Girls' School 1938 Stars: Anne Shirley, Nan Grey, Ralph Bellamy
- Duration: 72:02
- Updated: 07 Dec 2014
Girls' School 1938 Stars: Anne Shirley, Nan Grey, Ralph Bellamy, Director: John Brahm
The New York Times Review Published: November 3, 1938
A pleasing little film—the word "little" connoting the absence of big names and other production superficialities—is "Girls' School," which came to the Criterion last evening. Tess Slesinger and Richard Sherman, who wrote it, are speaking of Magnolia Hall, whose charming inmates are standing (to paraphrase Mr. Longfellow) with unreluctant feet where the brook and river meet. Their appraisal of the modern schoolgirl is fond, faintly quizzical, not in the least alarmist. When one of the school's misses remains out all night with a young man—she says they were reading poetry—they raise up the cry of scandal, then stifle it again. For honestly, she was just reading poetry.
Such an approach is almost too disconcerting these vinegary days. How, after "Maedchen in Uniform," "Club de Femmes," "Girls' Dormitory" and similar opera, can one accept so naive a conclusion? Is it possible that nice girls actually go to boarding schools and miss having affairs with the biology instructor, or fail to smolder beneath all manner of repressions, or truly can sit on a hockey field all night, with the scent of magnolias in the air, and be content with poetry? It is a dreadful thought. We are tempted to damn the film completely by calling it "nice."
And that, of course, is what it is: an extremely nice picture, written with a deal of tenderness and insight, performed with enchanting naturalness by a lively troupe of youngsters and directed by John Brahm with a gracious balance of light comedy and poignant, youthful tragedy. Mr. Brahm and his writers have chosen their scenes well and, treating with such minutiae as prom preparations, whisper of elopements, a talk on Charm by a fluttering alumna, the excitement over the arrival of the men, they have evoked a friendly and honest picture of the typical girls' school. Or so it seems to one who, alas, was never permitted to attend one.
While the players are competent throughout, special mention must be made of Anne Shirley as the monitor, Nan Grey as the romantic of the hockey field episode, Gloria Holden and Cecil Cunningham as the headmistresses; Margaret Tallichet, Dorothy Moore, Noah Beery Jr. and Kenneth Howell.
GIRLS' SCHOOL, screen play by Tess Slesinger and Richard Sherman based on a story by Miss Slesinger; musical score by Gregory Stone; directed by John Brahm; produced by Samuel Marx for Columbia. At the Criterion.
Natalie Freeman . . . . . Anne Shirley
Linda Simpson . . . . . Nan Grey
Michael Hendragin . . . . . Ralph Bellamy
Betty Fleet . . . . . Dorothy Moore
Miss Laurel . . . . . Gloria Holden
Miss Armstrong . . . . . Marjorie Main
Gwennie . . . . . Margaret Tallichet
Myra . . . . . Peggy Moran
Edgar . . . . . Kenneth Howell
George . . . . . Noah Beery Jr.
Miss Brewster . . . . . Cecil Cunningham
Mr. Simpson . . . . . Pierre Watkin
Mrs. Simpson . . . . . Doris Kenyon
Miss Brackett . . . . . Heather Thatcher
Miss MacBeth . . . . . Virginia Howell
Sudie . . . . . Joanne Tree
Review By FRANK S. NUGENT
http://wn.com/Girls'_School_1938_Stars_Anne_Shirley,_Nan_Grey,_Ralph_Bellamy
Girls' School 1938 Stars: Anne Shirley, Nan Grey, Ralph Bellamy, Director: John Brahm
The New York Times Review Published: November 3, 1938
A pleasing little film—the word "little" connoting the absence of big names and other production superficialities—is "Girls' School," which came to the Criterion last evening. Tess Slesinger and Richard Sherman, who wrote it, are speaking of Magnolia Hall, whose charming inmates are standing (to paraphrase Mr. Longfellow) with unreluctant feet where the brook and river meet. Their appraisal of the modern schoolgirl is fond, faintly quizzical, not in the least alarmist. When one of the school's misses remains out all night with a young man—she says they were reading poetry—they raise up the cry of scandal, then stifle it again. For honestly, she was just reading poetry.
Such an approach is almost too disconcerting these vinegary days. How, after "Maedchen in Uniform," "Club de Femmes," "Girls' Dormitory" and similar opera, can one accept so naive a conclusion? Is it possible that nice girls actually go to boarding schools and miss having affairs with the biology instructor, or fail to smolder beneath all manner of repressions, or truly can sit on a hockey field all night, with the scent of magnolias in the air, and be content with poetry? It is a dreadful thought. We are tempted to damn the film completely by calling it "nice."
And that, of course, is what it is: an extremely nice picture, written with a deal of tenderness and insight, performed with enchanting naturalness by a lively troupe of youngsters and directed by John Brahm with a gracious balance of light comedy and poignant, youthful tragedy. Mr. Brahm and his writers have chosen their scenes well and, treating with such minutiae as prom preparations, whisper of elopements, a talk on Charm by a fluttering alumna, the excitement over the arrival of the men, they have evoked a friendly and honest picture of the typical girls' school. Or so it seems to one who, alas, was never permitted to attend one.
While the players are competent throughout, special mention must be made of Anne Shirley as the monitor, Nan Grey as the romantic of the hockey field episode, Gloria Holden and Cecil Cunningham as the headmistresses; Margaret Tallichet, Dorothy Moore, Noah Beery Jr. and Kenneth Howell.
GIRLS' SCHOOL, screen play by Tess Slesinger and Richard Sherman based on a story by Miss Slesinger; musical score by Gregory Stone; directed by John Brahm; produced by Samuel Marx for Columbia. At the Criterion.
Natalie Freeman . . . . . Anne Shirley
Linda Simpson . . . . . Nan Grey
Michael Hendragin . . . . . Ralph Bellamy
Betty Fleet . . . . . Dorothy Moore
Miss Laurel . . . . . Gloria Holden
Miss Armstrong . . . . . Marjorie Main
Gwennie . . . . . Margaret Tallichet
Myra . . . . . Peggy Moran
Edgar . . . . . Kenneth Howell
George . . . . . Noah Beery Jr.
Miss Brewster . . . . . Cecil Cunningham
Mr. Simpson . . . . . Pierre Watkin
Mrs. Simpson . . . . . Doris Kenyon
Miss Brackett . . . . . Heather Thatcher
Miss MacBeth . . . . . Virginia Howell
Sudie . . . . . Joanne Tree
Review By FRANK S. NUGENT
- published: 07 Dec 2014
- views: 12