Figure 1.--Harry in "Kamchatka" (2002), an Argetine film, is here seen on hos way to school in a dark-colored smock. |
|
You can also select the movies available on HBC by using this alphabetical movie listing. We have several thousand listings. At this time only a few of these movies have been analized in detail by HBC for fashion and historical information, but more review pages are being added all the time. Readers are incouraged to comment on their favorite films.
The title of Kamchatka comes from the forbidding Siberian Kamchatka Peninsula. This is an alegory from going into the cold or hiding from the military authorities. Harry is an ordinary 10- year old boy. He goes to school, he enjoys board games and watching TV. His father is a lawyer, his mother works at University, and his younger brother, Tiny, is his inevitable messmate. The world Harry lives in is not normal. Argentina's government in 1976 has been displaced by a coup d'etat. Thousands of citizens are hunted, abducted, and dissappear. In most of the cases, the only crime those people can be accused of is to have verbally opposed such regime. This is the case of Harry's parents.
Many boys appear in the movie and their costuming reflects American boys' clothing during the 1980s. In "I", Daniel, a boy from New Jersey, is bullied by karate club members when he enters his new school, sort of a teenage "Rocky." He turns to his apartment building's maintenance man/karate expert for protection. He appears in bathing suits and shorts. In "II", Daniel and his mentor must defend themselves from bitter foes in Okinawa. Ralph Machino
Fact-based account of the 19th Century conflict between the House of Baden and the Bavarians. The House of Baden controls the Palatinate which the Bavarians want back. As part of a plot to sweep her adversaries from the throne, Countess Hochberg substitutes the sickly child of a servant for the long-awaited Crown Prince of Baden--Kaspar Hauser. When the imposter dies, the countess uses Kaspar, who she has kept locked away since the age of 4 in a darkened cellar in Hungary, to blackmail Ludwig von Baden. She tried to promote her own son, Leopold, to the throne. The costuming and scenes are meticulous, but the production is plodding and endlessly talky. Kaspar is finally released in Nuremberg during 1828 after 12 years of neglect. He is a wild child, unable to talk, feed himself, or even walk. Various tutors try to help him.
Kathy O is a comedy-drama from 1958 which stars Patty Mc Cormack (the little girl in The Bad Seed from 1956). Kathy is a rather bratty, demanding child in real life, while her screen image is that of a sweet little girl. Dan Duryea plays a studio publicist
who must conceal the real child from a snoopy magazine writer, who happens to be his ex-wife. Kathy is not really a bad child, just tired, lonely, and unloved. She's under great pressures from the film studio and is from a broken home. When there is trouble at Kathy's home, the publicist is asked by the studio to take Kathy home to stay with his familly, his second wife and his two sons, about ages 10 and 8. The boys wear contemporary clothes, such as long trousers and jeans and sports shirts. With a real family and surrounded by love for the first time in her life, Kathy becomes more like the little girl she plays on
screen. "Kathy O'" shows that love and patience can work wonders. It's very much a 1950's film, emphasizing the importance of the family. Made during the peak years of the baby boom, a film in which a child is a central character would be expectedly well received by audiences. "Kathy O'" is frequently shown by WTBS, AMC, and Turner Classics during the holiday season. Terry and Ricky Kelman played Dan Duryea's sons in the 1958 film Kathy O. Ricky played in the "Dennis O'Keefe Show". Michael played Mame's great nephew in the closing cene of Aunty Mame wearing a black short pants suit, knee socks, and, appropos the planned journey to India, a turban.
Set in a quiet Dalmatian village in the early years of World War II. The film opens with giggling children at the village fete.
Film dealing with a boy and his genie. Basketball-star Shaquille O'Neal plays a magic genie who comes to the aid of 12-year old Max (Francis Capra), a rather obnoxious kid. Max is an inner-city kid, beset by a gang of Hispanic kids in Los Angeles. At first Max doesn't want the genie, but soon changes his mind. Max has long-hair, now rather uncommon. The film received generally poor reviews.
Anti-Fascist drama with Darryl Hickman.
A pioneer boy in 1767 must fend for himself in the wilds of Maine when his farther fails to return from Massachusetts.
A man and his son fight their way across the Kentucky wilderness to Texas. The boy is very nicely played. He has trouble in school and finds it difficult to get along with his aunt and uncle. He wears rough frontier clothes.
