This Was Paris

Set during the "False War" between the declaration of war in September 1939 and the invasion of Belgium in the Spring of 1940, THIS IS Paris is one of the Warner Brothers Teddington Studio productions, meant to get around blocked funds and film quota restrictions. Ann Dvorak is an American dress designer who is suspected of being a Nazi Fifth columnist; Ben Lyon is an American journalist who thinks he has a line on Dutch industrialist Robert Morley, who he thinks is a Nazi; and Griffith Jones is a British Intelligence officer cooling his heels, in love with Dvorak, who is told that he has to spy on her because she is suspected. Then the Blitzkrieg begins and All is Revealed.

The movie is a mix of good scenes, clichés and some sloppy editing -- the Teddington stuff survive in poor condition. The leads are all good and there are the usual faces familiar to lovers of old movies in small roles: Miles Malleson as a put-upon newspaper librarian and Hay Petrie as a carnival owner are their usual delightful selves. Elisabeth Welch sings Rogers & Hart's "There's a Boy in Harlem" in a welcome appearance. Over all though, it's a cheap quota quicky with a propaganda message.