Jacques Feyder, who was one of the major creators of French poetic realism and in America directed classic Garbo films, established his international reputation in the mid-twenties with L'Atlantide, Crainquebille, and the now-all-but-forgotten Visages d'enfants, produced and filmed in Switzerland. The story is the kind that French directors handle so well, skirting sentimentality in demonstrating a humanistic theme. A widow with one daughter marries a widower with a son and daughter; the boy, who cannot forget his dead mother, cannot bring himself to call his new mother anything but "madam." Never have children acted so naturalistically as in this film; moreover, seldom have adult characteristics been so subtly adumbrated in the behavior of these younger specimens of humanity. Feyder also relates character to environment successfully, and, without overplaying the scenic splendor of the setting in the Haut Valois, documents the life of the region and the daily routines of its people with rare poetry and passion. -PFA Treasures from the Eastman House