Marianne Jannetier, a well-to-do Parisian, engaged to Andre Benoit, a high-ranking government official, flees the city when the goose-stepping Nazi storm-troopers arrive. When her mother dies on the road to Bordeaux as a result of Nazi bombing, she returns to Paris and joins the underground movement. Nicholas Jordan, an American member of the RAF, stranded in Paris after the evacuation is also working with the Paris underground. Marianne kills her former fiancée, a pro-Nazi informant, for the traitorous state papers he is carrying, and she and Jordan try to flee over a French seaport...
Elisabeth Bergner
Marianne Jannetier
Randolph Scott
Lt. Nicholas "Nick" Jordan
Basil Rathbone
Andre Benoit
Gale Sondergaard
Colette
Lee J. Cobb
Captain Schwabe
Charles Arnt
Lt. Lantz
Eduardo Ciannelli
Mouche
J. Pat O'Malley
Sgt. Bruce McAvoy
Elisabeth Risdon
Madame Jennetier
Georges Renavent
Butler
William Edmunds
Prof. Marceau
Georges Metaxa
Waiter
Paul Leyssac
Chief of Underground
Gene Garrick
Wolfgang Schmidt
Paul Bryar
Paul
Otto Reichow
Gruber
Adolph Milar
Gestapo Agent
Marion Murray
Cherie
Grace Lenard
Marie
Yvette Bentley
Simone
Marcia Ralston
Renee
Richard Alexander
German Guard (uncredited)
Jeff Corey
Secretary (uncredited)
Gino Corrado
Waiter (uncredited)
Lester Dorr
Gendarme (uncredited)
Philip Van Zandt
Thick Workman (uncredited)
William Yetter Sr.
Gestapo Officer (uncredited)
Director
Edwin L. Marin
Screenplay
Benjamin Glazer
Screenplay
Charles Kaufman
Story
Hans Székely
January 5, 2025
6
"The Germans bombed her mother... There wasn't even enough left for a good ragout... She was a fine cow!" That's the kind of sentiment that the wealthy "Marianne" (Elisabeth Bergner) encounters as she and her mother attempt to flee Paris ahead of the encroaching Nazis. Thing is, isn't not just the cow that gets killed - her mother, too, and so she vows to return and do what she can for the resistance. Initially, she helps stranded American pilot "Nick" (Randolph Scott) with whom she soon falls in love, but somehow she also manages to arouse suspicions amongst her own camp that only a special mission can assuage. That involves her becoming the mistress of a Vichy French government minister "Benoit" (Basil Rathbone) whom everyone suspects is about to cave into the invaders. Things quickly turn distinctly perilous for the young woman, and she and her beau must try to escape the country for the safety of Britain before the net of the menacing "Schwabe" (Lee J. Cobb) closes in on them. It's all pretty standard fayre this, with Bergner rather a fish out of water but not so much as the oddly cast Cobb and there isn't enough of Rathbone to make much difference. Scott actually acquits himself ok, but then again he really only has to smile and play the handsome hero. It does raise the interesting issue of collaboration and the relative merits of those who wanted to fight on against those who wanted to stop further bloodshed, but that theme is rather more waved at us than explored fully. In the end, it's a perfectly watchable wartime morale booster that passes the time fine.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00