Customer Reviews

Reunion in France

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Those nasty Nazis will never triumph because they have no fashion sense, no sense of humour and are utterly mystified by the workings of the female mind. Oh, I love this film and so does everyone to whom I've lent it.

Joan Crawford represents the spoiled darling that was France, now ready to join the Resistance and fight for freedom. (Don't worry, those oblivious Nazis actually FETCH HER ENTIRE COUTURE WARDROBE to the modest digs she occupies when they have taken over the lion's share of her house.)

The two who take away the film, though, are Henry Daniell and John Carradine, both playing Nazi officers. The former, who has been wounded by the bite of an enemy dog, is in charge of Joan's house when it is commandeered. He is captivated by Joan, who lets him back her up against the wall and KISS HER ON THE LIPS so that John Wayne can make his getaway. John Carradine is the head of the Gestapo in Paris, and he is so sinister, sombre and sexless that you may find yourself fretting that Joan might have a little trouble with him. Don't. She will triumph at the end.

My favourite scene is in a nightclub. There is an African-American jazz band playing and the singer is belting out "I'll be glad when you're dead, you rascals, you! I'll be glad when you're dead, and Adolf, too!" The smiling, finger-tapping Nazi couples just lap it up. They don't know English, I suppose. (What makes this even weirder is that the whole movie is in nothing BUT English. But don't worry about it.)

A joy from start to finish. Please watch and enjoy. This is right up there with _Adventures of Tartu_ with Robert Donat!

Entertaining, though slightly absurd, World War II story. Rich French woman (Joan Crawford) is madly in love with and engaged to rich French industrialist (Philip Dorn). She is a self indulgent society woman, until the war ravages the France she knew. Now, with France under Nazi occupation, her magnificent mansion in Paris in the hands of the German comquerors, her fiancee seemingly in the thrall of the Nazis, she sees the light and undergoes a change. A fervent patriot, she rejects the Nazis and, in doing so, rejects her fiancee.

An injured American RAF pilot (John Wayne) accosts her on the streets of Paris one night and induces a surprised Joan Crawford to help him escape those whom he believes are following him. She does so, but it soon becomes paramount that he leave France. She turns for help to her by now estranged fiancee, whom she has spurned, because she perceived him as having collaborated with the enemy. To her surprise, he agrees to help her.

The pilot's departure does not go according to plan, however, and Joan discovers that things are not always what they seem. Though the viewer will probably realize what is going on before Joan does, this does not take away from the enjoyment of what is clearly a war propaganda film.

Philip Dorn is wonderful in the part of the rich French industrialist and Joan's fiancee. Joan is, as always, beautifully garbed in exquisite outfits and give an excellent performance. John Wayne is overshadowed by his co-stars and seems somewhat awkward in the part of the American RAF pilot. While the screenplay is somewhat unbelievable, it is an entertaining film, nonetheless. Joan Crawford fans and those who love classic films will surely enjoy it.

Glossy, entertaining WWII era propaganda and the only time John Wayne and Joan Crawford appeared together in the same film. Not as good as CASABLANCA or MRS. MINIVER but still a must see for fans of films made about the war between the years 1939 and 1945. Keep an eye out for Natalie Schafer ("Mrs. Howell" from GILLIGAN'S ISLAND) as a pushy Nazi officer's wife and Ava Gardner as a salesgirl who says "Gutentag".

The conventional wisdom about this movie (and its followup, ABOVE SUSPICION, which pairs Crawford in Europe with Fred McMurray) is that they were deliberately bad features planned by the moguls to force Crawford out of pictures. But neither film deserves its bad reputation. Indeed in hindsight I find them fully as interesting as any other of Crawford's MGM vehicles, and by no means do they seem cheap or ill-thought-out.

Well, it's kind of silly having Crawford playing the richest girl in France, in a movie when everyone else is playing up the French accent so much so that at times you can't understand what they're saying, and meanwhile she, Joan, doesn't even try. Why should she? She's Joan Crawford. The only time she tries to go French is when she carefully pronounces the name of her fiance: "Row-bear." Outside of that, she uses her regular, broad American accent with its weird dips and slurs, the voice we know from a hundred movies. When the picture begins she's sitting, bored silly, on the dias during some kind of fundraiser honoring those who made the Maginot Line possible in May 1940--the night it broke. She rushes home to dismiss the modistes who have been waiting for her for two and a half hours, for she is off to Biarritz for a holiday. Well, by the time she crawls back, having been bombed and brutalized, Paris has fallen to the Nazis and it's a new day of deprivation for the glamorous Michelle de la Beck, and "Row-bear" her boyfriend (Philip Dorn) is looking strangely like a collaborator.

