Boys of Paul Street, The (1968): Hungary’s Nominee for Best Foreign Language Film

The Boys of Paul Street is a 1969 Hungarian drama film directed by Zoltán Fábri and based on the 1906 youth novel “The Paul Street Boys” by noted writer Ferenc Molnár.

My Oscar Book:

It features English-speaking (American and British) child actors (led by Anthony Kemp as Ernő Nemecsek) alongside with Hungarian adult ones, including actress Mari Törőcsik as Nemecsek’s mother.

The story, set in Budapest, revolves around two rival youth gangs: the students of St. Paul and the so-called Red Shirts, led by the aggressive and brutal Feri Áts.

After two members of the Red Shirts commit violence against the young Ernõ Nemecsek, the Paul Street Gang, under the leadership of János Boka, decide to put an end to the Red Shirt provocations once and to settle the question of who controls the construction site on Paul Street in a “final battle.”

The Red Shirts are determined to take away the playground, known as the “Ground,” from the boys of Paul Street and are not shy about choice of weapons.

The film was acclaimed as the most faithful adaptation of Molnár’s source novel and a classic film in Hungary.