Coups de théâtre

I was expecting a film barely worth the effort to watch, because of the other reviews,and the fact I'd never heard of it. I was surprised its reviews or obscurity were not true. The story was interesting, and I thought Luise Rainier brought a fey sort of innocence to the part. Her Louise was the perfect foil to the cynical, bitter characters of Nana and Therese. Ranier seems a combination of Hedy Lamar and Ingrid Bergman.

Gale Sondergaard was very good here, as was Goddard. It was interesting to watch such eventual major stars as Lana Turner and Ann Rutherford at the dawn of their careers.

(Sorry for any misspellings or grammar problems, I wrote this fast.)

I saw this film last night on Turner Classics. I was very touched by the film's romantic sensibility. Yes, the film has a B movie feel. Yes, the performances are typically surface in a 1930s outdated style. Yes, at times it was obvious this was not Paris but a studio sound stage. But I forgive all of those things because that's what one does in film and theater: suspend disbelief to experience the characters' journey.

Here, the characters are all drama students who are either utterly disenchanted (Paulette Goddard) or romantically idealistic (Luise Rainer). All of the characters share the dreams of stardom and I find that element a universal and timeless trait: To be a successful STAR.

I was captivated by Rainer. She's no different than how Marilyn Monroe (or any great artist) must have felt on her way up. Rainer is magical, almost like a silent screen star with her exagerated facial expressions. And also like Garbo with her dark, European voice. I think that Rainer is the film's heroine in the traditional sense of Heroism. She overcomes poverty, social criticism, and artistic limitations by just living through her own perspective and by her own rules. Also, she's a very young woman, a student. And young people do make mistakes like the ones she makes in the films. Yes, I felt she was a real character.

In all fairness, I am not used to the exagerated style of her acting. I much more related to the fast talking Lana Turner or Paulette Goddard. But that's because they are very American and so am I: I like fast-talking broads. However, Rainer's romantic quality is rooted in her unknowable otherworldliness and I love her for that. I was swept off my feet into her idealistic heart. She took me there. Exactly like how I felt when I watched Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina. Pure fantasy, and I love this film because of that.

Not to sound elitist but a true gem for any closet sophisticate and old-school romantic.

DRAMATIC SCHOOL was obviously designed as a star vehicle for LUISE RAINER, the European actress whose career fizzled after winning two Oscars in the mid-'30s. Her acting here is even more mannered than usual, aside from seeming eccentric as compared to the more natural acting styles of others in the cast. And it's quite a cast--a whole bevy of up-and-coming young stars on the Metro lot.

PAULETTE GODDARD gets most of the footage as a glamorous and scheming bad girl while LANA TURNER, VIRGINIA GREY and ANN RUTHERFORD play more conventional types.

But oddly enough, in a film concentrating on its young female talent, the picture is stolen by ALAN MARSHAL in the film's only substantial male role--elegant, debonair, sophisticated and as handsome as any matinee idol. And the other scene stealer is none other than GALE SONDERGAARD as a drama instructor who lets jealousy get the upper hand in dealing with her students.

It's all formula stuff, interesting only for the cast and offering very little in the way of a credible plot. LUISE RAINER's "magic" as a performer eludes me. I never cared for her artificial poses and her Joan of Arc sequence is ludicrous.

Worth noting is RAND BROOKS (he was Charles Hamilton in GWTW) as a young actor who can't act. A clever bit of typecasting.

Luise Rainer feels herself an actress at heart. She is very serious at her studies and at being the best she can be. But, unfortunately, she is very poor and needs to work at a factory at night to make money. Therefore, she sometimes falls asleep in class. At work, she meets some rich society people and an stage actress, Genevieve Tobin, who is doing research for a role. Enter Alan Marshal, who is intrigued by Luise, when she refuses jewelry. (Long story! Watch the movie!)

Luise Rainer is the central character at this dramatic school, but there are lots of other recognizable faces in this movie. Other students are played by Paulette Goddard, Lana Turner, Virginia Grey, Hans Conried, Ann Rutherford and Rand Brooks. The latter two are both from "Gone with the Wind," Ann being Scarlet's sister and Rand, as Scarlet's husband who ultimately dies from scarlet fever in the civil war.

Gale Sondergaard, Margaret Dumont, and Henry Stephenson are the staff, with Gale being great as usual, especially as Juliet in her interpretation in class. Melville Cooper and Erik Rhodes (from Fred/Ginger movies with an accent, but here with absolutely none - shocking) round out the rest of the cast.

If you've never seen Luise Rainer before, this is nice little film that I have always liked for personal reasons, and she has the most serious eyes I've ever seen. Her strong demeanor yet fragile frame sets her apart from other actresses. I love the scene where she says to teacher Margaret Dumont, "Marie Antoinette was a queen. So she would walk like a queen."

Most of the other girls seem to be superficial or silly, like Lana, who's given practically nothing to do and Virginia Grey. Both Lana and Virginia would be in four other films together. Paulette Goddard who's known to have some spirit and fire about her is put to good use and comes across as three-dimensional. Besides Paulette and Luise, the only one who really shines is Ann Rutherford as Rand's girlfriend, who's only there because he thinks he can act, like his father and grandfather before him.

Ann Rutherford's character is happy to just be wherever he is and she is shown to great advantage. Ann Rutherford was a very beautiful actress, who always embodied to me a kind of quiet purity mixed in with sweetness.

So, spend some time with some pretty young ladies in a dramatic school. And, just be happy wherever you are!

Dramatic School is a kind of French version of Morning Glory with Luise Rainer as a continental version of Katharine Hepburn's Eva Lovelace. Luise sacrifices all for a career, going to the prestigious Paris School of Drama and working the night shift at a factory to make ends meet. She doesn't want fellow students like Paulette Goddard, Lana Turner, Virginia Grey, and Ann Rutherford to know what she's doing so she makes up stories about a more interesting life Luise wishes she were leading.

One day during class when a very strict acting coach Gale Sondergaard is giving a lesson she passes out and then tells the whopper of all time about going out with a well known man about Paris town in Alan Marshal. That sets off a nice chain of events that culminates in an ending typical of all backstage stories, I need not spell it out for you.

This was the last film Luise Rainer did under her MGM contract, it was dissolved by mutual consent between Luise and Louis B. Mayer. What Luise wanted and might have gotten at another studio were roles that were more challenging for her talent. She wanted what Greta Garbo had over at MGM and for Mayer there was only room for one Garbo on the lot. If Irving Thalberg had lived things might have been different, but who can say. In any event she and the rest of the cast acquit themselves admirably.

If anyone stands out though, for me it's Gale Sondergaard. She has a great part as a great actress who also teaches and is jealous of all the young ones coming through the school, especially Rainer. The acting profession is especially unkind to older women and Sondergaard channels a lot of resentment into her part.

Dramatic School was not a bad film for Luise to leave MGM on. It's not Camille or Ninotchka, but L.B. Mayer made it clear only one actress gets those parts on his lot.