It is May 9, 1940, and we first meet Michele de la Becque (Joan Crawford) at a banquet to celebrate the war efforts of French industrialists. Her boyfriend, Robert Cordot (Philip Dorn), is one of the men being honored at the event ... but Michele is bored.
We learn that she is a wealthy and spoiled Frenchwoman who has no interest in current events like that oh-so-inconvenient war raging in Europe; so she flits off to the south of France for a break while Robert stays behind to do whatever it is he does.
And that's when the "stuff" hits the fan and France is invaded. We are treated to a montage of newspaper headlines, archival footage of various battles, and shots of Michele experiencing the inconveniences of war! Poor Michele!
When she finally returns to Paris it is an occupied city, and her humble mansion has been commandeered by the Nazis as an office of some sort. When she is finally reunited with Robert it is at another banquet. This time it is filled with Nazis! It appears that Robert is a collaborator! And Michele is having none of this or him!
Well, a girl's gotta eat, so she hoofs it to Montanot, the (once-exclusive) Parisian boutique where she used to get her gorgeous gowns. Only this time she's looking for a job. Her attitude towards the staff has changed dramatically by this time. She is humbled.
It's on the way home from work one evening that she encounters RAF pilot Pat Talbot (John Wayne) lurking in the shadows, trying to outrun the Nazis chasing him. Michele gives him a hiding place, then the rest of the story is all about trying to get Pat out of Nazi occupied France.
Random Notes:
Joan doesn't even attempt a French accent.
There must have been a sub-plot cut out of the film involving the gas mask cannister that Michele carries then leaves behind with Robert. It's never explained why there was a small box in the canister instead of a mask.
The filmmakers take quite a few amusing jabs at the weight and lack of sophistication of the occupying Nazi women. There's a scene at Montenot where the women are fighting over clothes on a table like pigs at a trough. And one of the former models at the shop explains that she no longer models clothes there because "... mannequins are running to larger sizes now!"
Natalie Schafer (Mrs. Thurston Howell, AKA "Lovey" from Gilligan's Island) makes an appearance as a spoiled rich Nazi woman.
Although I really do not care for John Wayne, I've got to admit that he was tolerable here.
The very last scene is kind of cheesy but understandable for the time period.
Overall, it's a fairly entertaining 100 minutes with a somewhat convoluted plot. Not a bad way to pass the time.
We learn that she is a wealthy and spoiled Frenchwoman who has no interest in current events like that oh-so-inconvenient war raging in Europe; so she flits off to the south of France for a break while Robert stays behind to do whatever it is he does.
And that's when the "stuff" hits the fan and France is invaded. We are treated to a montage of newspaper headlines, archival footage of various battles, and shots of Michele experiencing the inconveniences of war! Poor Michele!
When she finally returns to Paris it is an occupied city, and her humble mansion has been commandeered by the Nazis as an office of some sort. When she is finally reunited with Robert it is at another banquet. This time it is filled with Nazis! It appears that Robert is a collaborator! And Michele is having none of this or him!
Well, a girl's gotta eat, so she hoofs it to Montanot, the (once-exclusive) Parisian boutique where she used to get her gorgeous gowns. Only this time she's looking for a job. Her attitude towards the staff has changed dramatically by this time. She is humbled.
It's on the way home from work one evening that she encounters RAF pilot Pat Talbot (John Wayne) lurking in the shadows, trying to outrun the Nazis chasing him. Michele gives him a hiding place, then the rest of the story is all about trying to get Pat out of Nazi occupied France.
Random Notes:
Joan doesn't even attempt a French accent.
There must have been a sub-plot cut out of the film involving the gas mask cannister that Michele carries then leaves behind with Robert. It's never explained why there was a small box in the canister instead of a mask.
The filmmakers take quite a few amusing jabs at the weight and lack of sophistication of the occupying Nazi women. There's a scene at Montenot where the women are fighting over clothes on a table like pigs at a trough. And one of the former models at the shop explains that she no longer models clothes there because "... mannequins are running to larger sizes now!"
Natalie Schafer (Mrs. Thurston Howell, AKA "Lovey" from Gilligan's Island) makes an appearance as a spoiled rich Nazi woman.
Although I really do not care for John Wayne, I've got to admit that he was tolerable here.
The very last scene is kind of cheesy but understandable for the time period.
Overall, it's a fairly entertaining 100 minutes with a somewhat convoluted plot. Not a bad way to pass the time.