Great Film overall

good back-story, and good acting

Fresh and Exciting

A Major Disappointment

Reunion in France (1942)** (out of 4)Bland and rather boring film from MGM has Joan Crawford playing Parisian Michele de la Becque who doesn't realize that the man (Philip Dorn) she loves has connection to the Nazi party. When an American pilot (John Wayne) asks for her to hide him, she does so even though it puts her own life in danger. REUNION IN France was just one of dozens of films that were made during WWII by Hollywood to try and support the war and of course send off various messages. Many of these messages would be considered propaganda today but it's important to remember what was going on in the country when this was released. With that said, no matter what was going on at the time, that doesn't make up for the fact that this is a pretty bland and forgettable film. The biggest problem is actually the thing you'd expect to be the best and that's the cast. There are so many problems with the lead including the fact that Crawford is playing a woman from France yet she keeps her American accent. From interviews later in her life it's clear that she was embarrassed by this performance and it's easy to see why. Then we've got Wayne who is so out of touch with his character you can't help but wonder how his career managed to go on and he became a legend. Yes, he's pretty bad here but what's worst are the two of them together. The chemistry between the stars is absolutely zero and their entire romance isn't a bit believable. The supporting cast does somewhat better with Reginald Owen, Albert Bassermann, Henry Daniell and John Carradine all doing fine work. Look fast for a young Ava Gardner. REUNION IN France is a curiosity at best due to the fact that you've got two legends together in one film but the thing just doesn't work.

Sliding down to the end of her MGM years (18 of them!), Joan Crawford got tossed into Hollywood's propaganda machine with this World War II drama about how the invasion of Paris changed the course of its history. Joan seems about as French as I do, speaking French (in English...) as if it were Cary Grant trying to imitate Chevalier or Boyer. Crawford's real-life soon to be husband Philip Dorn plays her French lover who ends up on the side of the Nazis, shocking the anti-Nazi Crawford. Future blacklistee Howard da Silva is ironically cast as one of the Nazi's. Many decades later, he would play MGM's boss Louis B. Mayer opposite Faye Dunaway's Joan Crawford in the notorious "Mommie Dearest". Since Martin Kosleck, Conrad Veidt and George Sanders were unavailable (their Nazi uniforms from other films obviously at the cleaners), John Carradine stepped in, his uniform from other similar films fresh and sparkling.An amusing scene in a fine French dress shop has the portly or otherwise plain German women being nasty or trying to fit into things two sizes too small for them. One of the more glamorous of them is played by the future Lovey Howell of "Gilligan's Island" fame, Natalie Schafer, who has a wonderfully bitchy scene demanding a coat in the shop that Crawford is utilizing to transfer money to the Allies in. John Wayne pops up towards the middle of the film as an American soldier Crawford helps, but Wayne fans will be disappointed by how little screen time he gets. There are all sorts of divided loyalties and counter espionage agents so it is sometimes hard to keep track of who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. MGM perennial Reginald Owen is also present in one of his several hundred films made there.While this will never be considered on par with "Casablanca" or "For Whom the Bell Tolls" as a classic example of the golden age of Hollywood's propaganda machine, it is amusing. Particularly funny is a short sequence of a black singer singing "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You" to oblivious Germans, smiling stupidly as he insults them and their fuhrer. A montage of Joan walking through Paris after the Nazi's have invaded seems silly, especially since it is obvious that she is going the opposite way than anybody else.

John Wayne plays an American airforce pilot shot down over war-torn France, taken in by the enchanting Joan Crawford who conceals his identity posing him as her chauffeur until she can arrange for his passage to safety. Her boyfriend however appears to be conspiring with the Boche, and so an elaborate plan is devised to spirit both Wayne and Crawford (who have formed a romantic connection) out of Paris and to Lisbon with the aid of resistance fighters and British intelligence.Great performances showcases Crawford's acting talents and dark beauty, outshining the burly exterior of Wayne (which it must be said, is more subdued than usual) while John Carradine has a key supporting role as an unwelcome Gestapo agent later in the film. If you look carefully, you'll also spot Ava Gardner in a small role as a sales girl.While there's some jingoist sentiments to this film (made during WWII, the fade-out shot has the word "courage" beamed across the screen), there's sufficient dramatic plot twists and thrills to entertain for the lengthy duration. I personally found the movie to be a watchable B-grade war intrigue, with an almost film noir characteristic in Crawford's enigmatic heroine.

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.