Film Review
A murky crime drama set in a boys' prison-like boarding school,
Les Gosses mènent l'enquête
can hardly escape looking like a crude imitation of Christian-Jaque's
Les Disparus de Saint-Agil, and
whilst it is a handsomely directed piece it is badly let down by a
second rate script which fails to live up to its initial promise.
Adapted from Francis Didelot's novel
Caïman,
the film is essentially a classic whodunit, eerily presented as a
grimly oppressive film noir thriller, of the kind where you'd expect
Humphrey Bogart to show up at any moment. Unfortunately, Bogart
fails to materialise and instead the murder is investigated by a cocky
and fairly characterless youngster played by François Patrice.
The film's title proves to be a complete misnomer as Patrice was 23 at
the time and looks it, not the 17-year-old he is supposed to be.
The other 'gosses' only put in a token appearance at the end of the
film and play next to no part in the proceedings. (That one of
the kids gets himself hanged, almost without comment, is the most
shocking aspect of the film.)
Les Gosses mènent l'enquête is
an easy film to flaw - the plot
is hackneyed, the characterisation next to non-existent - but Maurice
Labro directs it with total commitment and flair, giving it the quality
and atmosphere of a superior American film noir. Labro wasted too
much of his career on facile crowdpleasers such as the Fernandel comedy
Boniface Somnambule (1951),
whereas his real talent lay in moody dramas such as this, evidenced by
his subsequent thriller
Le Fauve est
lâché (1959).
© James Travers 2015
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
During Easter, a handful of boarders who have no homes to go to must
remain at their school, François 1er, for the duration of the
holidays. One night, one of the boarders, 17-year-old Dominique
Lekain, has the shock of his life when he sees the school supervisor
hanged in the yard. Is it suicide or murder? Convinced it
is the latter, Dominique immediately begins his own investigation, and
when the dead man's share certificates go missing a motive for murder
becomes apparent. Then the killer strikes a second time.
Will Dominique be victim number three...?
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.