Trite romance about the feud between two families set in horse raising country. The beginning is set amidst the Civil War. Two boys are pictured on a plantation. They wear suits with big white collars. The younger boy wear knee length pants and has a big part in this opening. His older brother has obtained the dignity of long trousers.
George "Spanky" McFarland
A young woman faces harassment and humiliation when she goes to work as a coal miner to support her son and ailing father. The boy has only a small role, but plays his part well. Of course he wears longs.
"Kevade" is a classic Estonian film,a version of the famous novel by Oscar Luts (1887-1953). The title is "Spring" ("Kevade" in Estonian). It was released in 1969 during the Soviet era. It was set in Estonia, but we are not sure thst it should be classified an Estonian film as opposed to a Soviet film. A Soviet reader tells us that films shot during the Soviet era often had actors and crews from all over the Soviet Union. We are not sure there was an Estonian film industry during the Soviet era. It is a beautiful and very funny coming-of-age story about a boarding school in an Estonian village about 1905. The school is co-educational, but only the boys live in a dormitory. Some of the boys and all the girls are day students. The town represented is apparently Paunvere. The bleak Estonian landscapes, especially in Winter, are very beautifully rendered. The costuming appears to be authentic although we can't tell the colors since the film is shot in black and white.
|
A delicate, haunting movie about Billy, a poor, 15 year-old (he looks younger) Yorkshire boy who develops a relationship with a kestrel. The boy is about 12-years old. Many scenes in the boy's comprehensive (high school) school. The authorities are all slightly mad, the boys poorly behaved. A rather disheartening look at British schools. Very sad ending. A reader writes, "I 'Kes' for the first time. The main character leads a really bleak life. I found the accents of the characters rather strong. I couldn't understand what they were saying many times. Anyone can readily follow the plot, though. The school reminded a little of my time in junior high school. If anything, I think our P.E. instructor was even more terrifying. The boy was played by David Bradley."
Rather a good movie, but not much of interest in terms of costuming. Roddy McDowall plays a juvenile Gregory Peck briefly at the beginning of the movie. Even though he is about 16, he is very mild mannered and doesn't like girls. His costuming is nondescript long pants. Another Scottish boy appears at the very end and at the beginning. He wears knickers. Several Chinese boys appear.
See "Where Is My Friend's Home?"
See "The Jar."
Classic which made Jackie Coogan famous. Jackie is a foundling adopted by a tramp and together they rule the streets with comic skill and ingenuity. One of Chaplain the directors most highly regarded films. Its Victorian sentimentality borders on the supercilious and the dream sequences as Chaplin as an angel or cloying. Jackie, about 7-years old, does a priceless set of Chaplin imitations.
Gerry Ross
When Justin Colter heads into the wilderness with his father, he learns the importance of using his instincts to survive in a harsh environment. Jim Stafford and Jeremy Shamos.
A classic British film, much admired by film buffs. The film was dorected bu Carol Reed, who has several notable films, includig "Oliver!". This film is about asweet little boy named Joe lives in the slums of London. Joe is nice played by Jonathan Ashmore. The actual London streets including small, street-front shops, street vendors, flea-marketers, period cars, ect. Joe and his mother Joanne livev in modest circumstances in rooms above the Kandinsky tailor shop where she also works. Joe takes in the chattr of his neigbors and all their problems. He would like to help out. He is also enchanted by Mr. Kandinsky tales, especially when he mentions that a captured unicorn will grant wishes. So Joes buys a small goat, of course for two farthings. Joe is covinced that it is the kind of magic unicorn that Mr. Kandinsky described to him becase it has an emerging horn. Joe's dogged efforts to make all his dreams to help others comes true make this film an inspiring classic. Joe has a lovely accent and is quite precious in his role--although he hardly seems the kind of boy to grow up in the slums. I don't recall much about the costuming. I saw only a part of the movie and he was dressed in long pants.
The story of the troubles of a wayward boy.
A peanut vendor uses his son (Billy Chapin) operating as a bat boy to bake a baseball team's slump. The boy is very nicely played. All the boys wear long pants.
Sugary TV remake for Gary Coleman.
A modern day youngster is pitted against a ruthless 6th-century lord after he is transported back to medieval times.
Extravagant dance numbers and a full-color finale highlights this tale of a youthful heir to a million-dollar fortune. I haven't seen this, but I doubt if any kids are involved.
Leif Garrett.
