In the career of Spanish director Juan Fortuny ,this is the follow- up to "La Melodia Misteriosa";like it ,it is a French-Spanish co- production,casting actors from both countries.This one was more ambitious than the former one, but it botched the job.Its interesting side,the father/son relationship is only skimmed over.
A young man,André ,is part of a pack of young delinquents (thus the title);his mother worships her husband ,a former gangster , "Le Caïd", ,a leader ,currently in jail and is always talking to her son of this "hero" ,considered a legend by his "colleagues" .Unexpectedly ,"Le Caïd" is released for good behavior;much to his wife's and to his son's surprise,he only wants to stay on the straight and narrow, not to get back to jail.Nevertheless,André has fallen into gangster Antoine's clutches .He lies to his accomplices who regard his dad as their model ,telling them he escaped from jail.It becomes a tug of war : will the young man obey his dad and live on the right side of the law? Or will he follow the baddies in their dishonest deeds?
The subject could have been absorbing,but Juan Fortuny's directing is hopeless;full of filler ,that is to say cabaret acts ,with a poor script ,the movie is a third-rate thriller;some actors (Robert Berri and Raymond Bussière who only has a fifteen-minute appearance ) try their best,to no avail ,Ginette Leclerc ,the Femme Fatale of the golden age of the French cinema is here the ghost of herself;Mario Beut ,as André ,cannot act at all.The beginning,for the time, was rather surprising : it depicts a holdup and a chase before the word "Fin " (=the end) appears on the screen (about four minutes after the beginning) :it was only a movie .The film in the film was called "Le Caid" and the imprisoned gangster's wife ,who attended the showing with her son, takes advantage of it to praise his father to the skies.Like in the director's precedent movie,one good idea: the death of the villain,in front of the poster of the imaginary film which mom and sonny saw at the beginning of the movie.
The action takes place in Barcelone ,Spain,but only short scenes were filmed on location.
A young man,André ,is part of a pack of young delinquents (thus the title);his mother worships her husband ,a former gangster , "Le Caïd", ,a leader ,currently in jail and is always talking to her son of this "hero" ,considered a legend by his "colleagues" .Unexpectedly ,"Le Caïd" is released for good behavior;much to his wife's and to his son's surprise,he only wants to stay on the straight and narrow, not to get back to jail.Nevertheless,André has fallen into gangster Antoine's clutches .He lies to his accomplices who regard his dad as their model ,telling them he escaped from jail.It becomes a tug of war : will the young man obey his dad and live on the right side of the law? Or will he follow the baddies in their dishonest deeds?
The subject could have been absorbing,but Juan Fortuny's directing is hopeless;full of filler ,that is to say cabaret acts ,with a poor script ,the movie is a third-rate thriller;some actors (Robert Berri and Raymond Bussière who only has a fifteen-minute appearance ) try their best,to no avail ,Ginette Leclerc ,the Femme Fatale of the golden age of the French cinema is here the ghost of herself;Mario Beut ,as André ,cannot act at all.The beginning,for the time, was rather surprising : it depicts a holdup and a chase before the word "Fin " (=the end) appears on the screen (about four minutes after the beginning) :it was only a movie .The film in the film was called "Le Caid" and the imprisoned gangster's wife ,who attended the showing with her son, takes advantage of it to praise his father to the skies.Like in the director's precedent movie,one good idea: the death of the villain,in front of the poster of the imaginary film which mom and sonny saw at the beginning of the movie.
The action takes place in Barcelone ,Spain,but only short scenes were filmed on location.
