Coups de théâtre

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!

Luise Rainer wrapped up her Hollywood career with this minor B movie that also served as an early showcase for Lana Turner and Ann Rutherford.

The Viennese Teardrop isn't bad but her habit of staring soulfully skyward comes across as a bit affected.

Paulette Goddard co-stars but she was in a transitional phase. After having recently been elevated from the ranks by Chaplin and featured in Modern Times she was a bit ahead of the other girls career wise but this was still before her period as a top star although that was right around the corner.

An interesting contrast can be made between the two other future stars featured. MGM was still experimenting with Lana and her look, her hair is still red not her signature blonde, her makeup is slightly different from scene to scene and her part is small although she is prominently billed. Ann Rutherford on the other hand who was at about the same point in her career already has her screen persona down. Of course she was always the girl next door so retained more of her natural attributes while by the time Lana reached the top there was little if anything girlish about her.

The picture itself moves at a decent clip and is mildly entertaining but has several large reality gaps in its story line. It's filled with familiar faces though to distract you from the holes in the script with Genevieve Tobin and Marie Blake both adding nice touches in small roles.

Always enjoyed the acting of Paulett Goddard who plays the role of (Nana) a young girl who is attending a Drama School in Paris, France along with Lana Turner,(Mado) who are striving to become actresses and have only one desire in their lives. Luise Reiner, (Louise Mauban) is a poor gal who attends the Dramatic School in the daytime and is forced to also work in a factory making gas meters. Louise tells her fellow classmates at the school all kinds of stories about her relationship with a rich playboy who finances plays and is a ladies man. The story gets rather interesting when Louise really gets involved with this playboy who spoils her to death with everything she wants, however, she does notice that he still has an eye for any hot chick that comes along. Great 1938 film with lots of laughs and plenty of dramatic acting. Enjoy.

Strangely, it's set in France, yet features a bevy of American actresses playing girls with names like Nana, Yvonne and Simone. It's not as good as the similar Stage Door, which was released by RKO the year before, and the story takes a while to get going. Lovely, dark-eyed Luise Rainer stars as the young woman who aspires to be a great actress; Paulette Goddard is cast to type as a cynical, knowing classmate; Gale Sondergaard is the teacher who resents Rainer for her youth and talent; and Alan Marshall is the wealthy cad who misuses Rainer, thus allowing her to experience the suffering required for her to achieve great dramatic success. It's not a bit credible but, when all is said and done, it's fairly entertaining. With Lana Turner in an early role, Virginia Grey, Ann Rutherford and Margaret Dumont, Henry Stephenson, Genevieve Tobin, John Hubbard, Marie Blake, Erik Rhodes and moist-eyed Rand Brooks.

Louise Mauban (Luise Rainer) attends drama school during the day while working a lowly factory job at night. She is obsessed with becoming a great actress and has no time for the fun-loving girls at school. They suspect that she's an arrogant upper class snob and that's exactly who she pretends to be. She tells them about dating Marquis Andre D'Abbencourt (Alan Marshal) which leads some to suspect her lies. Nana (Paulette Goddard) discovers the truth and plans to embarrass her. Andre turns those plans upside down.

Luise Rainer is an early acting star and this role asks a lot from her. She has to play a great actress, an enchantress who entices Andre at first sight, and be a lower-class every woman. She's mostly successful... mostly. In reality, she is a great actress. So that's a given. I can accept the love at first sight but it could be filmed better cinematically. She's not the type to stand out as typically the most beautiful. The camera needs to do more. She is also a little too old to be still in school. It is interesting that the teacher talks about Juliet's age and having to be older to play the part. The story meanders around. There are future stars like Lana Turner. It's fine but it's not holding me.