A widowed jazz singer sets out to convince a social worker that he provide a stable home for his adopted son. The cast is black.
|
Here we have a rather surealistic film made for teenagers. A HBC reader suggested including it on the HBC movie list. The movie
is "Kids World". Movie trailers headline, "No Rules, No Schools & No More Adults ...". The main character is 11-year old Ryan Mitchell. Ryan is about to vecome a teenagers, but unfortunately he has a host of problems.
He is convinced like many teenagers that his parents don't understand his problems. His older brother greatly complicates his life. And even worse the girl he really likes is an item with his nemesis--an older boy who doesn't like him and could easily punch his lights out. The film really gets going when Ryan's nemesis chases him into an Indian burial ground. He falls into a scary underground cavern fully equipped with frigtening skeletons. There he finds a witchdoctors Wishing Glass, not quite the thing for Indian burial grounds, but important for the story.
An ambitious 11-year old masterminds an unusual money making scheme that soon has his adult competitors scrambling for business, and taking him to court. Scott Schwartz, Cinnamon Idles.
The rash actions of a wealthy industrialist place the lives of two kidnapped children, one his son, in jeopardy. Law enforcement officers race to save their lives.
Based on the classic by Robert Louis Stevenson and a lesser known sequel, David Balfour. A boy (Jack Hawkins) is abducted and sent to see as part of his wicked uncle's plan. The boy is an older teenager.
"The Kidnappers" is also listed in HBC as "The Little Kidnappers" - it's U.S. release title. A HBC readere writes, "I've seen the film before but forgot how good it was. The boys are especiaaly good in the film - they got oscars. The older boy Harry is played by Jon Whiteley who also played the boy in "The Spanish Gardener". "Kidnappers" is set in Canada but it was filmed in Scotland and in London studios - a bit like "Huntingtower". The boys wear knee britches with braces and coarse shirts as of the time - early 20th Century. Also scenes in the school have other boys similarly dressed,
although Jan who Harry fights in the school yard is better dressed. Jan is the son of the doctor, a Dutch settler who the Scots call "Boers". Also when Harry is taken to court (held in the local store - it's a small community) for "kidnapping" the Dutch family's baby his young brother, Davy, is dressed up in a smarter suit with a sort of string tie. There's a great ending but I won't give it away ....
A beautiful newspaper reporter teams up with a crafty teenager and his friends in a free for all race against time to stop an assassination. Larry Cedar.
Movie about a prison inmate who has his three sons break him out of prison. Lance Kirwin is one of the boys. They are all older teenagers and young men.
Brtan Russell
|
India was the jewel of the British empire. Perhaps no book about the British Raj is better known and loved as Kim. It is the classic tale of a British orphan abandoned in India. It was based on Rudyard Kipling's final and most famous novel--Kim. This 1950 version is the best remembered film version of the Kipling novel. Curiously it is Hollywood that produced the film and not a British film company. Kim follows a Tibetan monk while being trained in British espionage a part of the "Great Game" between the British and Russians in Central Asia. The film is an exciting tale that does justice to the book. Kim does a brief stint in a military school where he wears a bright red jacket. He is unhappy there because of the discipline and runs away. Kim is wonderfully played by Dean Stockwell. Kim dresses like the Indian boys. It was one of Dean's best performances. At the end he is enrolled in a English school, much to his displeasure. The school uniform was a kind of tan suit worn with a school boy cap.
The most recent film version of the Kipling novel was a made for TV drama in 1984. A school Kim wears a light blue knickes suit, rather like a Norfolk suit, but without all the pleats. Ravi Sheth plays Kim. At this time we have few oher details about this version of Kim.
Classic Sir Alec Guinness movie. The story line is of no interest, but in the first part where the protagonist is pictured as a boy he appears briefly in a sailor suit and Fauntleroy velvet suit. In the velvet suit he is dressed in shorts, short white socks, and proper Mary Jane strap shoes. Although the scene is very brief, it is certainly one of the most elaborate sissy suits pictured in the movies. He is fairly young, I'd say about 7 years old. When he is a little older he is pictured going to school and visiting friends in a knickerbocker suit, and large white collar with a large bow. There is a scene in school where he gets the right answer and turns his nose up at another boy who was wrong. A little later after he has grown up he visits the Duke's estate and takes a tour, there are some well dressed boys in the background if you look carefully. One boy is visible in a knickers suit with a large white collar. An older boy is pictured in a long pants sailor suit and broad brimmed straw hat with a long ribbon dangling behind the hat.
