The Woman Who Dared

Pierre and Thérèse Gauthier run a garage in the provinces. When the airfield is extended their house is pulled down and the family moves elsewhere. Pierre picks up his old connection with aircraft again, and then Thérèse learns to fly as well. She begins preparing for an attempt on a distance record. The preparation swallows the family's money and its whole order. Jean Grémillon's French film was inspired by the story of Andrée Dupeyron, the aviator who broke the women's long-distance record in 1938. It opened in occupied France a few months before the Liberation and drew large audiences. Madeleine Renaud and Charles Vanel take the leads. The telling does not glorify the obsession; it also shows that the children pay for it.