Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

ksf-2 In the very first scene, we see Margaret Dumont teaching a "movement" class. now.. anyone who has EVER seen a Marx Brothers film knows Dumont as the foil for the various Marx boys. I kept waiting for her to start joking around. Many big hollywood names in here -- Paulette Goddard, Lana Turner (at 17 !) , Henry Stephenson, Gale Sondergaard, Erik Rhodes. The usual antics of students learning their trade in school... in this case, drama. The girls play tricks on each other, but sometimes they backfire. SO many little subplots going on, and each of these great actors all seem to be the star in their own story. It really is an ensemble group, similar to an episode of Seinfeld. It's quite good, but I think they should have concentrated more on just one of the storylines. "Louise" (Luise Rainer) is acting, and over-acting all the way through; her character is always making up stories for appearance, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Some similarities to "Stage Door", with k. hepburn, but this one has far less tragedy... Directed by Robert Sinclair. This was one of the first films he did. Many years later, Sinclair would be murdered by a prowler on his own property. Hopefully they will show this one more frequently on Turner Classics; has some great names from early hollwood in here. It's pretty good!

ferenc_molnar It's somewhat indifferently directed but it has well drawn characters that the actors play to their advantage. Luise Rainer's romantic and urbane intensity can be off putting on film. She's too much of a stage actress and her Austrian accent, though charming, is too pronounced to successfully worm its way into our collective American movie-fan heart. We're always looking at her but we never start to look through her. Paulette Godard is great as a cynical fellow actress and rival to Rainer. She pulls off the moments where her hard boiled facade starts to crack beautifully. Another fantastic performance by character actor Henry Stephenson who has a scene where he has to tell his son that the he'll never be a decent actor because he doesn't have any talent. It's also great to see Lana Turner, who hadn't lost her baby fat yet, in a small role. But the surprise of the movie is how unsentimental it's take is on the realities of show business. Even thought the film pumps in the romantic music at the film's conclusion, it's clear to anyone who has been watching closely that Luise Rainer's character is not as ingenuous as she seems. Her character is a born actress and knows how to melt the hearts of not only an audience but anyone who stands in the way of her career.

bkoganbing 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.

guil fisher DRAMATIC SCHOOL is just an ordinary film, without too much plot. The usual plot(poor girl wants to be an actress, struggles to make herself known and then finds success). What makes this early MGM film notable is seeing many famous stars-to-be having small parts. Notably Lana Turner, Ann Rutherford, Virginia Grey and Paulette Goddard in her first of two MGM films before going to Paramount and major stardom.The star of the film, Luise Rainier, seemed right for the role, but somewhat distant in her performance. There wasn't too much difference in her playing of the poor starving actress or the role of Joan of Arc as the great actress she becomes.Paulette Goddard, however, showed that lovable kitten she later became famous for. Playing the glamour go-getter, Goddard added that special kind of sophistication to her sharp-tongued role admirably.However, as much weight as it had with the star-studded cast, to me, it never really made it out of the B-picture status.