Good start, but then it gets ruined

Best movie of this year hands down!

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

In Paris, acting student Luise Rainer (as Louise Mauban) works nights in a factory, but keeps it a secret from her dramatic classmates. The other worker women look like smudge-faced drudges, but Ms. Rainer wears glamorous MGM make-up to work. Her smooth features glow when the factory girls are visited by handsome Alan Marshal (as Andre D'Abbencourt). Rainer fantasizes about the man. Pretty full-time students Paulette Goddard (as Nana) and Lana Turner (as Mado) steal the film from the top-billed star...This was Rainer's MGM swan song, after just winning back-to-back "Best Actress" awards from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Then, she left town. How could this have happened? "Oscar" royally goofed with Rainer's wins, and they wound up hurting a promising career in Hollywood pictures. Watch for an up-and-coming Dick Haymes as a student, listen for bushy-haired young Hans Conried to say "A shapely leg never hurt the box office," and don't miss Rainer's tragic turn as "Joan of Arc".**** Dramatic School (12/9/38) Robert B. Sinclair ~ Luise Rainer, Paulette Goddard, Alan Marshal, Lana Turner

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!

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.

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.