{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}} {{Use British English|date=May 2016}} {{Infobox film | name = Johnny Frenchman | image = Johnnyfrenchman.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = [[Charles Frend]] | producer = [[Michael Balcon]] | writer = [[T. E. B. Clarke]] | starring = [[Tom Walls]]<br>[[Patricia Roc]]<br>[[Françoise Rosay]]<br>[[Paul Dupuis]] | music = [[Clifton Parker]] | cinematography = [[Roy Kellino]] | editing = [[Michael Truman]] | color_process = [[Black and white]] | studio = [[Ealing Studios]] | distributor = [[Eagle-Lion Distributors]] | released = {{Film date|1945|10|29||1945|10|19|New York City|df=y}} | runtime = 105 minutes | country = United Kingdom | language = English | budget = }}
'''''Johnny Frenchman''''' is a 1945 British [[comedy-drama]] [[romance film|romance]] [[war film]] produced by [[Ealing Studios]] and directed by [[Charles Frend]]. The film was produced by [[Michael Balcon]] from a screenplay by [[T. E. B. Clarke]], with cinematography by [[Roy Kellino]].
==Plot== The film is set at the onset and first months of the [[Second World War]], between March 1939 and June 1940, in a small fishing port in [[Cornwall]], whose inhabitants have an historic, but largely benign, rivalry with their counterparts from a port over the Channel in [[Brittany]] in northern France, whose fishing boats fish the same grounds - in this case looking for crabs. Legally the French may not fish within a [[three-mile limit]] of the British coast, and vice versa, and breaches of this rule are the cause of frequent spats between the two countries. In this instance, hot-headed Cornish harbour-master Nat Pomeroy confronts Lanec Florrie, an equally redoubtable widow in charge of an otherwise male crew, from a Breton port. Beneath all the bluster and posturing however, there is a mutual understanding and respect between the two communities.
Widower Nat's daughter, Sue Pomeroy, has been friends since childhood with local boy Bob Tremayne, and their eventual marriage has been taken as a foregone conclusion. During a visit by the Cornish contingent to Brittany a wrestling match is arranged between Bob and Lanec's son Yan, during which Yan breaks a bone, to the concern of Sue. Yan is attracted to Sue and begins actively to woo her, with great success. Sue is torn between her own attraction to Yan and her unspoken commitment to Bob, a situation which leads to increased friction between the two communities. However, when war-related danger ensues, both sides realise that their unity in common cause against the mutual German enemy, and that it is more important than petty squabbles. Bob is called up to serve in the British navy, and in a showdown conversation with Yan before he leaves, the two agree that Sue must be allowed to follow her own heart.
Yan comes to Cornwall to also serve in war duties.
With most men absent, a loose [[sea mine]] drifts into the Cornish harbour and Lanec bravely mans a ship to net it and tow it out, making her a local hero and easing the tensions. She eventually pushes Sue and Yan to marry, which they do without Pomeroy's consent.
==Cast== {{div col}} * [[Tom Walls]] as Nat Pomeroy * [[Patricia Roc]] as Sue Pomeroy * [[Françoise Rosay]] as Lanec Florrie * [[Paul Dupuis]] as Yan Kervarec * [[Ralph Michael]] as Bob Tremayne * [[Arthur Hambling]] as Steven Matthews * [[James Harcourt]] as Joe Pender * [[Grace Arnold]] as Mrs. Matthews * [[Beatrice Varley]] as Mrs. Tremayne * [[Drusilla Wills]] as Miss Bennett * [[Judith Furse]] as June Matthews * [[Frederick Piper]] as Zacky Penrose * Richard George as Charlie West * [[Bill Blewitt]] as Dick Trewhiddle * [[James Knight (actor)|James Knight]] as Tom Hocking {{div col end}}
==Location filming== The film's exterior sequences were shot in the Cornish fishing port of [[Mevagissey]].
==References== {{reflist}} ''TimeOut Film Guide'' - published by Penguin Books - {{ISBN|0-14-029395-7}}
== External links == {{Portal|Cornwall}} * {{IMDb title|0038660}} *[https://archive.org/stream/variety159-1945-07#page/n133/mode/1up Review of film] at ''Variety''
{{Charles Frend}} {{Michael Balcon}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnny Frenchman}} [[Category:1945 films]] [[Category:1945 drama films]] [[Category:British black-and-white films]] [[Category:Ealing Studios films]] [[Category:Films about fishing]] [[Category:Films directed by Charles Frend]] [[Category:Films produced by Michael Balcon]] [[Category:Films scored by Clifton Parker]] [[Category:Films set in Cornwall]] [[Category:Films set in France]] [[Category:British World War II films]] [[Category:British drama films]] [[Category:Films shot in Cornwall]] [[Category:1945 English-language films]] [[Category:1945 British films]] [[Category:English-language drama films]]