Rarely has so much genuine beauty and pathos appeared in a single film as is worked into "The Walls of Malapaga." Winner of the Academy Award as the best foreign film of 1950, this French-Italian collaboration focuses on a graying Frenchman who is a refugee from age and from a murder which he has committed. His escape is not complete, but in the few days which precede his arrest he learns to love life once more. His renaissance is that of a martyr, for it takes place in the most squalid of scenes, rubble-ridden Genoa. Here is a drama of courage, and a type of courage which is indeed a social phenomenon in post-war Europe.

The continental philosophy of savoring moments, and of living from experience to experience, is the film's apparent theme. This theme is all the more potent because it is superbly documented. The shots of Genoa are fine, and the Genoa citizenry which moves naturally through its city adds to the film's authenticity. The acting is excellent: Jean Gabin is convincingly weary and revived as the Frenchman; Isa Miranda is appropriately tender and brave as the woman who revives him and who finds satisfaction amidst poverty; and Vera Talchi is very good as her canny 11-year-old daughter.

The tragedy of "Malapaga" is the necessity of its theme. For moments, and only moments, can be enjoyed because the future is so unbearably uncertain, as illustrated by the arrest which terminates revival and romance. There is a good deal of art in this film; and there is a good deal of history too.

"The Titan," the absorbing story of Michelangelo, and "Beaver Valley," the fascinating tale of an anonymous animal kingdom, are also featured at the Beacon Hill. The marquee boasts that all three films are Academy Award winners. And all three speak well for the value of the award itself.