Champions de France

Willy Rozier's movies still available are not lost treasures of the French cinema: "monsieur chasse" ,"56 rue pigalle", "l'épave ," "le bagnard " ,"les amants maudits" are dreaful stuff ,which his series of "Callaghan"starring British actor Tony Wright did nothing to rectify .

As far these "champions" are concerned ,I was expecting the worst ;I've got to make amends :made in 1938 , it captured something of the camaraderie, of the joie de vivre ,in a nutshell , of the 1936 Popular Front .I would not go as far as to compare Rozier's film with "La Belle equipe " by the highly superior Julien Duvivier though there are similitarities:aren't they an "équipe " (a team ) with a friendship that counts the most for the rowers , and a strong will to win? And who will be the cause of the failure of this winning team? A woman, daughter of wealthy owner of racing stables.

Because of this femme fatale ,Gladys ,the rowing team sees Jacques, its star ,leave his oar , jeopardizing their possible victory over the formidable English contender . Abetted by a shady former lover of Gladys ,his evil genius ,he begins to do very bad things and even contemplates suicide ,without even seeing that the good girl ,the coach's daughter ,has only eyes for him.

It's pleasant : a well-to-do monsieur wants to become a mayor : so he pulls out all the stops and finances a rowing team : didn't his offspring row for four years in Oxford?Besides ,he hires an eloquence teacher ,who is more a scrounger than a reliable help : the compliment to the star would fall flat without the coach's signs ,and in his speech in English ,he just mumbles ...And as for the political help :the one on the left is right-wing ,the one on the right is left-wing ,and the one in the middle does not vote ,for he lives on his private income.

Like in "la Belle Equipe ",there are songs ,but not as memorable : "bon vivant" and the title song.And lovely shots of the river Marne .Like in Duvivier's masterwork.