REUNION IN FRANCE  —-possibly because Errol Flynn claimed it for Warner Brothers, this was the only time during the war that John Wayne ‘fought’ in Europe (the MGM one) as opposed to the Pacific (where buddies Henry Fonda and John Ford were for real) . Anyway, in this clodhopper, he’s a pilot, rescued by French fashionista Joan Crawford, the most elegantly outfitted heroine in Resistance history. “Gowns by Irene”. Uniforms by Wehrmacht. 

 Sluggish 104-minute 1942 nonsense directed by Jules Dassin says it all with its publicity tagline “WHAT A THRILL! Startling drama of a stranded Yankee flier and a Parisian beauty!”

Despite grosses of $2,900,000, Hitler somehow didn’t throw in the towel.  With Philip Dorn, Reginald Owen, Albert Basserman, John Carradine (hiss-able as a Gestapo swine), Henry Daniell, Howard Da Silva.  Uncredited are 20-year old Ava Gardner as a salesgirl and Natalie Schafer as a Nazi tag-along.  Mrs. Howell !  No wonder she went with Thurston: he probably was dealing with the enemy.

Damn this silly war.  The nerve!