La strada della violenza

Little known film from the fifties about a kidnapping by adolescents for money of a rich man's son who goes to take violin lessons in a popular quarter of Paris. The money is needed to pay for the legal costs of defending the brother of one of the girls who has committed a crime (shot a policeman). Mostly filmed in the Belleville area (like Le Ballon Rouge), though film reviews erroneously describe the area as Montmartre. This part of Paris was razed to the ground during the seventies and eighties and is now unrecognizeable since replaced by a large Park. In addition to the well made story, the film has documentary interest was being one of the best records of the Belleville Area of Paris. Unfortunately, it is only in Black and White. The actor who plays the kidnap victim, François Simon, is today a well-known TV presentor in France under the pseudonym of FABRICE. The film is well worth seeing for all of you who might be interested in 50's Paris (that was the best time to see the city) but is unavailable on videocassette or DVD.