There's a warning before the cast and credits ,a rather long warning:prostitution is a scourge ,we've got to do something about it,we are going to show prostitution as it really is,the women's plight,warts and all ,blah ,blah ,blah....
It's not really an honest movie as was Henry Decoin's "Razzia Sur La Chnouff" which dealt with another burning subject:drugs.It's a melodrama about whores like so many others in the fifties ,the likes of Leo Joannon ("Le Desert De Pigalle" ) or Maurice Cloche ("Marchands De Filles" "Les Filles De Nuit").No real daring scene ,but a lot of clichés ,notably the hooker-with-a-great-heart (Suzy Prim was so gifted an actress she almost shone in this hackneyed part),the good truck driver and the sadistic pimp (Raymond Pellegrin ,in a part unworthy of himself).
Françoise Arnoul's character is the only one which is not totally cardboard.The story is a long flashback after she shot her pimp down and begins in a way which is not derivative :she depicts a fairytale castle ,a young girl waiting for her prince Charming's coming whereas the pictures -which actually show a gloomy girls reformatory -refute what she is telling.This young girl could earn her living (she's offered a job as a maid in a house ) or even marry the good guy (Pierre Cressoy)but she takes what she thinks is the easy way out.
It's not really an honest movie as was Henry Decoin's "Razzia Sur La Chnouff" which dealt with another burning subject:drugs.It's a melodrama about whores like so many others in the fifties ,the likes of Leo Joannon ("Le Desert De Pigalle" ) or Maurice Cloche ("Marchands De Filles" "Les Filles De Nuit").No real daring scene ,but a lot of clichés ,notably the hooker-with-a-great-heart (Suzy Prim was so gifted an actress she almost shone in this hackneyed part),the good truck driver and the sadistic pimp (Raymond Pellegrin ,in a part unworthy of himself).
Françoise Arnoul's character is the only one which is not totally cardboard.The story is a long flashback after she shot her pimp down and begins in a way which is not derivative :she depicts a fairytale castle ,a young girl waiting for her prince Charming's coming whereas the pictures -which actually show a gloomy girls reformatory -refute what she is telling.This young girl could earn her living (she's offered a job as a maid in a house ) or even marry the good guy (Pierre Cressoy)but she takes what she thinks is the easy way out.