Poil de Carotte on AllMovie

Adapted from various stories by Jules Renard, Poil de Carotte (The Red Head) is the poetically related tale of a delicate domestic situation. Robert Lynen plays the young son of Catherine Fourtenay. Fourtenay's husband Harry Baur knows that Lynen is not his son, but remains married for appearances' sake. Baur remains aloof and distant until he discovers the cruelties heaped upon Lynen by his resentful mother. Foster father and son develop a respect and friendship for one another that finally deepens into love. A remake of a 1925 film of the same name (also directed by Julien Duvivier), Poil de Carotte which made a star out of its juvenile lead Robert Lynen, whose genuine red head needed no touching up by the makeup men; sadly, Lynen was killed while fighting with the Resistance during World War II.