I figli della strada

Release in a difficult period for French directors (1941) Christian Jaque found a good story to tell involving children, including Mouloudji who had a great singer career later on.

...but not nearly so good as Wyler's work."L'enfer des anges" had reportedly problems with the censorship because it would be so called communist propaganda .But except for a plea at the beginning -lines on the screen urging the people to do something about the youth's poverty and thus make that there will never be films like this one- it's mainly a desultory melodrama..Although it was written by Pierre Very,the script seems today very weak, patchy , maudlin and finally unconvincing.

One can save two or three scenes:Frehel,a chanteuse who was one of Edith Piaf's main influences ,playing a shrew out in the street ,babe in arms;the meeting between a kid from the wrong side of town and a spoilt child in Neuilly where rich wealthy Parisians live.

Although made in 1939,it was only released in 1941.