''Girls' Dormitory'' is a 1936 American
romance film
Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...
directed by
Irving Cummings
Irving Cummings (October 9, 1888 – April 18, 1959) was an American movie actor and director.
Career
Born in New York City, Cummings started his acting career at age 16 in ''Diplomacy (play), Diplomacy''. His Broadway theatre, Broadway, p ...
based upon the 1934 play ''Mature'' by
Ladislas Fodor, and adapted for the screen by
Gene Markey.
Plot
Set in the fictional Montreaux School for Girls in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, the main focus of the film is Dr. Stephen Dominick, the school's popular director who is secretly admired by teacher Professor Anna Mathe and the 19-year-old French student Marie Claudel. At a
state fair
A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in t ...
, the girls draw lots to see who gets to ask Dr. Dominick for a dance. Marie wins and nervously asks Dr. Dominick. Because he thinks it is inappropriate to dance with a student, he refuses, causing Marie to burst out in tears and run away. Thereby, she is late for the bus, returning to the boarding school.
A week later, Professor Augusta Wimmer, a strict, unlikable woman, goes through the personal belongings of her students and finds a discarded love letter. Dr. Dominick and Professor Mathe are assigned to find out who wrote the letter, and conclude Marie is responsible due to the handwriting. Upon confronting her, she denies having written the letter, fearing Dr. Dominick will find out about her crush on him. Some of the uptight, old-fashioned teachers, including Professor Wimmer, suspect that while she was gone at the fair, she visited the supposed boyfriend the letter was addressed to. Because the strict rules at the school include not being allowed to date, Marie risks being suspended two days before graduation.
In tears, Marie admits to Professor Mathe that she wrote the letter to Dr. Dominick. Anna doesn't tell Dr. Dominick this, but lets him know the girl is innocent. They both sympathise with her and try to prevent further punishment. But the other teachers persist with their persecution and insist that her mother is summoned.
Desperate, Marie decides to run away, into a storm. Dr Dominick pursues her, and manages to catch up with her at some remote mountain hut. There, he fetches blankets for her and as he sits by her, she confesses her feelings for him. He admits to returning them. The next day, back at school, he proposes marriage and she accepts.
Shortly afterwards Marie overhears a conversation in which Professor Mathe admits to being in love with Dr. Dominick and that she will leave the school because she is heartbroken. Trying to prevent this, Marie lies to Dr. Dominick by saying that she lied to him about being in love with him, claiming that she only told him she loved him so she would be able to graduate.
Soon after graduation, Marie is about to be driven back home by her cousin Vallais from a nightclub where they were having a small celebration party, when she is suddenly visited by Dr. Dominick. He tells her he could never fall in love with Anna, after which they kiss.
Cast
*
Herbert Marshall as Dr. Stephen Dominick
*
Ruth Chatterton
Ruth Chatterton (December 24, 1892 – November 24, 1961) was an American stage, film, and television actress, aviator and novelist. She was at her most popular in the early to mid-1930s, and in the same era gained prominence as an aviator, ...
as Professor Anna Mathe
*
Simone Simon as Marie Claudel
*
Constance Collier as Professor Augusta Wimmer
*
J. Edward Bromberg as Dr. Spindler
*
Dixie Dunbar as Luisa
*
John Qualen
John Qualen (born Johan Mandt Kvalen, December 8, 1899 – September 12, 1987) was a Canadian-American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles.
Early years
Qualen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, ...
as Toni
*
Shirley Deane as Fritzi
*
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James (193 ...
as Count Vallais
*
Frank Reicher
Frank Reicher (born Franz Reichert; December 2, 1875 – January 19, 1965) was a German-born American actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Captain Englehorn in the 1933 film ''King Kong''.
Early life
Reicher was born in M ...
as Dr. Hoffenreich
*
George Hassell as Dr. Willfinger
*Lynne Berkeley as Dora
*
June Storey as Greta
*
Christian Rub
Christian Rub (pronounced ''Rhoob''; April 13, 1886 – April 14, 1956) was an Austrian-born American character actor. He was known for his work in films of the late 1910s to the early 1950s, and was featured in more than 100 films.
Biography
R ...
as Forester
*
Rita Gould as Professor Emma Kern
*
Peggy Montgomery as Student
*
Lynn Bari
Lynn Bari (born Marjorie Schuyler Fisher, December 18, 1919 – November 20, 1989) was an American film actress who specialized in playing sultry, statuesque man-killers in roughly 150 films for 20th Century Fox, from the early 1930s through t ...
as Student (uncredited)
Reception
The film was
Simone Simon's first American film. The press praised her performance, with ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' noting that "Hers is a performance unprecedented in Hollywood productions. Fresh, bright and alive, her face mirrors expressions with an ease that transcends acting". Writing for ''
The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...
'' in 1936,
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century.
Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...
gave the film a mild mixed review, describing it as "dewy" and "undoubtedly sexy", and ultimately concluding that "its concentrated atmosphere of young innocence defeats its own purpose". Greene praised the acting of Simon and Bromberg, and the directing generally.
[ (reprinted in: )]
See also
*''
A Very Young Lady'' (1941)
References
External links
*
{{Irving Cummings
1936 films
1930s romance films
20th Century Fox films
Films directed by Irving Cummings
Films set in Switzerland
Films about educators
American black-and-white films
American films based on plays
Films set in boarding schools
American romance films
1930s American films