This remake of a classic from the early 1930s clearly remains one of the most unusual and bold films made in post-war Germany, brought to life by three remarkable actresses: Romy Schneider, Lilli Palmer and Therese Giehse.
The story of an orphaned teenager (Schneider) whose passionate love for her teacher (Palmer) becomes scandalous and culminates into a tragedy was by no means a critical or commercial success when it came to the screen in 1958. I guess the homosexual (lesbian) content was too much to take for an audience which was used to more common and likable subjects. Today, "Mädchen in Uniform" deserves to be rediscovered and cherished as a minor masterpiece. The acting alone is of sheer brilliance; Blandine Ebinger, Sabine Sinjen, Christine Kaufmann and Adelheid Seeck support the three leading ladies superbly.
Stage veteran Therese Giehse, muse to writers like Brecht and Dürrenmatt and long-time lover of Erika Mann, is electrifying in one of her few movie appearances. Lilli Palmer, who began her career in Hitchcock's "Secret Agent" and became a Broadway and Hollywood star in the 1940s, puts all her charm into her enchanting portrayal of Fräulein von Bernburg, the understanding teacher whose tender loving care is misunderstood disastrously. Romy Schneider surprised everybody including herself with her performance which for the first time required her to do a little more than being just the sweet, innocent Viennese girl. After this, her 13th film, she went abroad to become an internationally acclaimed character actress, working with directors like Visconti, Welles, Preminger, Dassin, and, later, Claude Sautet.
The story of an orphaned teenager (Schneider) whose passionate love for her teacher (Palmer) becomes scandalous and culminates into a tragedy was by no means a critical or commercial success when it came to the screen in 1958. I guess the homosexual (lesbian) content was too much to take for an audience which was used to more common and likable subjects. Today, "Mädchen in Uniform" deserves to be rediscovered and cherished as a minor masterpiece. The acting alone is of sheer brilliance; Blandine Ebinger, Sabine Sinjen, Christine Kaufmann and Adelheid Seeck support the three leading ladies superbly.
Stage veteran Therese Giehse, muse to writers like Brecht and Dürrenmatt and long-time lover of Erika Mann, is electrifying in one of her few movie appearances. Lilli Palmer, who began her career in Hitchcock's "Secret Agent" and became a Broadway and Hollywood star in the 1940s, puts all her charm into her enchanting portrayal of Fräulein von Bernburg, the understanding teacher whose tender loving care is misunderstood disastrously. Romy Schneider surprised everybody including herself with her performance which for the first time required her to do a little more than being just the sweet, innocent Viennese girl. After this, her 13th film, she went abroad to become an internationally acclaimed character actress, working with directors like Visconti, Welles, Preminger, Dassin, and, later, Claude Sautet.