Bon Voyage (1944) Reviews

• Excellent Hitchcock Short Feature

  Snow Leopard2001-05-22

  "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.

• "Off you go, bon voyage."

  classicsoncall2016-03-23

  Perhaps my two cents worth here might help concerning the history of this World War II propaganda film directed by Hitchcock, as I saw it on Turner Classic Movies with host Ben Mankiewicz providing background as the host. Unlike many British film makers of the era, when Hitchcock arrived in Hollywood in 1939, he did not return to England for a full five years as the war got under way. He took some heat from his countrymen for this while his own career in the States was taking off and accelerating. When Hitchcock did return to England in 1944, he went to work on two propaganda films, basically without pay, and in the case of this film, as a tribute to the French Resistance effort. Made for the British Ministry of Information, the result was a disappointment to those in the government who were expecting a patriotic film showing the Resistance winning a great battle against huge odds with a grand, happy ending. Mankiewicz further offered that the film might possibly have never been shown in France or England at the time, shelved by the British government until the 1990's, at which time the print was restored. Of the reviews on this board that I've read that disassociate the picture from Hitchcock's normal directing style, I would counter that it does contain elements found in many of his pictures, the most notable of which being that of an ordinary man who finds himself in an extraordinary situation. It also includes a twist in the story, in as much as the principal character Sergeant Dougall, upon reaching England via the French underground, learns that his associate Stefan who helped him escape, was actually a German agent, planted to ease his escape while acquiring vital information about French Resistance fighters and the methods they employed and the routes they used. Granted that the exposition might have seemed slow and tedious, nevertheless I viewed this as an interesting and compelling war time drama. There's a moment when the viewer is thrown into doubt about what's going on when the French woman Jeanette visibly expresses confusion over the location where Dougall received his 'phony' message from Stefan. Staying attentive to the flashback scenes clears this up, and along with the French officer's explanation to Dougall concerning the identity of 'Stefan', makes this an effective espionage story.

• Not bad, but don't expect any Hitchcock in this Hitchcock film...

  MartinHafer2009-10-20

  During WWII, Alfred Hitchcock made two short films that starred French actors and were entirely in French. They were made as propaganda films aimed at Free French audiences. While interesting as curios, there isn't much about them that seems like they were made by the master film maker. In fact, overall they are both incredibly forgettable films. This film is about two soldiers who escape from a Nazi prison camp. However, after one of them is able to make his way all the way back to Britain, he learns that the escape wasn't exactly what he thought it was...it was actually orchestrated by the Nazis! To explain all this, the film consists of several flashback scenes. Unfortunately, while mildly diverting, none of this is all that interesting. By the way, another person indicated that the captions were often clipped off in the DVD release. This is very odd, as I downloaded a free copy (it is in the public domain) and the archive.org copy had captions that were easy to read and never were partially obscured. This is one case, I guess, where the free copy is better than the one you might pay for yourself!

• A 25 minute Hitchcock wartime training film thriller?

  trimmerb12342008-02-21

  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.

• Far superior to Aventure Malgache, if not classic Hitchcock

  TheLittleSongbird2013-11-15

  Coming from someone who considers Alfred Hitchcock her all-time favourite director, both Aventure Malgache and Bon Voyage are interesting curiosities but neither see Hitchcock at his best. While I didn't think much of Aventure Malgache, Bon Voyage was very well-done and you can see why Hitchcock himself was fond of it. The script is lacking in tautness and has a tendency to plod and a couple of the flashbacks flow a little too stiffly, even with those there is much to recommend. While Bon Voyage doesn't quite have Hitchcock all over it or see him show what he was most good at, there is more evidence of his directing style than in Aventure Malgache, the suspense levels are not exactly strong but Bon Voyage is not dull either and has some fun to it. The camera work is clever and meticulously composed and the crisp black and white also impresses. The score is a good mix of haunting and playful, while the story is simpler, much less confused and has some nice twists and turns. Unlike Aventure Malgache, Bon Voyage thankfully is not too dialogue heavy, the French are portrayed more sensitively and the propaganda elements, while also on the dated side, more subtly handled. John Blythe is decent in the lead role. To conclude, not a classic but it is not bad at all and of Hitchcock two French shorts he made in the 40s this is the far superior of the two. 7/10 Bethany Cox