Another good German film, "Die Kinder aus No. 67" (The Children of No. 67), directed by Usch Barthelmess-Weller and Werner Meyer (1980). It's about two 12-year-old boys, Paul (played by Rene Schaaf) and Erwin (played by Bernd Riedel), who decide what is right and wrong according their own special code, "important and unimportant". The setting is a working-class area of Berlin in the period before and just after Hitler's rise to power. The film used non-professional children, not trained actors, in order to portray boys with great psychological individuality and realism.
"Die Kinder Republik" was a short documentary film made in Germany during 1928. The film director was Lorenz Paringer. The studio (production firm) was Naturfilm Hubert Schonger in Berlin. The producer was Hubert Schonger. I have no information on just what this was all about, but the film seems to be reporting on a summer camp that sought to replicate a children's republic. This was not something staged for a film, but rather a summer camp experience that was filmed for a documentary. Presumably the idea was to give children an experince in representative democracy. HBC has found some phogographs of Kinfer Republik in 1929. I don't think that they are stills from the film, but rather just photographs taken at the camp. Perhaps our German readers will know something about this.
A reader tells us about a Swiss documentary 'Die Kinder vom Napf' (The Children from Napf). It was produced by Alice Schmidt (2011). The Napf is a mountain on the border between the Swiss cantons of Berne and Lucerne. The documentary shows the life of the children living on the isolated Lucerne side of the mountain. They go to school by cable railway and then help in the farm chores. It is a life out of time, but many families in recent years have been leaving the Napf.
A tough L.A. cop faces an onslaught of precocious children. While posing as a teacher to locate a ruthless drug lord's estranged family. Several kids are involved with contemporary costumes. The main character is quite an egaging little chap with a pet ferret.
'The King and I' is another of the wonderful Broadway musicals created by Richard Rodgers and atist Oscar Hammerstein. It is based on a an actual people. Anna Leonowen was a British governess. She and herson traveled to half way around the world to care for the children of King Mongkut of Siam (erly-1860s as part of his modernization effort. Siam (modern Thailand) was the only country in Southeast Asian not by colonized by the Europeans. His modernization effort was violated his traditional views, but pursued to ward off the Europeans. Leonowen left a memoir. Margaret Landon's published a novel, Anna and the King of Siam (1944). This served as the basis for the first non-musical film version (1946), the Broadway musical (1951) and the nusical film version (1956). The plot all revolves around the developing relationship of Leonowen and the King. While based on actual people, the plot pursues many imagined plot lines. Rodgers and Hammerstein initially wanted Rex Harrison to play the King. Evetually a young actor and television director Yul Brynner was chosen. Gertrude Lawrence, an established British stahe actress was chosen fo Anna.The Broadway play was a huge hit, winning Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Actress (for Lawrence) and Best Featured Actor (for Brynner). Lawrence died unexpectedly of cancer a year and a half after the opening. Deborah Kerr replaced her in the film version. Rex Thompson playeed Louis Leonowens. Patrick Adiarte played Prince Chulalongkorn. The film was also a major success.
A not very funny comedy made by Charlie Chaplin, bitter at his treatment by U.S. immigration authorities. A boy about 10 has a major part as Rupert (Michael Chaplin). Presumably it is Chaplin's son. The king first meets him in a progressive boys' school where he begins delivering bombastic diatribes about oppresive government. We learn later that his parents are under investigation as Communists. He and the other boys at the school wear casual clothes. He comes under the care of a deposed king who buys him a new short pants suit. The king is shown buying the suit, but we don't see that it has short pants until later. Despite a long sequence you don't get a good look at the suit because he is sitting behind a table playing checkers. The shorts are quite long and inexplicably he doesn't seem to be wearing socks. The boy is scene later at school dressed in longs like the other boys. Using a child and bringing up atomic bombs also had echoes of the Rosenberg trial. The movie attacks the Mccarthy epic, and the boy is used by Government agents to get names that his parents refuse to divulge. Films like this are an important aspect of a free society such as inance Television and commercials. The only problem is you do not see films about how the Rosenbergs were guilty and that Soviet spies were very active and successful in the United States. One unsettling aspect of this film is that Chaplin has the FBI cracking the boy to get information on his parents associates. In fact I do not know of the FBI using this tactic. Targeting the children to learn about the parents or threatening to take the children away from their parents was a common tactic used by the NKVD/KGB in the Soviet Union and the various police agencies in Communust Eastern Europe and Communist China. This is, however, something that Chaplin does not address. A reader writes, "I don't know of any times that the FBI has taken children into custody to question them. It seems really unlikely that this could happen." HBC does not yet have a lot of information on this. We think that the FBI may have question children, but taking them into custody and grilling them is anoyher matter. This is a question that needs to be addressed. A great deal has been written by Chplin himself. He was of course a brilliant commic. He became politically active in the 1930s. He showed a great deal of courage making "The Great Dictator". The question has to be asked, why did he did not turn his prodifious talents against the Soviets. Like so many with leftest orientation, there was a reluctance to ctiticse the Soviet Union. The critisms of America in this film seem rather petty if not intelectually dishomest compared to what was going on behind the Iron Curtain.