Michelle's million franc mansion has been commandeered by Vichy forces, and she is told to sleep in this crummy little concierge studio, a room with a door on the street that doesn't lock. It's filthy, grim, and dangerous, for any Nazi could come in at any time. She takes a job at the couturiere she used to patronize--sort of a left-wing Coco Chanel, very chic but no threat to Joan in the looks department. German women are buying up all the gowns in the shop, big heavy Walkure style creatures who look like pigs suckling at a trough. Then John Wayne (as "Pat") escapes from a POW camp and stumbles, sick, nearly hallucinating, into Joan's arms and she has to shield him the Gestapo. John Wayne looks hot in this movie! He could put his boots under my divan any old time. She moves him right into her apartment with only a cursory thought to propriety, it's sort of refreshing. People in World War II, even Hollywood people, must have thought that they had entered into a new world which would be totally given over to the fight against Fascism, and that all other considerations were secondary to this mission. Jules Dassin, the director, embodies this pulpy material with real conviction and some wise-ass camera setups--real wit, real grit, and two fantastic, out of this world stars.

By the time Joan Crawford filmed "Reunion In France" in the early 1940's her heyday as Hollywood's most popular and highest-paid actress was slowly coming to an end. Joan found it harder and harder to find good scripts and it seemed that MGM, her home for 18 years, was trying to ease her out the door. Crawford stated by this time in Hollywood history the studios were more concerned with getting the careers of younger actresses off the ground, so "older" women, like Crawford, were shut out from getting quality material to act in. "Reunion In France" is by no means a good film; buy it simply because you love Crawford. The script is week and there is absolutely no chemistry between Joan and her co-star John Wayne. The plot deals with a woman living in Paris who finds her home invaded by the Nazis when they overtake France. She meets John Wayne, falls in love, and that's the end of the movie. It is no surprise that Crawford did one more film for MGM after this called "Above Suspicion", another medicore film, then she bought herself out of her contract and went to Warners. Joan Crawford stated; ""Reunion In France"...Oh God...if there is an afterlife and I am punished for my sins they will make me watch this over and over. Take John Wayne out of the saddle and you've got trouble. Wayne and I both went down for the count in this one, not just because of the silly script, but because we were so mismatched".
If your looking for some neat melodramatic films of Joan's from this era purchase "Mildred Pierce", "Possessed" and "Sudden Fear"; they make "Reunion In France" look like a Sunday afternoon play.

WHY are we getting Joan Crawford DVDs in drips and drabs? Not only few and far between but SCHLOCK! WHO do we have to give back rubs to in order to get the good stuff? Flamingo Road, Torch Song, Autumn Leaves, Female on the Beach, Susan and God, Strange Cargo, When Ladies Meet...I could go on. I simply do not understand the poor mistreatment of Miss Crawford. Is Christina in charge of the releases?? THAT might explain TROG being released before MUCH better fare. Also, I am tired of all the teasing on Amazon about Johnny Guitar. They must have 4 different DVDs pictured and yet NONE are available. TEASES! lol I DO hope the Powers That Be come to their senses about Miss Crawfords DVD releases.
Oh, and this DVD isn't my fave but Joan LOOKS wonderful in it. She simply HATED this film but it is a fun way to pass a rainy sunday afternoon.

Reunion in France
The Movie
Basically it's the occupation of France with John Wayne in it. It on par with his B pictures it's not very well paced nor is it very interesting to watch. I personally think this may have been and attempt to squash the dukes guilt at not being able to serve in WWII. He is the only bright spot on this horrible movie.

The Video
In need of a restoration, it has some grain issues and focus problems. It is in black and white full frame and shows its age.

The Audio
1.0 mono no extra treatment here

The Extras
We Do It Because
A look at the customs of manners and there origins they came from. This feature is actually better than the movie.

War Dogs
Here a cartoon about dogs in boot camp and there training just a propaganda film for our side I had not seen this one before but did enjoy it.

This movie is amazing in the sense that the studio would make a movie regarding the Nazi occupation of Paris and glamourize it. Crawford wore beautiful frocks throughout the movie, even while running from the Germans. It was basically a vehicle for Crawford to run around and look beautiful. The pairing of Wayne and Crawford seems odd even today, yet somehow the movie holds one's attention. It is interesting to see how Hollywood ran a proganda machine during WWII. If you are a diehard Joan Crawford fan, as I am, you will want to see this movie, but don't expect too much. This is not nearly in the league of Mildred Pierce or Sudden Fear.

Women's-magazine-style romantic melodrama was the first major production for director Jules Dassin -- who was promptly demoted back to the MGM "B" department when the picture tanked at the box office.
Joan Crawford stars as Frenchwoman Michele de la Becque, who comes to believe that her fiancé, wealthy munitions manufacturer Robert Cortot (Philip Dorn) is a Nazi collaborator. When her suspicions are apparently corroborated, Michelle falls in love with Pat Talbot (John Wayne), a downed American aviator stranded in occupied Paris. Only then does Michelle discover that she's been all wrong about Cortot -- but what to do about Talbot, who has been marked for death by the Gestapo? Ava Gardner has a tiny role as a Parisian shopgirl.

First of all this movie is more about Joan Crawford's character, but Wayne is still a main part, but not as much as Joan. This is a great film depicted during the beginning of WWII in the invasion of France. The movie runs for about 100 min (1hr 40min) and is in Fullscreen format from 1942. Philip Dorn, Reginald Owen, Albert Bassermann and John Carradine star along Joan Crawford and Wayne in this war film. I would recommend this, especially John Wayne fans.