# Johnny Frenchman > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Johnny_Frenchman > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Johnny_Frenchman.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Frenchman > Source revision: 1339362001 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1945 British film Johnny Frenchman Theatrical release poster Directed by Charles Frend Written by T. E. B. Clarke Produced by Michael Balcon Starring Tom Walls Patricia Roc Françoise Rosay Paul Dupuis Cinematography Roy Kellino Edited by Michael Truman Music by Clifton Parker Color process Black and white Production company Ealing Studios Distributed by Eagle-Lion Distributors Release dates 29 October 1945 (1945-10-29) 19 October 1945 (1945-10-19) (New York City) Running time 105 minutes Country United Kingdom Language English ***Johnny Frenchman*** is a 1945 British [comedy-drama](/source/Comedy-drama) [romance](/source/Romance_film) [war film](/source/War_film) produced by [Ealing Studios](/source/Ealing_Studios) and directed by [Charles Frend](/source/Charles_Frend). The film was produced by [Michael Balcon](/source/Michael_Balcon) from a screenplay by [T. E. B. Clarke](/source/T._E._B._Clarke), with cinematography by [Roy Kellino](/source/Roy_Kellino). ## Plot The film is set at the onset and first months of the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War), between March 1939 and June 1940, in a small fishing port in [Cornwall](/source/Cornwall), whose inhabitants have an historic, but largely benign, rivalry with their counterparts from a port over the Channel in [Brittany](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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 - [Tom Walls](/source/Tom_Walls) as Nat Pomeroy - [Patricia Roc](/source/Patricia_Roc) as Sue Pomeroy - [Françoise Rosay](/source/Fran%C3%A7oise_Rosay) as Lanec Florrie - [Paul Dupuis](/source/Paul_Dupuis) as Yan Kervarec - [Ralph Michael](/source/Ralph_Michael) as Bob Tremayne - [Arthur Hambling](/source/Arthur_Hambling) as Steven Matthews - [James Harcourt](/source/James_Harcourt) as Joe Pender - [Grace Arnold](/source/Grace_Arnold) as Mrs. Matthews - [Beatrice Varley](/source/Beatrice_Varley) as Mrs. Tremayne - [Drusilla Wills](/source/Drusilla_Wills) as Miss Bennett - [Judith Furse](/source/Judith_Furse) as June Matthews - [Frederick Piper](/source/Frederick_Piper) as Zacky Penrose - Richard George as Charlie West - [Bill Blewitt](/source/Bill_Blewitt) as Dick Trewhiddle - [James Knight](/source/James_Knight_(actor)) as Tom Hocking ## Location filming The film's exterior sequences were shot in the Cornish fishing port of [Mevagissey](/source/Mevagissey). ## References *TimeOut Film Guide* - published by Penguin Books - [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-14-029395-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-14-029395-7) ## External links - [Cornwall portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Cornwall) - [*Johnny Frenchman*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038660/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) - [Review of film](https://archive.org/stream/variety159-1945-07#page/n133/mode/1up) at *Variety* v t e Films directed by Charles Frend The Big Blockade (1942) The Foreman Went to France (1942) San Demetrio London (1943) The Return of the Vikings (1944) Johnny Frenchman (1945) The Loves of Joanna Godden (1947) Scott of the Antarctic (1948) A Run for Your Money (1949) The Magnet (1950) The Cruel Sea (1953) Lease of Life (1954) The Long Arm (1956) Barnacle Bill (1957) Cone of Silence (1960) Girl on Approval (1961) Torpedo Bay (1963) The Sky Bike (1967) v t e Films produced by Michael Balcon The Rat (1925) The Sea Urchin (1926) The Triumph of the Rat (1926) The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1926) The Mountain Eagle (1926) Blighty (1927) Downhill (1927) The Rolling Road (1927) Easy Virtue (1927) One of the Best (1927) The Vortex (1927) A South Sea Bubble (1928) A Light Woman (1928) The First Born (1928) The Wrecker (1929) The Return of the Rat (1929) City of Play (1929) Taxi for Two (1929) Woman to Woman (1929) Jack's the Boy (1932) I Was a Spy (1933) It's a Boy (1933) Friday the Thirteenth (1933) Princess Charming (1934) Evergreen (1934) Red Ensign (1934) Along Came Sally (1934) The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) Car of Dreams (1935) First a Girl (1935) Me and Marlborough (1935) The 39 Steps (1935) Stormy Weather (1935) Things Are Looking Up (1935) The First Offence (1936) Tudor Rose (1936) The Man Who Changed His Mind (1936) Secret Agent (1936) Where There's a Will (1936) Windbag the Sailor (1936) Doctor Syn (1937) A Yank at Oxford (1938) The Gaunt Stranger (1938) The Four Just Men (1939) Cheer Boys Cheer (1939) Let George Do It! (1940) The Proud Valley (1940) The Ghost of St. Michael's (1941) Ships with Wings (1941) Turned Out Nice Again (1941) The Big Blockade (1942) Went the Day Well? (1942) The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942) My Learned Friend (1943) The Foreman Went to France (1942) Undercover (1943) The Bells Go Down (1943) San Demetrio London (1943) Nine Men (1943) For Those in Peril (1944) Champagne Charlie (1944) The Halfway House (1944) Fiddlers Three (1944) Dead of Night (1945) Pink String and Sealing Wax (1945) They Came to a City (1945) Johnny Frenchman (1945) The Captive Heart (1946) The Overlanders (1946) Hue and Cry (1947) It Always Rains on Sunday (1947) The Loves of Joanna Godden (1947) The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1947) Frieda (1947) Against the Wind (1948) Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948) Another Shore (1948) Scott of the Antarctic (1948) Train of Events (1949) Passport to Pimlico (1949) Whisky Galore! (1949) A Run for Your Money (1949) Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) Cage of Gold (1950) The Blue Lamp (1950) The Magnet (1950) The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) Pool of London (1951) The Man in the White Suit (1951) Mandy (1952) The Cruel Sea (1953) The Maggie (1954) The Night My Number Came Up (1955) Touch and Go (1955) The Ladykillers (1955) The Long Arm (1956) Barnacle Bill (1957) The Man in the Sky (1957) The Shiralee (1957) Dunkirk (1958) The Siege of Pinchgut (1959) The Scapegoat (1959) The Long and the Short and the Tall (1961) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Johnny Frenchman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Frenchman) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Frenchman?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.