Little Boy Lost

This article is about the 1953 movie. For other articles using the name, see Little Boy Lost (disambiguation).

Little Boy Lost
Directed by	George Seaton
Produced by	William Perlberg
Written by	Marghanita Laski George Seaton
Starring	Bing Crosby Claude Dauphin Christian Fourcade
Music by	Johnny Burke Victor Young Miarka Laparcerie
Cinematography	George Barnes
Editing by	Alma Macrorie
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	September 21, 1953 (premiere) October (wide) September 3, 1954 March 22, 1955
Running time	95 min.
Country	U.S.A.
Language	English

Little Boy Lost is a 1953 Paramount Pictures black-and-white drama motion picture starring Bing Crosby. Others in the cast include Claude Dauphin, Christian Fourcade, Gabrielle Dorziat, and Nicole Maurey.

Directed by George Seaton, the screenplay was adapted by Seaton based on the 1949 novel Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski. The movie was produced by William Perlberg.

Original music was by Miarka Laparcerie (song: "Mon Coeur est un Violin"), and the team of Johnny Burke & Jimmy Van Heusen, and Victor Young (music score). Costumes were designed by Edith Head. Makeup was supervised by Wally Westmore.

Little Boy Lost received the Golden Globe Award for Best Film Promoting International Understanding. It was also entered into the 1954 Cannes Film Festival.

Scenes were shot on location in Paris, France.

Synopsis

During World War II an American war correspondent, Bill Wainwright (played by Crosby), was stationed in Paris. He met and fell in love with a French singer, Lisa Garret (played by Maurey). They married and had a son, Jean.

Wainwright was then assigned to cover the Battle of Dunkirk and after the evacuation of Allied troops and the French surrender he could not return to Paris. He later learned that his wife was murdered by the Nazis for participating in the French Resistance and that his small son went missing during a bombing raid.

The above information was learned by the audience in a flashback, which is narrated by Wainwright. The war is now over and the grieving widower has returned to Paris to find his lost little boy. His best friend is Pierre Verdier (played by Dauphin).

Wainwright has been told that his son is living in an orphanage. He finds a sad and confused boy (played by Fourcade), who does bear a striking resemblance to Lisa, and Wainwright believes he might be his son. The Mother Superior (played by Dorziat) insists that the boy is his, but Wainwright becomes skeptical and tests him. When the boy fails the test, Wainwright confronts the nun. She then confesses her scheme and tells him of her determination to see that the orphans are placed in good homes and have happy lives.

Though Wainwright and the boy have formed a loving bond, he cannot get over his grief until he receives wise counsel from his good friend.

The movie ends with Wainwright showing up at the orphanage realizing that he needs the boy he no longer sees as his son, but is surprised to find out that Jean is his son by a gift sent. This gift, an ugly stuffed dog Wainwright called "Binky," is also known to Jean as "Binky," a long-lost identical stuffed dog that Wainwright had won at a carnival for Lisa.

Cast

• Bing Crosby - Bill Wainwright
• Claude Dauphin - Pierre Verdier
• Christian Fourcade - Jean (The Little Boy)
• Gabrielle Dorziat - Mother Superior
• Nicole Maurey - Lisa Garret
• Colette Deréal - Nelly
• Georgette Anys - Madame Quilleboeuf
• Henri Letondal - Tracing Service Clerk
• Michael Moore - Attache
• Peter Baldwin - Lt. Walker

See also

• Little Boy Lost (1949 novel)
• Johnny Ashcroft

External links

• Little Boy Lost at the Internet Movie Database
• Little Boy Lost at AllRovi