Leontine Sagan Movies
Filmmaker Leontine Sagan only made two films during her long career; her first Maedchen in Uniform (1931) is her best known. She is one of only three women to have directed a German film before 1960 -- the other two were Thea von Harbou and Leni Riefenstahl. Maedchen, based on the play Gestern und Heute by Christa Winsloe, is also interesting in that it featured an all-female cast as it told the tale of a boarding school student and her teacher; it was filled with homoerotic overtones that while overlooked by critics of the day who viewed the film as a critique of the authoritarian Prussian education system, quickly made it a lesbian cult classic. Sagan was born in Austria, but spent her childhood in South Africa; she returned to Austria in 1910. Prior to becoming a director, Sagan studied at the Max Rheinhart School in Berlin before launching a highly successful career as an actress and theatrical director in Germany and Austria. In 1932, Sagan emigrated to Britain where she made a film for Alexander Korda, Men of Tomorrow. She later returned to South Africa where she spent the rest of her life working with the National Theater in Jonhannesburg. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1946
Though its title suggests that Gaiety George is yet another vehicle for British comedian George Formby, the film is in fact a biopic. Richard Greene plays Irish theatrical impresario George Howard, whose elaborately staged musical entertainments were highlights of the early 20th century. Wounded during World War I, Howard returns to London and virtually forgotten, compelling him to mount a spectacular comeback. Surprisingly, the weakest element is not its banal plotline but the musical numbers, which are staged with little of the "feel" or energy of the period. Released in the US as Showtime in 1948. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Greene, Ann Todd, (more)
- 1935
Originally released in 1932, Men of Tomorrow represented the film debut of Robert Donat. The story follows a young, idealistic Oxford student in the years following his graduation. Now a successful novelist, Allen Shepherd (Maurice Bradell) has married college sweetheart Jane Anderson (Joan Gardner). A firm proponent of the "woman's place is in the home" school, Allen walks out on Jane when she accepts a teaching post in Oxford's chemistry department. Eventually he realizes what a heel he's been, and the couple is reunited. Though both Robert Donat and Merle Oberon are cast in supporting roles, they were given top billing when Men of Tomorrow was distributed in the U.S. in 1935. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1931
Inspired by Christa Winsloe's play Gestern und Heute, Maedchen in Uniform is one of the most memorable and moving of the pre-Hitler German talkies. Hertha Thiele plays a new student in an exclusive girls' boarding school. Achingly lonely because she feels deserted by her family, Hertha keeps her distance from the rest of the girls. Persecuted for her solitary stance by principal Emilia Unda, Hertha is drawn to her sympathetic teacher Dorothea Wieck. What starts as a friendship blossoms into a romance. While public revelation of this relationship proves disastrous to both student and teacher, it is ultimately the unforgiving principal Unda who suffers most. Maedchen in Uniform was antiseptically remade in 1958, with some of the frankness but little of the honest eroticism of the original. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emilia Unda, Dorothea Wieck, (more)
