''Finishing School'' ( it, Fanciulle di lusso) is a 1953 French-Italian

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Bernard Vorhaus Bernard Vorhaus (December 25, 1904 – November 23, 2000) was an American film director of Austrian descent, born in New York City. His father was born in Krakow, then part of Austria-Hungary. Vorhaus spent many decades living in the UK. Eearly ...

and starring Susan Stephen,

Anna Maria Ferrero Anna Maria Ferrero (18 February 1935 – 21 May 2018) was an Italian actress. Early life and career Born Anna Maria Guerra, she changed her last name to Ferrero in honor of the composer Willy Ferrero. Her film debut came at the age of 15 in '' ...

and

Jacques Sernas Jokūbas Bernardas Šernas (30 July 1925 – 3 July 2015), commonly known as Jacques Sernas and sometimes credited as Jack Sernas, was a Lithuanian-born French actor with an international film career. Biography He was born in Kaunas, Lithuania, ...

.Feldner, Gorrara & Passmore p.231 It was made at

Cinecittà Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City Studios), is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios we ...

with sets designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Franco Lolli. It is also known by the

alternative title An alternative title is a media sales device most prominently used in film distribution. Books and films are commonly released under a different title when they are screened or sold in a different country. This can vary from small change to the t ...

of ''Luxury Girls''.

Plot

After finishing her studies, an American, Susan Miller, spends a vacation period in Rome with her parents. His father, a wealthy man who led a dissipated life, sent him to complete his worldly education at the famous college of Mont-Fleuri, Switzerland.

Cast

* Susan Stephen as Lorna Whitmore *

as Valerie De Beranger *

as Jean-Jacques *

Steve Barclay Stephen Paul Barclay (born 3 May 1972) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care since October 2022, having previously held the position from July to September 2022 under Boris Johnson. He served a ...

as George Whitmore *

Marina Vlady Marina Vlady (born 10 May 1938) is a French actress. Biography Vlady was born in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine to White Russian immigrant parents. Her father was an opera singer and her mother was a dancer. Her sisters, now all deceased, were the act ...

as Eljay *

Brunella Bovo Brunella Bovo (4 March 1932 – 21 February 2017) was an Italian film actress. Life and career Born in Padua, Italy, after having had her film debut with a minor role in ''Ho sognato il paradiso'' and after having not been admitted to the Cent ...

as Jeannie Gordon *

Rossana Podestà Rossana Podestà (born Carla Dora Podestà; 20 June 1934 – 10 December 2013) was an Italian actress who worked mainly in Italy from the 1950s to the 1970s. Biography Podestà was born in Tripoli in the Italian colony of Libya. She spent her f ...

as Pereira *

Elisa Cegani Elisa Cegani (11 June 1911 – 23 February 1996) was an Italian actress. She appeared in 60 films between 1935 and 1983. Partial filmography * ''Aldebaran'' (1935) - Nora Bandi * ''Cavalry'' (1936) - Speranza di Frassineto * ''The Countess ...

as Madame Charpentier *

Claudio Gora Claudio Gora, '' Emilio Giordana '' (27 July 1913 – 13 March 1998) was an Italian actor and film director. He was particularly prolific, making some 155 appearances in film and television over nearly 60 years (from 1939 to 1997). In the 1950s ...

as Professor Charpentier *

Estelle Brody Estelle Brody (15 August 1900 – 3 June 1995) was an American actress who became one of the biggest female stars of British silent film in the latter half of the 1920s. Her career was then derailed by a series of ill-advised decisions and ...

as Mrs. Whitmore * Lawrence Ward as Greg Wilson *

Paola Mori Paola di Gerfalco, Contessa di Gerfalco (18 September 1928 – 12 August 1986), better known by her professional name Paola Mori, was an Italian actress and aristocrat, and the third and last wife of Orson Welles. Biography Paola Mori was born i ...

as Beejay *

Roberto Risso Roberto Risso (22 November 1925 – 16 November 2010) was a Swiss-born Italian film actor. Life and career Born Pietro Roberto Strub in Geneva, Risso joined the cinema industry when he was still a university student of architecture, playing a ...

as Steve *

Eva Vanicek Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in t ...

as Statistician * Vera Palumbo as Knitter *

Anna Casini Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

as Albino * Colette Laurent as Boopie * Bianca Manenti as Maid * Charles Rutherford as Jean-Jacques' friend * Mary Alcaide as Ballet Mistress *

Liana Del Balzo Liana Del Balzo (4 March 1899 – 26 March 1982) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 90 films between 1935 and 1979. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and died in Rome, Italy. Even making her film debut quite late, in her fort ...

as Princess De Vick-Beranger * Franco Lodi as Riding Instructor *

Leopoldo Savona Leopoldo Savona (1922–2000) was an Italian actor, director, choreographer, and screenwriter. He directed 18 films between 1954 and 1976. He was sometimes credited as Leo Colman or Leo Coleman. Life and career Born in Lenola, Latina, he sta ...

as Boyfriend of Val *

Luisella Boni Luisella Boni (born 24 July 1935) is an Italian actress. Born in Como, Lombardy as Luisa Angela Bozzo, Boni debuted in 1952 in Bernard Vorhaus' film '' Finishing School''. One of the most active actresses in Italian cinema between the early fif ...

Giovanna Pala Giovanna Pala (born 15 July 1932) is an Italian actress. She appeared in ten films from 1951 to 1956. Filmography References External links

* 1932 births Living people Italian film actresses {{Italy-film-actor-stub ...

* Roberta Primavera

References

Bibliography

* Heiko Feldner, Claire Gorrara & Kevin Passmore. ''The Lost Decade? The 1950s in European History, Politics, Society and Culture''. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010.

External links

* 1953 comedy films French comedy films Italian comedy films 1953 films 1950s Italian-language films Films directed by Bernard Vorhaus Films shot at Cinecittà Studios Italian black-and-white films French black-and-white films 1950s French films 1950s Italian films Italian-language French films {{1950s-Italy-comedy-film-stub