Bon Voyage (1944)

Please don't spend money on this.

Best movie ever!

Absolutely Brilliant!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

I never knew that Sir Alfred Hitchcock directed a film all in a foreign language, admittedly it a short film, but I wasn't going to miss it for the sake of loving the director's past work. Basically young Scottish RAF gunner John Dougall (John Blythe) is debriefed by French officials about his escape from occupied territory. In particular one person he knows may or may not be a German agent, so it is his job to whittle out the spy. It should be said that this film was made for the British Ministry of Information to educate people about the things going on around the time of World War II. I hate to say it, but this isn't really one of the most exciting films in Hitchcock's list of thrillers, but there are some tiny moments to like. Okay!

Shot in 1944 entirely in French (version seen has English subtitles), in style rather like a short section of a budget version of his "Lady Vanishes", it must have been intended for clandestine distribution in occupied and Vichy France. For this reason and the fact that it appears to have a clear practical purpose it presumably is a training film. It is thus not primarily a tribute to the French Resistance, its purpose seems instead to be to warn them of a dangerous new Gestapo method of infiltration. Hitchcock's contribution was to make the message clear and hold the attention.It concerns the return to England of a British air-gunner (played by English actor John Blythe in French) recently escaped from a German prisoner of war camp. He has safely arrived back in London due to the help he received from the French Resistance and is being de-briefed by French exile officers. What should though have been a happy conclusion to a successful escape is soured when the true tragic facts are revealed to him that he has been an innocent pawn in a dastardly Gestapo design for the infiltration of the French resistance network. In this he was made a carrier of something deadly - not disease but something similarly poisonous - that he had been made to unwittingly expose members of the Resistance. One guesses that the main purpose of the film was to warn everyone of this.

A delightful little propaganda film and more than just a curiosity for Hitchcock fans. The plot is about an RAF pilot who was shot down, escapes through France and is debriefed by French officials. He is helped along in his escape by courageous members of the French Underground and a co-escapist. His recounting of the events which allowed his return to England are given a very interesting spin by the French officials.A companion with Hitchcock's other WWII French film 'Aventure Malagache,' 'Bon Voyage' was an attempt to buoy French spirits. I love the fact that the film is SUPPOSED to be a celebration of the daring and heroism of ordinary French civilians who've joined the Underground to fight the Nazis. Buried under the surface there are strong suggestions that being part of the underground will probably get you killed and that you should keep your mouth shut because German agents are everywhere. Heroism and sacrifice rule the day though and it is these two things which Hitchcock was attempting to realistically celebrate.Given a limited showing throughout the Free French regions, 'Bon Voyage' remained a film that Hitchcock was fond of and was a film that Hitchcock considered expanding into a full feature after the war. Although lost in the shuffle and neglected by time, this isn't a bad film. It just remains under-exposed and under-appreciated.

"Bon Voyage" is a short, French-language film, one of two such features that Alfred Hitchcock made during World War II as a tribute to the French Resistance. It will be of special interest to fans of the great director, but it is also an interesting, exciting story that is worthwhile in its own right.As the story opens, we meet a young Scottish pilot from the RAF who has successfully escaped German-occupied territory with help from the resistance. He is being de-briefed about his experiences by intelligence officials, and he goes back and relates for them (and for the audience) his exciting story. Then, in the second half, the officials take him back through the same events, to reveal some astounding surprises.It is all nicely done in fine Hitchcock fashion. It is very much like a good episode from "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", and is about the same length.Hitchcock fans should not miss "Bon Voyage", as there is nothing else quite like it in his movie credits. It is also a good story that should be of at least some interest to anyone interested in World War II films or spy dramas.