JOAN OF PARIS was a good little war movie that had several interesting sidelights attached to it. Henreid and Morgan made their American debuts in the film, and Ladd and Cregar were both tabbed for greater things after their work was seen. Although made before America's involvement in the
war, it was held in the can until after Pearl Harbor and did big business, because it was as current as that morning's headlines when it finally came out in January, 1942. Morgan is a French barmaid whose patron saint is, you guessed it, Joan of Arc. Five flyers land in France behind Nazi lines
and meet later in a Paris church where the priest, Mitchell, helps them. Henreid, a Free French operative, is in love with Morgan who is being tracked by the dread Gestapo officer, Granach, who reports to Cregar. The Frenchmen have to get the flyers out of the country, and Morgan bravely leads the
Nazis a merry chase away from the flyers until the Ratzis get wise and put her in front of a firing squad for her efforts.
This is a factual account of the French underground and was one of the earliest films to come out that publicized the plight of the Europeans under Hitler's yoke. Ladd is excellent as the baby-faced member of the group who is wounded and dies before he can get back to England. The film is filled
with patriotic speeches and lots of pathos (almost verging on bathos) but never goes over the top and consequently captured large audiences. Ladd had been in films since his first in 1932, ONCE IN A LIFETIME, but this role was the one that brought him to the notice of the studio chiefs at RKO. His
wife, Sue, was his agent and she wisely declined the RKO offer of $500 per week for Ladd as she had already been given a script for his approval by Paramount. He took that job and shot to the top of the motion picture world with his role in THIS GUN FOR HIRE. Cregar was only 24 years old when he
played the Gestapo boss. He was also in THIS GUN FOR HIRE with Ladd and died at 28 after he attempted a crash diet that damaged his heart. Cregar's five year career consisted of many excellent roles in some fine films, the best of which was his portrayal of Jack the Ripper in THE LODGER (1944). In
later years, the role of the huge villain was assumed by burly Victor Buono, whose girth also shortened his life considerably. JOAN OF PARIS earned an Oscar nomination for Best Score. leave a comment
