Weimar Germany was during its short and tumultuous life known as the place with an unusually relaxed and tolerant approach towards sexuality. This included even some of alternative forms that people in other countries considered unnatural or pretended they didn’t exist. Such state of affairs had an influence even on German cinema and in 1931 it culminated with Mädchen in Uniform (literally “Girl in Uniform”), drama directed by Leontine Sagan which now enjoys cult reputation as the first lesbian film.
The film is based on Gastern und heute (“Yesterday and Today”), semi-autobiographical stage play by Christa Winsloe who also co-wrote the script with Friedrich Damann. The plot is set in a Prussian boarding school for girls, tightly run by a strict and humourless headmistress Fräulein von Nordeck zur Ninden (played Emilia Unda) that insists on old-fashioned values of discipline and self-sacrifice. Protagonist is a newly arrived student, 14-year-old Manuela von Meinhardis (played by Hertha Thiele), daughter of a military officer whose mother has died long time ago. She has initially problems adapting to the new oppressive regime, even if such regime is occasionally and more often secretly defied by more rebellious students like Ilse von Westhagen (played by Ellen Schwanneke). All the girls, however, look up to Fräulein von Bernburg (played by Dorothea Wick), a young teacher whose approach is kinder and gentler than the headmistress’ and who doesn’t shy away from showing affection to her pupils. That includes Manuela who interprets that as romantic feelings, exactly the same she has developed for Bernburg. When she gets drunk during one celebration, Manuela allows those feelings to become known and thus creates the scandal that would result in shunning and various punishments.
Few films could be described as “women’s film” with such precision as Mädchen in Uniform. It is based on a play by a woman, it represented directorial debut of Austrian stage actress Leontine Sagan (who would later make only two more films) and all the characters and cast members are female (with only male being popular singer and actor Hans Albers on a picture Ilse keeps as her dearest treasure). The film was, however, produced by Carl Froelich, prolific film maker and one of the pioneers of German cinema. His rich experience, as well as ability to put recently introduced sound technology to good use, has undoubtedly helped Sagan a lot. Mädchen in Uniform is well-directed, has a good pace and, unlike many early sound films, doesn’t show its stage origins. The most interesting aspect of the film is the same for film historians as it was for the audience – exploration of same-sex love, at least from the perspective of a confused teenager challenged both by her oppressive environment and sexuality. The film deals with those subjects in very restrained way, but there is little doubt of the nature of Manuela’s feelings for her teacher. The film even allows audience to ponder whether Burnberg is lesbian due to the scene when she kisses Manuela on the lips. Winsloe, who was lesbian as well as politically aligned to the left, also took this film as an opportunity to criticise oppressive and autocratic tendencies in Germany embodied in tyrannical headmistress, while at the end Manuela’s classmates as a collective save the day instead of a noble single individual.
Film benefited a lot from very good and talented cast. Dorothea Wick, despite being only a few months older than Hertha Thiele, convincingly played an older woman. Thiele was also very good in the role of teenager and had good chemistry with Wick. The kiss scene created a lot of interest among German audience and that led not only to Mädchen in Uniform becoming a great hit, but also in a few more explicitly and implicitly lesbian-themed films like 1933 Anna and Elisabeth which again paired Thiele with Wick. Outside Germany, film had a lot of problems with censorship. Two years after its premiere, Nazis came to power and their minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels promptly banned Mädchen in Uniform, a decision that had less to do with lesbian content and more with film’s critical view of authority, which ran contrary to new regime’s ideological agenda. The film nevertheless left a strong impression and was remade twice – in 1950 Mexico as Muchachas de Uniforme starring Irasema Dillian and as 1958 Franco-German co-production starring Romy Schneider.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
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