Joan of Paris

Joan of Paris
Directed byRobert Stevenson
James Anderson (assistant)
Written byJacques Théry (story)
Georges Kessel (story)
Charles Bennett
Ellis St. Joseph
Produced byDavid Hempstead
StarringMichèle Morgan
Paul Henreid
Thomas Mitchell
Laird Cregar
CinematographyRussell Metty
Edited bySherman Todd
Music byRoy Webb
Production
company
RKO Radio Pictures
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release dates
  • February 20, 1942 (1942-02-20) (U.S.)
  • January 23, 1942 (1942-01-23) (Premiere-New York City)[1]
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$666,000[2][3]
Box office$1,150,000[3]

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 stars Michèle Morgan and Paul Henreid, with Thomas Mitchell, Laird Cregar and May Robson in her last role.

Joan of Paris marked the U.S. screen debuts of Austrian Henreid and Frenchwoman Morgan. Henreid had previously appeared in some British-American co-productions made in England and had starred on Broadway in the play Flight to the West as Paul von Hernreid. When he was signed with RKO in 1942, the studio changed his surname, dropping the "von" and changing his last name to "Henreid", the name he used for the rest of his film career.[4]

Cregar was borrowed from 20th-Century Fox. Alan Ladd, who played one of the downed airmen, was about to become a star.[5] After his breakthrough starring role in This Gun for Hire (1942), Joan of Paris was re-released with Ladd more prominently featured.[4]

  1. ^ "Detail View: 'Joan of Paris'." American Film Institute. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  2. ^ Jewell and Harbin 1982, p. 169.
  3. ^ a b Mank, Gregory William (2018). Laird Cregar: A Hollywood Tragedy. McFarland.
  4. ^ a b Miller, Frank. "Articles: 'Joan of Arc' (1942)." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  5. ^ Churchill. Douglas W. "Out of the Hollywood hopper." The New York Times, October 5, 1941, p. X5.