Paris Underground (1945)

Written by CinemaSerf on July 1, 2022

This is quite a quirky and entertaining story of two unlikely ladies who decide to help smuggle allied airmen out of France during WWII. "Kitty de Mornay" (Constance Bennett) a determined American and her British friend "Emmy Quayle" (Gracie Fields) devise some quite enterprising methods to enable their charges to avoid the pursuing Nazis - a cunning wheeze involving funeral cortèges being a successful example. The frustrated Bosch are not going to give up, though, and soon the net tightens around the courageous pair as "Capt. von Weber" (Kurt Kreuger) begins to smell a rat. The dialogue is a bit relentless at times, to be honest - especially at the start, but once the film gets up an head of steam, it is an enjoyable tale of wartime fortitude that does not end as you might expect. The production standards are fine, the two at the top of the bill hold this together well, and director Gregory Ratoff manages quite successfully to include some light-heartedness as the story treads it's perilous line. Well worth a watch.