Peau de pêche (Maurice Touzé as a young boy, Jimmy Gaillard as a young man) is called so because, like the skin of a peach, he can easily go red. He lives in a slum in Rue Lepic in Montmartre (how times change) with his abusive, avaricious parents. One day he sees an important wedding and picks up a cross the bride has worn as a necklace pendant and returns it to her at her hotel. The woman is immensely grateful and – her husband being at war – she has a great deal of time on her hands and welcomes the boy, who is ashamed that his mother sells the new clothes she has given him to replace his rags.
A short time afterwards he is sent to his aunt and uncle's, where he rejoins his best friend La Ficelle (Pierre Lecomte) and his beloved Lucie (Simone Mareuil), whom La Ficelle also adores. In time a marriage is arranged between La Ficelle and Lucie, and a heartbroken Peau de pêche goes to his 'fairy godmother' to choke out his woe. She arranges to see Lucie and have a talk with her, and it transpires the Lucie has loved Peau de pêche all the time. Fin d'histoire.
If this sounds like a trite children's story it isn't: working within the numerous constraints of a silent movie, the actors have to give their all in order to express emotions which are only too easily expressed using the spoken word. I was most struck by Maurice Touzé's young man: although he may have a tendency at times to overact, his performance is very impressive. I was surprised by the lack of lulls in this feature-length silent film.
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