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Bad Performance by Frances Dee, Great one by Beulah Bondi

posted 10 years ago by HarlowMGM
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Watching FINISHING SCHOOL one can understand why Frances Dee never became a major star. She is pretty but unmemorably so and she gives a bad performance here, often with terribly unsubtle choices for conveying her emotional state. In her early scene with Bruce Cabot in the car, she bats her eyes like crazy in a terrible show of flirtatiousness, in the scene where she learns Cabot is not allowed to the school's party she righteously marches into the room with a swagger that recalls John Wayne out to whup some ass, and at the climax where she is freaking out about not hearing from Cabot in her time of need she has a hysteria that makes Nancy Kelly in The Bad Seed seem underplayed.

On the other hand, the great character actress Beulah Bondi is a revelation as the school mistress with a polished insincerity, a fake mask of warmth covering an icy heart. This is unlike anything I've ever seen Beulah in before. That she an atypically glamourous role (albeit in a middle-aged matron way) is only icing on the cake.

[–] judygmartin 9 years ago

To each his own. I LOVED Frances Dee in this. It could be she chose to raise her three children with her hubby Joel McCrea on their thousand-acre ranch. They were married 57 years. I'd say that was a good choice.

[–] mdonln 9 years ago

HarlowMGM says > Watching FINISHING SCHOOL one can understand why Frances Dee never became a major star. She is pretty but unmemorably so and she gives a bad performance here, often with terribly unsubtle choices for conveying her emotional state.

I thought Frances Dee did a wonderful job in this movie. Every actress can't be expected to interpret a role in exactly the same way. In real life, we're all different and express ourselves differently; that's also how it should be on screen.

Virginia is supposed to be a certain kind of girl. When she arrived at the school she was very different than the other girls. In time she loosened up but when things started to go awry, it made sense that she reverted back to her former self and behaved the way she had been accustomed. The ending may seem a little far-fetched but I think it fell within her persona.

Judging someone's acting ability by how big a star they became seems silly. A lot of very talented actors never become famous and a lot of the ones who did become famous aren't necessarily good actors. That's just how it is. Also, not everyone puts their career above all else in life.

Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]