Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

atlasmb The first indication that "Finishing School" is worth watching is that the Catholic church placed the film on its condemned list for 1934. But it has so much more than that to recommend it.The star of the film is Francis Dee, who plays Virginia Radcliff, the teenage daughter of rich parents who send her off to get educated in the finer aspects of life. The mother--played by Billie Burke--seems to have little use for the daughter and is quite happy to "drop her on the doorstep" and retire to her social agenda. Crockett Hall is an exclusive girls school where exclusivity implies a lack of racial diversity and an emphasis on blueblood backgrounds. At first the school seems like a backdrop for a film comedy about coming of age and the harmless hijinks of young women. But Virginia soon learns that Crockett is little more than a prison where the ridiculous rules of etiquette are but a small part of the personality engineering to which the girls are subjected.Virginia forges quality relationships with a small clique, including "Pony" Ferris, played by Ginger Rogers. Being a fan of Ms. Rogers, I was pleased to find that by this time in her career she is a fully-formed, competent actress. As the harsh headmistress, Miss Van Alstyne (played by Beulah Bondi), cracks down on the indiscretions of Virginia--especially the indiscretion of being "too different"--and we find that this teen comedy has morphed into a significant drama. Francis Dee is more than up to the challenge with her convincing portrayal of a woman who is fighting for her sanity and her life. Indeed, she raises Virginia to the level of heroine."Finishing School" is a stylish film with great acting. It deals with sophisticated issues and gives the viewer an emotional journey.

xerses13 As one of the 'BIG FIVE' RKO had to have a constant stream of pictures to meet the demands of their theaters. Typically output was about fifty-plus (50+) features a year and with the Great Depression budgets had to be kept tight. You cannot afford many KING KONG's each year so Executive Producer Merian C. Cooper kept most budgets to $100,000.00 or less. This kept the studio profitable and the staff busy and employed.FINISHING SCHOOL (1934) is filled with the current stock company of RKO. The story is of a idealistic and naive young women VIRGINIA RADCLIFF (Frances Dee) who goes to her Mother's (Billie Burke) 'Finishing School' and has her eyes opened up. The students led by CECELIA 'Pony' FERRIS (Ginger Rogers) spend most of their time dodging the rules. Principal MISS VAN ALYSTYNE (Beulah Bondi) and teachers like MISS FISHER (Sara Haden) are mainly interested in the appearances of propriety not the substance. Fortunetly VIRGINIA becomes aware of the hypocrisy and with the love of RALPH McFARLAND (Bruce Cabot) and the support of her Father MR. RADCLIFF (John Halliday) breaks free from the School and it's influences. One of those left behind is BILLIE (Dawn O'Day) who four (4) films later will become ANNE SHIRLEY! Least you think institutions like FINISHING SCHOOL no longer exist, guess again. Just GOOGLE and you will find extensive listing of such schools. Though judging from their 21st Century curriculum's they appear have more substance then just how to serve Tea.

MartinHafer Twenty-five year-old Frances Dee is dropped off at a girls finishing school. All the young ladies are supposed to be about 18 to 20, but like Dee, many look far older. Dee is a nice girl, though she is placed in a room with trampy Ginger Rogers. Despite initially resisting temptation, she succumbs very quickly to Rogers' urging to be a party girl. While on her first and only binge in the big city, Dee happens upon nice-guy, Bruce Cabot. They instantly fall in love and Cabot escorts Dee back to college. However, the dried up old prune who runs the place (Beulah Bondi) decides Cabot is EVIL and forbids Dee to see him again. When Cabot writes her, Bondi intercepts the letters and destroys them! Additionally, all passes are canceled for Dee--even though so far she really hasn't been all that bad.As a result of virtually being held prisoner, Dee is lonely. And, to top it off, is one of the only girls who is stuck in the school through Christmas--though she is able to sneak away for a tryst with Cabot. How far they go is strongly implied but never directly alluded to--though the intimation is that they did "the nasty". It also seems like MAYBE she was pregnant, but the makers of this film were so deliberately vague in their details that it's all very confusing. In the end, Cabot arrives in the nick of time to sweep Dee off her feet and leave this prudish girls school.All in all, this film had a lot of silly acting and ridiculous characters. In particular, Bondi was rather tough to believe with her one-woman anti-sex campaign she waged ONLY against Dee. This film is pretty silly and only worth seeing as an example of a sleazy film that is vague and confusing due to its desire to appeal to a very adult crowd AND be acceptable to the censors. It failed pretty miserably on both counts and was banned by the Catholic Legion of Decency.

Maliejandra Kay Helen Radcliff (Billie Burke) wants her daughter to attend the same finishing school that she did when she was young, so Virginia (Frances Dee) packs her bags and enters a new life of refinement. Miss Van Alstyne (Beulah Bondi) is a no-nonsense kind of a woman who briefs Virginia on the rules of the school and warns her not to step outside of the lines. Virginia agrees, but she never reckoned on having Cecilia (Ginger Rogers) for a room mate. Cecilia makes it impossible not to break the rules, and Virginia takes the heat for it. It doesn't help that Virginia falls for a poor medical school student (Bruce Cabot).This film starts out strong and ends strong, but the middle leaves a little to be desired. However, this is pure entertainment and escapism, just like the teen movies of modern times. There isn't a whole lot that is shocking about this film except the ending which is the reason why the film was condemned by the Catholic Church. By today's standards, it is nothing, and the twist is so ambiguous that a trained pre-code fan might be the only one that understands it.