Film Friday: "This Above All" (1942)
In honor of Joan Fontaine's 98th birthday, this week on "Film Friday" I bring you the first film I ever saw her in, which also stands as my favorite film of hers so far. Theatrical release poster Directed by Anatole Litvak, This Above All (1942) opens in England in the early days of World War II, when the spirited Prudence "Prue" Cathaway (Joan Fontaine) joins the ranks of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, much to the surprise and chagrin of her aristocratic family, especially her aunt Iris (Gladys Cooper). Through one of her fellow WAAF's, Violet Worthing (Queenie Leonard), Prue meets and starts a romance with Clive Briggs (Tyrone Power), a handsome soldier who is oddly not in uniform and seems to be harbouring a deep dark secret. Taking advantage of Prue's seven-day leave, the couple decides to go on vacation together to a seaside resort in Dover, where Clive begins to act strangely, calling out military orders in his sleep and becoming g...