Girls' School (1938)

Director:

John Brahm

Writers:

Tess Slesinger (story), Tess Slesinger (screenplay),

Stars:

Anne Shirley, Nan Grey, Ralph Bellamy

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anne Shirley	...	Natalie Freeman
Nan Grey	...	Linda Simpson
Ralph Bellamy	...	Michael Hendragin
Dorothy Moore	...	Betty Fleet
Gloria Holden	...	Miss Laurel
Marjorie Main	...	Miss Honore Armstrong
Margaret Tallichet	...	Gwennie
Peggy Moran	...	Myra
Kenneth Howell	...	Edgar
Noah Beery Jr.	...	George McClellan
Cecil Cunningham	...	Dean Brewster
Pierre Watkin	...	Mr. Alfred Simpson
Doris Kenyon	...	Mrs. Eleanor Simpson
Heather Thatcher	...	Miss Dawn Brackett
Virginia Howell	...	Miss MacBeth

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

engagement | duty | marriage proposal | expulsion | fight | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 September 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Romantic Age

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor High Fidelity Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ann Doran (Miss Smith) and Franklin Pangborn (M'sieur) are in studio records/casting call lists for those roles, but they did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie.

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Soundtracks

"Good Night Ladies"
(uncredited)
Traditional
Last song played at the prom

User Reviews

1930's programmer is strictly fluff for teen-aged girls...

For starters, ANNE SHIRLEY, wearing a dark bathrobe with white collar design, looks exactly like Olivia de Havilland in an early scene from THE DARK MIRROR. I always thought they resembled each other strongly, but never more so than in this film.

The story is the same old trite stuff about the petty squabbles among girls at a boarding school who become upset when the school monitor (Anne Shirley) has to report their extra-curricular activities to the school principal (GLORIA HOLDEN). Pretty blonde NAN GREY becomes the primary target when Shirley spies her coming home late after a night out.

You know the material is dated when the girls are gathered to listen to a speech "on a very important subject--charm", by an aristocratic lady foolishly extolling the virtues of exuding charm, the most important ingredient young ladies of the world are supposed to have in 1938, no matter how air-headed they are. Charm is distinctly lacking in the screenplay.

Although Anne Shirley plays her teen role with an overabundance of energetic innocence, it's hard to see why Selznick, a year later, tested her for Melanie in "Gone with the Wind". At least, not on the basis of this girlish performance.

It's the kind of B-film you can easily skip without missing anything.