Il figlio conteso

It shows how superficial my expectations are of a black and white film that I only watched this because I was ill, and it was either this, a cooking show or "Take the High Road" (an awful Scottish Soap.

What I found was a film full of believable characterisations that was not afraid to tackle a very difficult subject, where the true mother of a Yugoslavian boy raised by German foster parents during the Second World War returns to reclaim her child ten years later.

What makes the subject matter so difficult is the way in which the boy comes to be made available for adoption through the attrocities of the war. The two flashbacks are very well done, making you care about both of the women and the love they feel for the child - the subdued Yugoslav mother, speaking through an interpreter, refusing to betray her emotions in public having been scarred by her experiences, (I thought the short scene where she is in the church looking at Mary and baby Jesus was very revealing) and the German woman who has raised the child during his formative years.

The three judges from the American Control Commission are called upon to make the impossible decision, and the judgements that each of them decide, though different, ring true.

I was surprised by the abruptness of the ending, wishing to see what Toni would do in later year, but that is my only criticism of this film.

I went to see this film when I was about 15 yrs old. It made a big impression on me because I was very idealistic then. The film was honestly and earnestly made, straight as a die, that was its charm. The fact is it only cost 1/- to get in the cinema to see it. In todays money that is about 5p. The film belongs in that era of course, the fifties. I have never fogotten the little boy in court trying to decide which parent he should choose to be with. He conveyed the correct personal inner torment of knowing he should choose his real mother, but being so used to his adoptive one.

I awarded this film 6/10 having seen it today 20/8/15 on "London Live" TV station who have been running a season of Ealing films from 2.00p.m on most weekdays.For a 69 year old this was the first time I saw this film which I found moving when a 10 year old Slovenian boy has to decide with whom he should live, either his natural mother or German adoptive parents.World War II caused many sad cases of orphans who had lost either or both their natural parents and a legal section of the U.S. War Commission as occupying country in West Germany had to make the decision whether to repatriate children once their natural parents had been found.This was decided in the film by a trio of international judges standing in for King Soloman.

Yvonne Mitchell plays the Slovenian mother and I was impressed how she appeared to speak Slovanese and even Geoffrey Keen who played the administrator who mediates between the rival mothers.I assume a real Slovenian did the voice track with Yvonne lip-syncing to the spoken sound track.It would have been more realistic however if the German adoptive parents had spoken German in their scenes together.No spoiler from me about which of the mothers won the custody battle but the moral arguments from the three judges I found convincing.

A knock at their door one evening throws the lives of "Inga" (Cornell Borchers) and husband "Franz" (Armin Dahlen) into turmoil. It's a woman from the post war child repatriation division there to try and establish where they got there son "Toni" (Michel Ray) from. They assure her they adopted him legally but after a few rudimentary questions they inform them that his mother "Sonja" (Yvonne Mitchell) wants him to live with her. A court must decide what happens next, and for the remainder of the film we watch as both the "bread" mother and the "blood" mother must metaphorically fight it out. It's delicately portrayed making it quite distressing to watch at times. The three judges - Alexander Knox, Liam Redmond and Eddie Byrne listen carefully and compassionately and as the case unfolds we, like them, realise that there can be no clear winners here - unless it's the ten year old boy who knows little of his wartime life in Slovakia but only of his current life with his new German parents. Perhaps he could decide? He's very young, though - is he competent to make such a choice? Charles Crichton directs with sympathy and he uses Geoffrey Keen quite effectively as a character trying to broker the best from a bad scenario - even if the process is really about securing the best for "Toni". There's a paucity of dialogue here, most of the scenario being presented as objectively as possible allowing us to make our own evaluation. It's touching and exposes a wartime topic not often addressed in cinema.

The spoils and utter disruption war creates, especially in the lives of the innocent bystander are dramatically, and believably spotlighted in this sincere Ealing Studios study of two families. At the core of this well produced British drama is the decision that has to be made (and then lived with) by two women over the fate of an orphaned young boy. A lad adopted into a loving German family, who after seven years of parenting - is suddenly confronted by the claims of a Yugoslavian woman who lost her husband and two other children --that the boy may be her lad-- taken from her just after the child's birth.

Beautiful Award winning performances, by Cornel Borchers and Yvonne Mitchell as the two women faced with the heat-breaking decision, are given strong support by Alexander Knox and Geoffrey Keen. These are captured on film by astute veteran Czech cinematographer Otto Heller ('Richard 111 '55) From an intelligent screenplay by respected writer's Jack Whitingham and Richard Hughes, based a true story, it's well realized by director Charles Crichton (Dead of Night '45). Child prodigy French Composer Georges Auric (The wages of Fear '55) supplies the rich score.

Not to be missed by admirers of fine British drama. The Studio Canal DVD transfer has been taken from a clean original source with fine-grain image and OK sound.