REUNION IN FRANCE (MGM 1942) Warner Home Video

Jules Dassin’s Reunion in France (1942) is a rather haplessly-hewn bit of war-time themed melodramatic tripe, peppering light comedy, heavy melodrama and a dash of Joan Crawford (looking absurdly scrumptious in a cavalcade of fashions by Adrian) with the likes of all-American John Wayne – miscast as R.A.F. fly-boy, Pat Talbot. For Crawford, Reunion in France was the absolute end-of-the-line.  Mayer was ready to escort her from his kingdom, glibly to acknowledge “…the money I made off of Joan built the writer’s building!” If only someone – anyone – had been paying more attention to the screenplay, cobbled together by Jan Lustig, Marvin Borowsky, and, Marc Connelly, based on a story idea from Leslie Bush-Fekete, with contributions made by Charles Hoffman, Reunion in France might have had the opportunity to be a thrilling piece of war-time propaganda. Instead, what emerged was something of a mishmash, hardly worthy of any of the contributing artists to have made it. Crawford is out of sorts as French woman (minus the French accent), Michelle de la Beque – a fashion plate/trophy gal belonging to industrialist, Robert Cortot (Philip Dorn). After attending a rather lack luster political rally, Michelle is all set to commit to Robert. Only he fears Hitler’s divisions will soon invade Paris. As a precaution, Robert sends Michelle away to the country. Days later, bombing raids can be heard in the distance as the famed ‘city of light’ prepares to blacken its doors and windows.

Forced to schlep it on foot with the rest of the fleeing refugees, Michelle makes her way back to Paris only to discover her boyfriend has become an ex-patriot and the driving industrial force for mobilizing the Nazi military machine. So, what is a disillusioned gal to do? Well, if you’re Michelle, you immediately set up shop with the next best thing – in her case, strapping pilot, Pat Talbot. Rescuing Pat from certain Nazi capture, the two quickly become romantic; he, masquerading as her chauffeur as they plot how best to get Pat back to Britain so he can fly again for the RAF. Sandwiched somewhere between a war-time weepy and a legitimate Crawford melodrama, the screenplay meanders aimlessly from one implausible vignette to the next – the most comical: Crawford, getting a job as a model at a couturier that is far more art deco Hollywood than gay Paris, and, the same place she once frequented for her own haute couture when Robert was footing her bills. MGM – a studio known for its surface sheen - musters up absurd ultra-high gloss and uber camp on this outing. However, these weighty trappings do nothing to add suspense to the mix, and, in fact, add reverb to the already tinny echo of its slender melodrama. I mean, at a time when people were struggling to keep body and soul together, Crawford looks and acts as though she is about to attend her next Hollywood premiere, immaculately tricked out in Adrian’s impossibly stylish fashions. No attempt has been made here for authenticity and the tables at rally, remade in the shape of a Nazi swastika, is about as subtle a reference to where the picture is headed as watching a cockroach slink across a white shag carpet. Even when Crawford is fleeing Nazis, she is more worried about her hair than the future of world events!

Warner Home Video’s DVD exhibits a rather fine B&W image that occasionally seems slightly soft around the edges. The gray scale exhibits some very fine tonality, showing of Robert H. Planck’s highly stylized cinematography to its best advantage. Throughout, fine details are nicely resolved. Age-related artifacts are present but kept to a bare minimum. Film grain is consistently rendered. The audio is mono but adequately balanced. Extras are limited to two vintage featurettes and the film’s theatrical trailer.

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

1.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

4

EXTRAS

1