Too much of everything

the audience applauded

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Though he's second billed in the credits, John Wayne doesn't make his appearance in the picture until about the forty two minute mark. I kept wondering how his character, Pat Talbot, managed to evade arrest and detainment in the story, seeing as how he just showed up with no credentials to show for it in case the Nazis started asking questions. Maybe that's the problem, Talbot was never really put on the spot as he squired Michele de la Becque (Joan Crawford) after she learned that her fiancé was a Nazi collaborator.Or was he? Seems Philip Dorn's character Robert Tortot, was assuming a dual role, sort of a double agent as it were without getting into the espionage racket. Even though this picture preceded "Casablanca" by a scant month or so, the parallels are obvious enough to make it look like this lesser known film might have been pulling off a cheap imitation. You had the French Resistance angle personified by Crawford's character, complete with 'exit papers' signed by the military governor of Paris, much like Ingrid Bergman's 'letters of transit'. Wayne is no Bogey of course, nor is Philip Dorn, though John Carradine takes a pretty good stab at Conrad Veidt's Major Strasser. And if you want to make a stretch of it, J. Edward Bromberg resembles a poor man's Claude Rains as a French policeman.I didn't have too much problem with all of this, except for Crawford's see-sawing relationship between her two leading men. At one point she excoriates Tortot with that quote above in my summary line, but still sidles up to him when it's to her advantage. For his part, Wayne managed to call her 'Mike' more than a couple times with no one raising an objection. I don't know how the French or Germans would have understood the translation.With Talbot whisked away aboard a rescue plane, the film closes on a firm, patriotic note, though I highly doubt that the pilot would have had the time or resources to sky write the word 'COURAGE' in the air above Paris. It ends the picture on a high note, but it seems to me a more likely outcome would have had a German plane knock it out of the sky.

There's not a single convincing moment in this mishmash CASABLANCA wannabe from M-G-M with John Wayne, Joan Crawford, Philip Dorn, Reginald Owen & John Carradine fumbling about as Bogie, Bergman, Henreid, Raines & Veidt, respectively. It would be funny if it wasn't so appalling. And as sheer visual movie-making, Warners product leaves M-G-M entirely in the shade. Not too surprising from producer Joe Mankiewicz, though helmer Jules Dassin would soon grow camera savvy. (Midway thru the pic, lenser Robert Planck delivers a stunning close-up of Joan, but that's the single redeeming feature here.) For a far better shot at this sort of thing (leaving CASABLANCA aside), try 'PARIS UNDERGROUND' with Constant Bennett. (Please see my review.)

If this slick MGM film had only been intelligently cast, it might have earned a 7 or possibly even an 8. However, it seems that when it came to assembling a cast, the powers that be put the names of actors on a roulette wheel and just spun it--as the final casting decision just made no sense at all. The first and biggest mistake was having Joan Crawford play a French lady. It was very odd that all the other French men and women had correct accents but Ms. Crawford didn't even try to sound or act the least bit French. She was simply way outside her range. Second, what numb-skull thought that pairing her with John Wayne would generate any sparks?! While he was not the only love interest for Crawford in the film, him pawing at her and kissing her just seemed weird and Joan seemed pretty uncomfortable with all this. There was just no way on this planet that such a pairing could occur!As for the script, I really feel bad for the writers. They managed to create an exciting and different film to get the public behind the war effort. It was NOT a run-of-the-mill and showed some intelligence. But unfortunately all the nice machinations, decent dialog and exciting action got lost due to the casting and oddness of the final product. It's really too bad, but in the end this is just a time-passer and nothing more.

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!