A terrific coming-of-age film set during the depression. Jesse Bradfors plays a 12-year old who has to face the depression in a seedy hotel after is mother is sent to a sanatarium and father takes an out of state job. Hehas to survive on his own until his father can get a
job and come back to get him. He is all alone after his father sends his younger brother (Cameron Boyd) to live with relatives. Jesse is an engaging youngster and gives the role a touching, thoroughly believable center. He wears shorts including to school. Some boys are outfitted in knickers. He also wears longs and a strange hat that he puts cigar bands on.
Errol Flynn played in "The King�s Rhapsody". It was filmed in 1955 and it�s a musical about an exiled Romanian King, who leaves his mistress to return home to a political marriage and in due course his wife gives birth to a son. But his marriage is not a happy one and he returns to his ex-mistress. However, before he can do so he has to abdicate, thereby relinquishing the throne to his now teenage son. I have no details on the movie costuming at thi time. A HBC reader writes, "Around 1967 I was involved in a stage production of the King�s Rhapsody, which was performed by a local amateur operatic society. I wasn�t a performer, my role was back stage assisting in the moving of stage properties. In a moving scene at the end of the production, the young King is crowned. I recently saw the Erol Flynn film on TV and reminded me of the scene and the costume worn by the boy who played the young King. I seem to remember that the material it was made from was green velvet. The bottom half of the costume comprised of knickerbockers while the top half was in the style of a Norfolk jacket. The knickerbockers were fastened at the knee by buttons. These gave way to stockings, the colour of which I�ve forgotten. I can�t remember what else the boy playing the part was also wearing, but as you can see I can remember the basic outfit. I must admit that he looked quite smart and totally different when he wore the costume. I was so used to seeing him in either his school uniform or jeans, he was about 14 years old at the time."
|
Five children are depicted growing up in what looks to be the perfect American small town at the turn of the 20th century. Two boys, Parris and Drake, are the very best of friends. Paris decides he wants to be a doctor. His childhood sweetheart Cassie's father is a doctor. Drake plans on using his inheritance to become a businessman. Unlike Parris he has numerous fligs with a sucession of girls. Then the town secrets began to leak whicg place all kinds of complications in the boys' lives. Scotty Beckett plays Paris as a boy Boy in this Ronald Reagan film. This was a typical role for Scotty who commonly played the main character as a child. Unlike other major child stars of the 1930s and 40s, he rarely played the main character in a film, except briefly as a child. He wears knee pants with long over the knee stockings. It was made from the popular novel about a small town doctor who chronicles the perriness and squalor. Set at the turn of the century.
The King's Speech' was one of the better films of 2010. It is also a film of considerable historic interest.
The fim is about King George VI who rose to the throne when his older brother, the uncrowned King Edward VI was forced to abdicate the Crown because he wanted to marry Mrs. Simpson--an American divorcee. The problem was that Bertie as was called grew up very much in his personable older brother's shadow. Unlike Edward, he was rather shy and even worse he had a terrible stutter. He avoided public speeking at all costs. Untul the Simpson affair, he and his family including RincessesElizabeth and Margaret Rose livedca comfortable, but quiet life. With Edward rising to the throne, no one paid a great deal of attention. Suddenly he was thrust into the white heat of press scrutiny. And as king, there was no way he could avoid public speaking. One of the ironies of history is that George VI who a quiet, gentle spoken man who never wanted to be king and a world leader had a severe speech impediment. And he was pitted against Adolf Hitler who wanted tob dominate the world and was a naturally gifted and strident orator. There is a scene with a little boy who is having speech theropy. He his typically dressed for the 1930s. Also another interesting scene is the speech theropist's family. He has three boys ,one of which makes model airplanes. There is a scene where the boy is working on them.
