Moineaux de Paris

"The little singers of the wooden cross" were a choir who would sing religious stuff ,but their repertoire widened as years went by , tackling classical pieces and even old chansons françaises ( a medley of these old songs such as " frère jacques" "il pleut bergère" "il était un petit navire" is heard in the film).They appeared in several movies ,notably briefly in Duvivier's masterpiece "un carnet de bal" ,and in the weepie "la cage aux rossignols" which spawned a remake ("les choristes") which was lauded far beyond its station ;their most cinematographically consistant film is arguably "Le Visiteur" by Jean Dreville.

Therefore the main interest of "moineaux de Paris" lies in the music : the 10-15 young boys" art is still today quite impressive although it might sound a little old-fashioned to some ears.

A priest warns the audience :"it's not a documentary about "the little singers of Paris" , it's a fantasy .But this fantasy is not really full of imagination ;aimed at the fifties children 's market, it 's going to make today's brats yawn their head off : this story of a locket which Napoleon would have sent to his son le roi de Rome (see precis) in Austria is repetitive and often dull ;the locket contains a message ,urging Napoleon II (who never reigned) to rule the land towards peace -which was not exactly what dad did .Jean -Pierre Aumont cast a campaigner who comes back from the dead as a ghost only the boy whose grandma owned the locket can see is not what you call dynamic and the real stars are the places in which the action take place :It's filmed in location in the château de Chambord ,in Mont-Saint -Michel or in the Invalides where one can see Napoleon's and his son's tombs .

Strictly for fans of the singers.