While going back and forth to Los Angeles, I became better acquainted with a number of Greeks in the Los Angeles area. Among them was Greg Dallas, a film editor in one of the Hollywood studios. I also met Nicholas Katsopis, who had come to Hollywood about a year earlier. He was a former newspaperman and well informed about the incidents that occurred during the occupation of Greece. In the meantime, I had received permission from Spiro Skouras, to observe the procedure for producing motion pictures. By then he had become president of Twentieth Century Fox. I entertained the thought of perhaps going back to Greece and getting into the movie business.

At that time a motion picture from Italy was popular in the United States. It was called THE BICYCLE THIEF. It involved the activities of young partisans against the German Occupation Forces. It played for about six months to capacity houses. I went to see it together with Dallas and Katsopis. When we came out of the theater, Kotsopis said to me, "Peter, with the information and knowledge that you and I have on the activities in Greece during the war, we could tell a much better story and make a much better picture. We could show the world what the Greek youth went through during the occupation and make some money besides."

From that day on, each time I went to Los Angeles, this subject was discussed. Eventually, I became enthused with the idea. We started talking about how much money it would cost and how much we could make.

The talk became reality. Dallas, Katsopis and I put a company together for the purpose of going to Greece to make a movie that would tell the story of the Greek orphans who fought against the German occupying forces. We went to Athens to produce the BAREFOOT BATTALION.

When we got there, we had to find a group of children who could take part in the movie. We wanted to recreate the situation that took place inGreece when the children in orphanages were turned out into the streets to fend for themselves; where it became necessary for them to live in groups like wolf packs; where they had to live off the land; and where they had to steal from the Italians and the Germans to survive. Their story was so appealing and so emotional that we felt that it had to be told. It soon became evident that the only children available to play the part were in a local home for juvenile delinquents, under the jurisdiction of The Department of Justice. These children perfectly fit the description of what we needed.

My cousin, Constantine Boudoures, who was a member of the Greek Parliament, offered to go to the authorities at the Ministry of Justice to get permission to use the children in the movie. Fortunately for us, he was successful in getting permission for the children to be in the production. Every day we had to send a bus to the institution to transport the children and their supervisors to and from the site of the production. We were authorized to use them for thirty to forty days. They were to be accompanied and supervised by instructors from the institute to make sure that none of them ran away or got lost or did anything that they weren't supposed to do.

After we were in production for about fifteen days, elections were held in Greece. The Government that was in power lost. A new Government took over. As a result, a new Minister of Justice was appointed. Two days later I received a notice that I was going to have the children for only two more days, and that would be the end. When I asked the man in charge of the institution, why, he answered. "I don't know."

Not knowing what took place, I went to see the official that had given us the authority to use the children. He received me graciously. He told me that when the application was made, one man on the committee of three, was opposed to our using the children. He went on to explain that with the change in government, the man who was most friendly towards us was being transferred to another position, and the one who opposed us would be in charge. He was the man that we should talk to.

I went to see this man. I explained that depriving us of the children would stop the production. It would ruin me; we would lose over $30,000. His answer was, "What's wrong with you going out and picking delinquent children off the streets for your production." I explained to him that when you pick up children off the street, you don't know if they're going to be there the next day. There has to be continuity, the same children every day. That's why we went to the institution. That's why we need them. I went on to explain to him that the story was of historic significance. I told him that instead of making it difficult for us, the Government should pay us a subsidy for making the movie. It will do a lot of good for Greece.

He then referred us to the General Manager of the Ministry of Justice. We met with him and with the person who originally supported us in obtaining the permit. This man, who supported us originally, I'll call him 'our friend,' explained to the General Manager, who I'll call 'the chief,' what had taken place earlier when we got our permit to use the children in the production. Our friend reminded the chief that they both voted in favor of allowing the children to perform. The chief turned to me, embarrassed, and asked me to prepare a letter stating all the facts. He would call another meeting for the purpose of reversing the latest decision and granting us permission to use the children.

As we left the building, I told our friend, "Thank God somebody has a heart and is understanding." He responded, "Don't take it for granted that the chief won't change his mind again between now and the time you deliver the letter." Sure enough, when we went back with the letter the chief said to me, "I'm sorry, but certain matters need to be resolved and I need two or three days before I can give you my definite answer." I explained to him that without the boys everything will stand still. It meant a loss of considerable money every day that we were idle. I left his office and visited every political leader that I knew to enlist their support. I spoke with the Vice President of the Greek Parliament and asked for his support. I met with the Secretary of the King, with whom I was very friendly, to discuss the matter. I used every means of endeavor to overcome this obstacle.

On the day of the hearing I went before the board and presented my case to the five men involved in making the decision. The chief said, "Mr. Boudoures' story seems to be correct. I think we should vote in favor of allowing him to use the children to finish his picture." Our friend spoke and agreed.

The unfriendly member spoke and said, "Mr. Boudoures has my sympathy, but sympathy has no bearing on this matter. I'm not voting for him. It's up to you, Mr. General Manager, which way you want to vote." To my surprise, the Minister of Justice accepted this insulting talk from his underling, and said, "Please give me a few days to make my decision." We had no choice but to wait. We kept working as best we could.

Finally we got permission to use the children for fifteen more days. I started to complain that that was not enough time, but someone whispered to me to take this for now and to come back later. He told me not to worry, just keep working. We would have the children for the duration of the production. This experience dampened my enthusiasm for making other movies in Greece.