What can you expect from Fernand Rivers except melodrama ?(see "le maitre de forges" "la goualeuse " and "les deux gosses" ,the latter taking tear-jerker to new limits :one of the kids joining his mom in Heaven!)The alternate title speaks for itself :"le martyre d'une mère" (a mother' s martyrdom); if you like melodrama , even with a somewhat disjointed screenplay,you'll enjoy that .
Robert (Georges Rollin) never knew his parents (although the viewer easily guesses who his mom is as soon as she appears ); he was brought up by a VIP (Jules Berry ,cast against type) ,an ambassador who wants to take him away with him in Indochina ; but Mister Guéret ,(Pierre Renoir)whose factory runs into difficulties , can use this ex-student of the Ecole Polytechnique ,one of the most prestigious engineering schools in France ,and lo and behold, he 's hired and thanks to him ,the business is thriving again.
But this melodrama has another interesting side to it:released in 1941, but shot in 1939 ,it reflects some of the spirit of le front populaire(1936-1938) ; whatever Robert's motives may be ( he thought he was now a member of the Guéret family , but,when it comes to giving a piece of advice about their daughter's money match ,her father and her mother (the latter,reluctantly) cut him down to size ), he's an idealist :"I'm part of them" (the workers)
In the meantime , Robert has discovered the conditions of the working class life and is determined to improve their lot;he supports their strike ,and even goes as far as to blackmail his boss : "if you do not accept a new deal with your workers, I'll blow up the factory " ;the scene climaxes the movie ,with Renoir ,Rollin and Valentine Tessier overplaying to the hilt.
Handicapped by songs that do not fit ("le tango de Provence" )and a parade of guardians and girls in folk costumes :"I'd rather see naked girls in les Folies Bergères" ,a grumpy Renoir says.
