Mädchen in Uniform (1931 film)

Mädchen in Uniform
US VHS video release cover
Directed by	Leontine Sagan
Produced by	Carl Froelich
Written by	Christa Winsloe (screenplay and theatre play) F. D. Andam () (screenplay)
Starring	Hertha Thiele Dorothea Wieck
Music by	Hansom Milde-Meißner ()
Cinematography	Reimar Kuntze Franz Weihmayr
Edited by	Oswald Hafenrichter
Production company	Deutsche Film-Gemeinschaft
Distributed by	Bild und Ton GmbH (Germany) Filmchoice (US) Janus Films (1978 VHS release)
Release date	27 November 1931 (Germany) 20 September 1932 (US)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	Weimar Republic
Language	German

Mädchen in Uniform (Girls in Uniform) is a 1931 German feature-length film based on the play Gestern und heute (Yesterday and Today) by Christa Winsloe and directed by Leontine Sagan with artistic direction from Carl Froelich, who also funded the film. Winsloe also wrote the screenplay and was on the set during filming. The film remains an international cult classic.

Manuela von Meinhardis, whose mother had died when she was young and father serves in the military, is enrolled at an all-girls boarding school headed by the traditional and iron-fisted Fräulein von Nordeck zur Nidden. Manuela is immediately exposed to the strictness of the school when receiving her uniform and having many of her possessions taken from her. While the other girls at the school receive Manuela with open arms, she still feels very out of place, until she meets Fräulein von Bernburg, a teacher at the school. After witnessing Fräulein von Bernburg's compassion for the other girls, Manuela develops a passionate love for her teacher. The first spark of love begins with a goodnight kiss. While the teacher normally gives all the girls a goodnight kiss on the forehead, Manuela receives one on the lips.

There is a meeting asking the teachers in the school and the headmistress. Fräulein von Bernburg advocates using compassion and love when dealing with the students, but is met with disagreement from the headmistress and the other teachers.

During class, the girls are reciting from an assigned reading. The girls who are called upon all know their recitations, except Manuela. After class, Fräulein von Bernburg calls for Manuela to meet her in her room. Manuela expects to be punished for not knowing the assigned material, but Fräulein von Bernburg comments on the state of the clothes the girl came to the school with, noting that there were many holes in them. Fräulein von Bernburg then gives one of her own petticoats to Manuela, at which she begins to weep. After much crying, Manuela confesses her love for Fräulein von Bernburg, and the teacher states that she loves Manuela but that she cannot give her special treatment because the other girls will be jealous.

The girls gather around Ilsa von Westhagen, another student, as she reads aloud a letter to her parents complaining about the conditions at the school. She has a worker at the school smuggle the letter out.

The girls are preparing to put on a play, Don Carlos, by Friedrich Schiller, for the birthday of the headmistress. Manuela plays Don Carlos, the lead male role. Ilsa is to play another major role in the play, but is barred from performing after her letter to her parents denouncing the school is returned because of a wrong address. Ilsa packs up to leave the school, but Fräulein von Bernburg convinces her to stay. The girls put on the play for the headmistress and her guests; it is a great success, with a standout performance by Manuela.