In 1949, after 21 films and at the height of her worldwide fame, Durbin quit the movie business and retired to a village in France.

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The village mayor, Ivan Antoniv, a retired physics professor, says the situation is hard but not critical.

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The head of the Westport was once a village lined with the homes of the active and retired ship captains, an historically significant and fascinating history lesson in and of itself.

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Though Mr. Wu remained active in party affairs, he retired as the village's party chief in 2003 and relinquished his key positions to a son, Wu Xie'en.

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