The Twilight Girls (1957)
"Les collégiennes" (original title)

A beautiful and sophisticated teenager is placed in a regimented French girls' boarding school after her father apparently commits suicide over a business scandal. She immediately gains ... See full summary »

Director:

André Hunebelle

Writers:

Louis Duchesne (adaptation), Jacques Emmanuel (adaptation),

Stars:

Gaby Morlay, Henri Guisol, Marie-Hélène Arnaud

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gaby Morlay	...	Mme Ancelin
Henri Guisol	...	Christian Brenner
Marie-Hélène Arnaud	...	Catherine Royer
Estella Blain	...	Marthe
Christine Carère	...	Monique
Agnès Laurent	...	Anne-Marie
Véronique Verlhac	...	Solange
Paul Guers	...	Gilles
Jacqueline Corot	...	Sophie
Sophie Daumier	...	Nicole (as Betty Daumier)
Anna Gaylor	...	Geneviève
Picolette	...	Bernadette
Madeleine Barbulée	...	La principale
Anita Treyens	...	Betty
Sylvie Dorléac	...	Adélaïde

Storyline

A beautiful and sophisticated teenager is placed in a regimented French girls' boarding school after her father apparently commits suicide over a business scandal. She immediately gains admirers -- a lustful middle-aged artist, a handsome young composer, a fellow female student -- as well as a jealous rival. With the help of her schoolmates, she attempts to elope with the composer, but the adults catch on to the plot, and she is locked into her room at night.

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Plot Keywords:

school | female nudity | lesbianism

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Taglines:

Sexy... Secretive... Seductive...

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

3 May 1957 (France)

Also Known As:

The Twilight Girls

Company Credits

Production Co:

La Société des Films Sirius, Contact Organisation, Safia

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Edited into Dictionary of Sex (1964)

User Reviews

haunting faces, creeping eroticism

Despite its frank (for the time) look at schoolgirl lust, this is ultimately a rather tepid melodrama in the traditional French coming-of-age genre. Due to the staid setting and pedestrian direction, it affords none of the retro-chic cachet of other foreign films imported by Radley Metzger's Audubon Films at the time. In fact, Metzger ingeniously shot and inserted some racier nude and lesbian scenes for the delayed import version (included on both the VHS and DVD releases), featuring a young, innocent-looking Georgina Spelvin! However, the requisite shower scene featuring Agnes Laurent is obviously from the original. There is also a gratifying hint of middle-aged adults being much more in tune with the girls' problems and desires than one would expect, and an equally fascinating subtext of adults (both male and female) lusting after the not-always-so-innocent girls.

The film serves best as a time capsule of the era just on the brink of the sexual revolution, and especially as a gallery of fascinating faces which decorated other Eurocult items -- Laurent, Estella Blain (who steals the show here with her exotic look) and, as a little girl, Catherine Deneuve, much spunkier than in any of her adult roles. Tim Lucas of Video Watchdog also believes he sees a teenage Bardot in one scene, but this is not readily apparent in the VHS version. Metzger would go on to create his own Euro-style schoolgirl epic, Therese and Isabelle.