Finishing School (1934)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Directors:

George Nichols Jr.
Wanda Tuchock

Writers:

Laird Doyle (writer)
David Hempstead (story)

Release Date:

4 May 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

The trials and tribulations in a private, snobbish girls school.

Plot Keywords:

Student | Headmistress | Young Girl | New York City | Class Distinction

Cast

Frances Dee	...	Virginia Radcliff
Billie Burke	...	Mrs. Helen Crawford Radcliff
Ginger Rogers	...	Cecilia 'Pony' Ferris
Bruce Cabot	...	Ralph McFarland - intern
John Halliday	...	Mr. Frank S. Radcliff
Beulah Bondi	...	Miss Van Alstyne
Sara Haden	...	Miss Fisher
Helen Freeman	...	Dr. Hewitt
Marjorie Lytell	...	Ruth Wallace
Adalyn Doyle	...	Madeleine 'Maggy' Kelly
Anne Shirley	...	Billie (as Dawn O'Day)
Irene Franklin	...	Aunt Jessica - Pretender
Ann Cameron	...	Miss Schmidt
Rose Coghlan	...	Miss Edith Garland
Caroline Rankin	...	Miss Weber

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

This movie was placed on the Catholic Church's "condemned" film list in 1934.

Quotes:

Billie: Would you loan me one of your brassieres?
Pony: What for?
Billie: Well you see, I haven't got one and I thought seeing as it's Christmas and everything, and I'm going on a house party and, well, when the maid unpacks my bag and finds I haven't got one, how do you think I'm going to feel?
Pony: It's like putting a saddle on a pekingese but here it is.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Virginia's Gonna Get Fried

Another old-fashioned look at debutantes in the '30s...

FINISHING SCHOOL starts with a whimper: FRANCES DEE enters the same finishing school her mother (BILLIE BURKE) attended, a school burdened by rules that most of the girls never follow--including Dee's new roommate, GINGER ROGERS. And it doesn't end with a bang.

BEULAH BONDI is the prissy lady who tells Dee about all the rules. ANNE SHIRLEY is a naive girl who wants to be part of the gang but is rebuffed by Ginger's set.

The dialog is not exactly crackling with gems. "One step lower and I'll be in the movies," says one old gal who deceives the school mistress by playing the good aunt taking the girls to a matinée instead of a wild week-end rendezvous with men. When Dee passes out on her wild weekend, it's BRUCE CABOT, a waiter at the hotel, to her rescue. He pays a passing milkman 12 cents for a quart of milk so Dee can have some breakfast. Oh, the good old days!! Even with some good names in the supporting cast, it never manages to be more than an innocuous treatment of an innocuous theme. Dee is pretty but her acting, as usual, is pretty forgettable. Bruce Cabot does well enough in one of his few likable roles as a young man studying to be an intern while waiting tables on the side. As for Ginger Rogers, at least she adds a little spice as Dee's friend.

Watchable but underwhelming as a feature that probably played the lower half of double bills in the '30s.