Jacques Daniel-Norman's last effort and Tino Rossi's last part (in the 1963 work,he was only a guest star)
They had already teamed up for "Son Dernier Noel" ,a melodrama ."Tourments" is more of the same ,both movies revolving around a child ;it's just much more derivative ,and except for the short scenes when the rich kid meets Paris urchins who teach him slang (when he leaves them,he knows the world "Flic" (=cop)),hindsight does not display the same charm .
A couple (Rossi and Blanchette Brunoy) has adopted a child ;the man ,a successful singer gave up his career and became a race horse breeder .But the mother(Jacqueline Porel) comes back and ,after marrying a wealthy man in South America,wants her brat back.She hires a shady private eye (Louis De Funès!!and in a part longer than usually in the early fifties):blackmail,emotional blackmail,libels, despair of the wife who leaves her husband ,and the boy runs away from his desirable home.
Rossi sings four songs ,including "Bella Donna" and a lullaby for his dear boy;he also performs live on stage at the end of the film.This work was ,anyway ,a vehicle for the Chanteur.If you do not like this style of music,I would rather suggest "Son Dernier Noel".