The 'Kingdom of Curved Mirrors' ('Korolevstvo Krivyh Zerkal') is an interesting Soviet film. All the children are picted as Young Pioneers, but that i only a minor paet of the film. The presentation is very different from how Pioneers were commonly depicted during the 1950s. The depiction is much more like real children. In the beginning of the movie, the Pioneers are pictured being a little naughty. They are peeking through the holes in the wall of a movie theatre which is playing a risque film. There is a sign. 'forbidden to watch for children under 16'. Later the main protagonist, a girl Olya (4th grade) gets into a magic mirror, meets there her own reflection, a girl Yalo, and together discovers a magic kingdom. Through this adventure from her reflection she learns about her negative sides (being nasty, fear of darkness, loving of soda water and sweets etc.), denies them and in the final gains a victory over a bad king of a magic kingdom and returns home. In this movie there is almost no ideology except two moments. In the first girls are asked 'from what a country are you?' And they respond 'from the very best in the world!'. The second moment -- in the final of the last struggle girls sing a song about 'red flag of our Pioneer squad'. But if to omit those two moments the movie is just a good children fairy tale.
Set in World War II France. The movie is about a love triangle between two GIs and a French girl of mixed blood. A lot of boys are seen in the back ground. One little boy has a small part as an orphan. In one classroom scene at the end of the film almost all the boys wear shorts, a few look 12 or 13 years old.
Romance is on the minds of students and teachers at British secondary school set in the 1950s. A boy's travails at home and at school where he is punished for constant tardiness. The thrashing scene is played for humor. The hero and his friends still wear short pants to school, but the one suave boy they all dislike wears longs. Apparently boys are allowed to option of wearing long or short pants with their uniform. John Albasiny I had thought that the name of this film was Kipperbang. In fact, the actual title is P'Tang Yang Kipperbang.
|
Kirikou is the production of a European, primarily French team. The team inckides producers and animators in Belgium Luxembourg, and Latvia. An African boy is is the protagonist of a series of animation movies, set in a traditional African village. The first film was 'Kirikou and the Sorceress' (1998). It depicts how a newborn boy, Kirikou, saves his village from the evil witch Karaba. Kirakou was not a normal boy. He is a magical boy. Even as a new born he knows just what he wants. He already can speak and walk. His mother alerts him to an evil sorceress. She has has dried up the village water spring. She has devoured all village warriors except for one. Brave little Kirikou decides he will accompany the last warrior to confront the whicked sorceress. He proves to be the last hope of the beleagered village. It proved so sucessful that it generated a series. Next was 'Kirikou and wild beasts' (2005) and 'Kirikou and men and women' (2012). The Kirakou series is set in Africa before or at very beginning of the colonial rule. The women are shirtless and the children unclothed. Some complained about this when the films were released. One important part of the first film is that Kirikou, keeps asking, "Why is Karaba so mean and evil?" The answer is very thiought priovoking. There is also a wonderful sound track by Youssou N'Dour.
Darryl Hickman
This rather uninteresting Burt Lancaster film was shot in England. I wasn't really sure where it was set until a group of boys in the background of a zoo scene appear wearing shorts and knee socks in the dead of winter. You have to be really quick to see them though.
Ike Eisenmann.
Set in Kenya at the beginning stages of the Maumau revolt staged by the Kikuyu tribe. A 12-year old boy, Mwangi (Edwin Mahinda) is caught up in events when rebels murder his pacifist father who is a minister. His mother is forced to send him to work as a servant in the home of the local white police chief. He is treated generally well, but in the stern manner of a potentially unruly pet. Mwangi is bright and self possessed, but must adjust to his new surroundings and finds it difficult. Unlike the other servants, he has had some schooling as a minister's son as thus finds it more difficult to accept his new subservient role. He works as the kitchen toto (boy) and a playmate for the policeman's son Edward (Ronald Pirie). Edward is a thoroughly obnoxious boy who prowls the grounds popping things (ants, servants, etc.) with his air gun. Mwangi is caught between the friendly, but patronizing whites who hold him in semi-slavery and the rebels who murdered his father but offer independence.
An Austrian reader tells us that this film is " Kleine Leute -- Mal Ganz Grosz " (translated I think "Little People: Once Very Big" (1958). The little boy (Norbert) was played by Michael Stein, I saw him never in an other film. The older boy (Theo) was played by Roland Kaiser, a famous boy-actor in the later 1950s. Mostly he played a smart-mouth boy with a good heart, as he did in this film. It is a humerous film.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main "K" movie page]
[Return to the Main alphabetical movie page]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Theatricals]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
