Behind the Walls

In 1932, In France, fourteen year-old runaway orphan Yves Treguier is sent to a reformatory after several attempts to travel to New York as stowaway on a ship. In prison, Treguier is protected by the aspirant mechanic Blondeau against the bully rascal Molina. He befriends the upper-class teenager Marcel "Fil de fer" Morand who was sent to the institution by his stepfather and misses his mother (Carole Bouquet) and his piano. Trequier unsuccessfully tries to escape from the brutal reform school and invites Blondeau to go with him.