Joan of Paris
Encyclopedia
Joan of Paris is a 1942
war film
about five Royal Air Force
pilots shot down over Nazi
-occupied France during World War II
and their attempt to escape to England. It starred Michèle Morgan
, Paul Henreid, Thomas Mitchell
and Laird Cregar
.
Roy Webb
was nominated for the Academy Award for Original Music Score
.
fighters have been shot down. The downed pilots split up and make their way to Paris to try to arrange their escape back to England. On the way, they break into a tavern in search of civilian clothes. When a German soldier shows up for a drink, Squadron Leader Paul Lavallier (Paul Henreid), a member of the Free French, knocks him out and takes his money. In Paris, Paul contacts an old teacher of his, Father Antoine (Thomas Mitchell), who agrees to hide the reunited men in the sewers underneath his cathedral.
"Baby" (Alan Ladd
), one of the others, has been shot in the shoulder along the way. When he slumps over in the church, it attracts the attention of a Gestapo agent (Alexander Granach
). Paul manages to distract him, allowing Baby to slip away, but then the German starts following Paul. Paul tries to hide in a café, where he is served by Joan (Michèle Morgan), but the agent finds him. In his haste to get away, the airman tears the sleeve of Joan's dress. He then enters the first unlocked room he can find in a nearby building. By chance, it is Joan's. She discovers him hiding in her closet when she goes to change. To allay her fears, he tells her that Father Antoine sent him to give her enough money to buy a new dress. He persuades her to deliver a message to Father Antoine, describing his predicament. As they begin working together, they fall in love.
Later, Paul gets Father Antoine to visit a British spy (John Abbott
) who has been caught and is to be executed. The priest is able to overcome the doomed man's suspicions and obtains the name of a contact, schoolteacher Mademoiselle Rosay (May Robson
). Because the church is being watched by the persistent Gestapo agent, Father Antoine asks the unsuspected Joan to meet Rosay. However, on the way there, she passes the shop where she bought her new garment. A second Gestapo man (an uncredited Hans Conreid) has traced the bank note she used as payment to the robbed soldier and follows her. She and Mademoiselle Rosay barely escape capture. Rosay arranges for a seaplane to land at night on the Seine River to pick up the men.
Gestapo head Herr Funk (Laird Cregar) plays a cat and mouse game with Joan and Paul. When Paul is picked up for not having any identification papers, Funk apologizes for the inconvenience and releases him so he can lead the Germans to the others.
That night, Paul finally tells Joan his real identity. He promises to marry her when the war is over. However, he is unable to shake the Gestapo agent, so Joan takes the map of the rendezvous point to the others. While they wait for the appointed time, Baby dies of his wound. Meanwhile, Paul finally manages to kill the Gestapo man in a Turkish bath, but too late to reach the rendezvous in time.
Funk then offers Joan a devil's bargain: Paul's life if she leads him to the hiding place of the other men. She agrees. Finding Paul praying in the cathedral, she tells him that the others are still waiting for him. She then leads Funk on a wild goose chase, giving the airmen time to make good their escape. Later, she faces the firing squad bravely.
1942 in film
The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
war film
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
about five Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
pilots shot down over Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
-occupied France during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and their attempt to escape to England. It starred Michèle Morgan
Michèle Morgan
Michèle Morgan is a French film actress, who was a leading lady for three decades.- Career :Morgan was born Simone Renée Roussel in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, a western suburb of Paris....
, Paul Henreid, Thomas Mitchell
Thomas Mitchell (actor)
Thomas Mitchell was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of Gerald O'Hara, the father of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, the drunken Doc Boone in John Ford's Stagecoach, and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life...
and Laird Cregar
Laird Cregar
-Early life and career:Samuel Laird Cregar was the youngest of six sons of Edward Matthews Cregar, a cricketer and member of a team called the Gentlemen of Philadelphia. They toured internationally in the late 1890s and early 1900s...
.
Roy Webb
Roy Webb
Roy Webb was a film music composer.Webb has hundreds of composing credits to his name, mainly with RKO Pictures, and while most of the movies he scored were fairly light in content, he is today best known for his dark horror and film noir scores...
was nominated for the Academy Award for Original Music Score
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
.
Plot
In German-occupied Paris, an announcer reports during a blackout that the Second Front has begun, with British forces invading the Continent, and that five Royal Air ForceRoyal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
fighters have been shot down. The downed pilots split up and make their way to Paris to try to arrange their escape back to England. On the way, they break into a tavern in search of civilian clothes. When a German soldier shows up for a drink, Squadron Leader Paul Lavallier (Paul Henreid), a member of the Free French, knocks him out and takes his money. In Paris, Paul contacts an old teacher of his, Father Antoine (Thomas Mitchell), who agrees to hide the reunited men in the sewers underneath his cathedral.
