Frenchman's Creek (film)

Frenchman's Creek
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Mitchell Leisen
Produced by	Buddy G. DeSylva
Screenplay by	Talbot Jennings
Based on	Frenchman's Creek 1941 novel by Daphne Du Maurier
Starring	Joan Fontaine Arturo de Córdova Basil Rathbone
Music by	Victor Young
Cinematography	George Barnes
Edited by	Alma Macrorie
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	September 20, 1944 (1944-09-20)
Running time	110 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3.6 million

Frenchman's Creek is a 1944 film adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel of the same name, about an aristocratic English woman who falls in love with a French pirate. The film was released by Paramount Pictures and starred Joan Fontaine, Arturo de Córdova, Basil Rathbone, Cecil Kellaway, and Nigel Bruce. Filmed in Technicolor, it was directed by Mitchell Leisen. The musical score was by Victor Young, who incorporated the main theme of French composer Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune as the love theme for the film.

The film is a mostly faithful adaptation of the novel, taking place during the reign of Charles II in the mid-17th century, mostly in the Cornish region of England.

Fontaine was under contract to independent producer to David O. Selznick, who produced only a few films each year. Typically, he loaned out his contract players and director Alfred Hitchcock (who had a contract with Selznick from 1940 to 1947) to other studios. In this case, Fontaine was loaned to Paramount for this lavish production. She later complained about her work with director Leisen and some of her costars. The film's budget of $3.6 million made it the most expensive production in Paramount history up to that time.

Cast members Rathbone and Bruce were well known for appearing together as Holmes and Dr. Watson, respectively, in the Sherlock Holmes films by Universal Studios. "Frenchman's Creek" was their only on-screen collaboration besides the Holmes films.