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Category:    Home > Reviews > Drama > School > Politics > Education > Class Division > Finishing School (1934/RKO/Warner Archive DVD)

Finishing School (1934/RKO/Warner Archive DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Film: B-

 

 

PLEASE NOTE: This release is only available from Warner Bros. in their Warner Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.

 

 

Because the RKO catalog has been part of other studio holdings since Desilu sold the catalog, their film output is often underrated and not seen as much as it should be, only outdone by early Paramount releases.  They started early enough to make silent movies and to make films before the censorship of the Production Code kicked in.  Warner Bros. now owns the catalog and are issuing many of its gems through their terrific Warner Archive on-line program.  George Nichols Jr. and Wanda Tuchock (who co-wrote the screenplay) co-directed a very interesting film in 1934 called Finishing School that deserves a wider audience.

 

Frances Dee (Becky Sharp, I Walked With A Zombie) plays a young lady sent to the title locale to learn how to become a “fine young lady” but finds it is more about conformity, snobbery and blatant class division.  Her new roommate (a young Ginger Rogers on her was to super stardom) encourages her to have fun instead, causing her to come into conflict with the women who run the place.  Billie Burke is very different in the role of her mother and the great Bruce Cabot (King Kong, Diamonds Are Forever) is here in an early role playing her love interest.

 

This is very smart, intelligent moviemaking for its time taking on subjects political correctness and other Hollywood formulas since have gotten in the way of.  No one is painted as a cartoon and it is a mature work.  I can see why Warner wanted this to get press coverage as it is a work worth rediscovering.  Film fans unfamiliar with it will be pleasantly surprised.

 

The 1.33 X 1 black and white image shows some age for a film nearly 80 years old and some shots are soft, but Video Black is good for a DVD or DVD-R and many shots were in fine shape.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono can also show its age with some rough spots and distortion from the RCA optical source, but it often sounds better than expected for its age.  There are sadly no extras, though you’d think a trailer was in the vault somewhere.

 

 

To order, go to this link:

 

http://www.wbshop.com/Finishing-School/1000180313,default,pd.html?cgid

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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