Les Gosses mènent l'enquête (1947)
Directed by Maurice Labro

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).

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...?