Mädchen in Uniform

Although understandably a cornerstone of gay/lesbian cinema (and the inspiration for Katherine Brooks' Loving Annabelle), this 1958 remake of 1931's Mädchen in Uniform (Women in Uniform) offers little more than camp historical value—at least by post-millennial standards of cinematic permissiveness. A young Romy Schneider portrays Manuela, a convent schoolgirl who develops a near-lethal crush on her tough-but-fair teacher, Fräulein von Bernburg (Lilli Palmer). Located in early-20th-century rural Germany, the school is ruled with proto-fascist strictness by the elderly Fräulein von Racket (Blandine Ebinger), who sees her student body as mere automatons to be hardened into soldier-bearing mothers. Through von Bernburg, teen orphan Manuela obviously finds the mother figure she never had. An initially recalcitrant student, Manuela is finally reached through art, and while rehearsing an all-girl version of Hamlet, she ends a scene by planting a sensuous smooch on the lips of her startled instructor. Probably the most memorable scene elicited by director Géza von Radványi comes when a drunk Manuela openly declares her love for von Bernburg in front of the rest of the girls and von Racket: “I love her!” she bellows, then promptly passes out. Unfortunately, however, neither Schneider's Manuela nor Palmer's von Bernburg are imbued with as much psychological complexity as their characters demand, and the somewhat timid ending leaves much to be desired. DVD extras include an interview with Brooks. A strong optional purchase. (M. Sandlin)