Le blé en herbe

I saw this film in early 1955 at the Golden Bough Theater in Carmel CA. I was a GI stationed in Monterey, studying Russian in the Army Language School. The film simply poleaxed me. It offered Edwige as the ultimate "older Continental Woman" and a deliriously gorgeous young woman in competition over a young French nerd even less knowing and commanding as anyone in my cohort. Later, in European Military Intelligence, I met a few kindred who had seen La Ble en Herbe. Their reaction was identical to mine. Yet it is impossible to see it today. Why? I hear that Autant-Lara and his star were considered politically embarrassing. And that it was not in the aesthetic line of Godard and Truffaut. Now really: who cares? When you see the garbage that is now given superb DVD immortality -- how can this film be denied even VHS recognition of its existence? I remain furious over the disappearance of this film.