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A Very Young Lady

  • 1941
  • Approved
  • 1h 20m
IMDb RATING
5.6/10
55
YOUR RATING
Nancy Kelly, John Sutton, and Jane Withers in A Very Young Lady (1941)
Comedy

Tomboy is sent to finishing school where she falls for the headmaster. When her love letters are discovered she okays his relation with a teacher and gets her first kiss from a beau.Tomboy is sent to finishing school where she falls for the headmaster. When her love letters are discovered she okays his relation with a teacher and gets her first kiss from a beau.Tomboy is sent to finishing school where she falls for the headmaster. When her love letters are discovered she okays his relation with a teacher and gets her first kiss from a beau.

  • Director
    • Harold D. Schuster
  • Writers
    • Ladislas Fodor
    • Elaine Ryan
  • Stars
    • Jane Withers
    • Nancy Kelly
    • John Sutton
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.6/10
    55
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Harold D. Schuster
    • Writers
      • Ladislas Fodor
      • Elaine Ryan
    • Stars
      • Jane Withers
      • Nancy Kelly
      • John Sutton
    • 2User reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos3

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    Top cast19

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    Jane Withers
    Jane Withers
    • Kitty Russell
    Nancy Kelly
    Nancy Kelly
    • Alice Carter
    John Sutton
    John Sutton
    • Dr. Franklin Meredith
    Janet Beecher
    Janet Beecher
    • Miss Steele
    Richard Clayton
    • Tom Brighton
    June Carlson
    June Carlson
    • Madge
    Charles Halton
    Charles Halton
    • Oliver Brixton
    Cecil Kellaway
    Cecil Kellaway
    • Professor Starkweather
    Marilyn Kinsley
    • Susie
    JoAnn Ransom
    JoAnn Ransom
    • Linda
    Catherine Henderson
    • Jean
    Lucita Ham
    • Sarah
    June Harris
    • Beth
    Eddie Acuff
    Eddie Acuff
    • Sheriff Bill Stone
    • (uncredited)
    William Edmunds
    • Abner
    • (uncredited)
    Jackie Hughes
    • Carver Cadet
    • (uncredited)
    Roger McGee
    • Tough Boy
    • (uncredited)
    Dorothy Moore
    Dorothy Moore
    • Miss Clayton
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Harold D. Schuster
    • Writers
      • Ladislas Fodor
      • Elaine Ryan
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews2

    5.655
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    Featured reviews

    8istara

    Interesting adaptation of an older play

    I watched this to compare it with Girls' Dormitory (1936) as both films are based on Ladislas Fodor's play Matura. The earlier film stars Herbert Marshall, Simone Simon and Ruth Chatterton. This later adaptation stars John Sutton, Jane Withers and Nancy Kelly. The essential plot is that a student at a finishing school, as well as one of the teachers, are both in love with the principal. He's oblivious to both of their affections.

    In A Very Young Lady (1941) Jane Withers is Kitty Russell, a tomboy who has been sent to finishing school to develop some airs and graces. She gets into scraps with local lads, dressing as a boy with her face all smudged, before a teacher helps her with a duckling-to-swan transformation for the school dance. The reaction of principal Dr. Franklin Meredith (a very handsome John Sutton) to the transformation - "you're the prettiest girl in the school!" - requires some suspension of disbelief.

    At this point Kitty develops a huge crush on Dr. Meredith. "Thirty? Oh my goodness! Why, he's an old man!" her friend Madge comments.

    Kitty writes fantasy love letters to Dr. Meredith. These are discovered by another teacher, who thinks she is having a surreptitious and forbidden relationship with a local boy. Grilled by Dr. Meredith, Kitty can't bring herself to tell him the truth. She runs away and he comes to find her. And then she starts to reveal her heart in an excruciating scene that descends into hysterical laughter/tears, but Dr. Meredith still doesn't twig that he's the object of her adoration.

    A Very Young Lady (1941) is more faithful to the original play in terms of its comedic aspects (Matura is described as "A Comedy") and also in terms of who ends up with whom. Girls' Dormitory (1936), described as a "romance", has a few comedic moments but is essentially a romantic melodrama. Withers was about 14 or 15 and very much a character actress when she played the ingenue role, whereas Simon was 25/26 and an alluring starlet.

    Compared with Girls' Dormitory (1936) and probably the original play, there's no European flavour here: it's very Americanised. There are dates and motorcycles, milkshakes and drugstores, sheriff, pins and corsages. Lots of teenagerhood: these are very much kids, not so much young ladies ready for society and marriage upon graduation. It actually reminded me far more of another Herbert Marshall film: Mad About Music (1938).

    There's an odd reference to Tyrone Power in this film: "Oh Madge, I wish I were a carefree child like you! With no one to worry about but Tyrone Power." In Girls' Dormitory (1936) Power, still an unknown, has a brief role, only his second credited part. By 1941 he was a major star and a well-established heartthrob. Is A Very Young Lady (1941) worth a watch? Yes, if you're a fan of one or more or the actors, or you've seen Girls' Dormitory (1936) and are curious. But ultimately my takeout was how superior a movie Girls' Dormitory (1936) is, even if it subverts the plot of the original play.

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    • Trivia
      Final film of JoAnn Ransom.

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • June 27, 1941 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • A Very Strange Lady
    • Filming locations
      • 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Twentieth Century Fox
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 20 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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    Nancy Kelly, John Sutton, and Jane Withers in A Very Young Lady (1941)
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