Nous les gosses

Released in 1941,in the dark days of German Occupation,"Nous Les Gosses" was meant to be the French Resistance seen through a bunch of kids who all stand together when one of them is in big trouble.I do not think,however,that the message was clear enough (the same goes for Carné's "Les Visiteurs Du Soir" ) for the audience of the time,but one thing for sure:for Louis Daquin,a socialist ,the answer to man's craziness lays in his children ,whose innocence and solidarity survive the not rosy world which surrounds them.Daquin's work during those years is downright embarrassing:"Le voyageur De La Toussaint" was an excellent thriller (from Georges Simenon)but "Premier De Cordée" was the Vichy ideology in a movie.

Children are playing in a schoolyard ;one of them breaks a glass wall .The schoolteacher sets them a difficult problem which means they' ve got to pay for what one of them has done.But the culprit has a brute of a father ,and he cannot tell him the truth.So the pupils all stand together and try to find some money.They give their small change :the funniest scene is the little boy telling "La Dame Aux Camelias" (aka "Camille" aka"Le Roman De Marguerite Gauthier")to his family.As he has not seen the movie,he turns it into a western,complete with horse and sheriff,much to his father's surprise ("They did not respect the classics anymore").They sell lily of the valley.They learn to beg.They become shoe-shiners ,with a little help from their teacher.

"Nous Les Gosses" is a good movie,if only for the kids' spontaneity.On the other hand,all that concerns the adults has not worn well:the lovers are bland ,in spite of Gilbert Gil's talent (whose death near a player piano,trying to kill an informer, in "Pepe Le Moko", was memorable);the villains are uninteresting ;the amateur sleuth (Pierre Larquey) is not really funny.

But the children are all lovable,particularly a little black girl.

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"La Guerre Des Boutons" Yves Robert 1962 "L'Argent De Poche " (small change) François Truffaut 1976