"Baby" (Alan Ladd
Alan Ladd
-Early life:Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was the only child of Ina Raleigh Ladd and Alan Ladd, Sr. He was of English ancestry. His father died when he was four, and his mother relocated to Oklahoma City where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter...
), one of the others, has been shot in the shoulder along the way. When he slumps over in the church, it attracts the attention of a Gestapo agent (Alexander Granach
Alexander Granach
Alexander Granach was a popular German actor in the 1920s and 1930s.- Biography :Granach was born Jessaja Granach in Werbowitz to Jewish parents and rose to theatrical prominence at the Volksbühne in Berlin...
). Paul manages to distract him, allowing Baby to slip away, but then the German starts following Paul. Paul tries to hide in a café, where he is served by Joan (Michèle Morgan), but the agent finds him. In his haste to get away, the airman tears the sleeve of Joan's dress. He then enters the first unlocked room he can find in a nearby building. By chance, it is Joan's. She discovers him hiding in her closet when she goes to change. To allay her fears, he tells her that Father Antoine sent him to give her enough money to buy a new dress. He persuades her to deliver a message to Father Antoine, describing his predicament. As they begin working together, they fall in love.
Later, Paul gets Father Antoine to visit a British spy (John Abbott
John Abbott
Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott, PC, KCMG, QC was the third Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the office for seventeen months, from June 16, 1891 to November 24, 1892. - Life and work :...
) who has been caught and is to be executed. The priest is able to overcome the doomed man's suspicions and obtains the name of a contact, schoolteacher Mademoiselle Rosay (May Robson
May Robson
May Robson was an actress and playwright. A major stage actress of the late 19th and early 20th century, Robson is best known today for the dozens of 1930s motion pictures she appeared in when she was well into her seventies, usually playing cross old ladies with hearts of gold.- Biography :Born...
). Because the church is being watched by the persistent Gestapo agent, Father Antoine asks the unsuspected Joan to meet Rosay. However, on the way there, she passes the shop where she bought her new garment. A second Gestapo man (an uncredited Hans Conreid) has traced the bank note she used as payment to the robbed soldier and follows her. She and Mademoiselle Rosay barely escape capture. Rosay arranges for a seaplane to land at night on the Seine River to pick up the men.
Gestapo head Herr Funk (Laird Cregar) plays a cat and mouse game with Joan and Paul. When Paul is picked up for not having any identification papers, Funk apologizes for the inconvenience and releases him so he can lead the Germans to the others.
That night, Paul finally tells Joan his real identity. He promises to marry her when the war is over. However, he is unable to shake the Gestapo agent, so Joan takes the map of the rendezvous point to the others. While they wait for the appointed time, Baby dies of his wound. Meanwhile, Paul finally manages to kill the Gestapo man in a Turkish bath, but too late to reach the rendezvous in time.
Funk then offers Joan a devil's bargain: Paul's life if she leads him to the hiding place of the other men. She agrees. Finding Paul praying in the cathedral, she tells him that the others are still waiting for him. She then leads Funk on a wild goose chase, giving the airmen time to make good their escape. Later, she faces the firing squad bravely.
Cast
- Michèle MorganMichèle MorganMichèle Morgan is a French film actress, who was a leading lady for three decades.- Career :Morgan was born Simone Renée Roussel in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, a western suburb of Paris....
as Joan - Paul Henreid as Paul Lavallier
- Thomas MitchellThomas Mitchell (actor)Thomas Mitchell was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of Gerald O'Hara, the father of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, the drunken Doc Boone in John Ford's Stagecoach, and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life...
as Father Antoine - Laird CregarLaird Cregar-Early life and career:Samuel Laird Cregar was the youngest of six sons of Edward Matthews Cregar, a cricketer and member of a team called the Gentlemen of Philadelphia. They toured internationally in the late 1890s and early 1900s...
as Herr Funk - May RobsonMay RobsonMay Robson was an actress and playwright. A major stage actress of the late 19th and early 20th century, Robson is best known today for the dozens of 1930s motion pictures she appeared in when she was well into her seventies, usually playing cross old ladies with hearts of gold.- Biography :Born...
as Mademoiselle Rosay - Alexander GranachAlexander GranachAlexander Granach was a popular German actor in the 1920s and 1930s.- Biography :Granach was born Jessaja Granach in Werbowitz to Jewish parents and rose to theatrical prominence at the Volksbühne in Berlin...
as Gestapo Agent - Alan LaddAlan Ladd-Early life:Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was the only child of Ina Raleigh Ladd and Alan Ladd, Sr. He was of English ancestry. His father died when he was four, and his mother relocated to Oklahoma City where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter...
as Baby - Jack Briggs as Robin
- James Monks as Splinter
- Richard Fraser as Geoffrey