twist ,you could see it from a mile off.Even the streets of Paris, in the studios, are ugly and the man who sells nice Nazi souvenirs on these streets is ludicrous.But,as far stupidity is concerned,the singer who sings " I'll be glad when you die and Adolf too" ,wins hands down.If you take that to learn something about French Resistance ,be prepared for a F minus for your History test.During the McCarthyism ,Dassin came to real France where he made an estimable film "Du Rififi Chez les Hommes"

Decked out in gowns and outfits designed by Irene, Joan Crawford plays the French version of Scarlett O'Hara with her "Oh, war, war, war" grumbling until she has to duck a bomb while on vacation. Returning to Paris, she finds her house commandeered by the Nazis. She gets only one room for herself and those gowns. In the meantime, her boyfriend, played by Philip Dorn, seems to have gone over to the dark side and is living high. Once she realizes that, she refuses to have anything to do with him. Her patriotism for her country comes to the surface when she helps an RAF pilot on the run, played by John Wayne. Despite some of the other comments on the film, I rather enjoy the handsome Wayne out of his spurs and boots. Because of Wayne, Crawford has to make it look like she's reuniting with her old beau, who has the power to arrange to get him out of the country.Very entertaining.

This 1942 movie arouses your patriotic instincts. In this good vs. the apparent overwhelming evil, chalk one up for the good guys. The heroine, played by Joan Crawford, is convincing in her portrayal of a spoiled, pompous rich woman who becomes a patriot when her France is occupied by Nazi Germany. She is allowed to live in a one room, ground floor apartment of her mansion, taken over by the Nazi military. She is the fiancé of a supposed Nazi sympathizer, (who used to be a French patriot). She takes in an American flier (John Wayne) and houses him in her one room apartment. She joins the underground efforts to get the American flier back to his base in England. This movie is typical of cinemas of that era and is as believable as most and better than some others. The heroine reminds me of the Ingrid Bergman character in Casablanca. She also has to make hard choices. Will she stay and fight for her France? Will she go to England with the flier she has saved from capture? Will she be loyal to the man she loves, even though he appears to have radically changed from patriot to Nazi collaborator? The choices she makes are inspiring and patriotic. You, of course want her to stay and fight or do you want her to leave with her new found love, the American flier? The end is very satisfying. After the movie is over, you will want to join with others in saying. Viva la France!

I found this movie entertaining for 1 reason, to see Joan Crawford playing a Frenchwoman (unbelievable) who starts out the movie as a frivolous, spoiled mistress of a French businessman. Then while on holiday in the south of France the Nazi's invade and then Joan learns about patriotism and courage. She runs from the Nazi's (dressed of course to the nines-this was MGM in it's heyday) and ends up back in Paris, to find it occupied. From that point on the movie becomes convoluted, she fights the Nazi's, falls in love with John Wayne (terribly miscast as an RAF flier) and the propaganda machine that was Hollywood during WWII goes into full force. It was ridiculous, but is interesting to look back and see how Hollywood helped the war effort. And Joan is never more lovely to look at than in this movie.