Herbert Marshall and Ruth Chatterton star in this short film, in the early part of Tyrone Power's career. But it's Simone Simon's movie.In her first film role, she shines as a budding young woman in this college or school where they enter at 15 and graduate at 19, roughly. Miss Simon has that mystique of Garbo with the allure of Dietrich. Her innocence is not overdone and she gives a very effective and sincere performance as a dreamer in love with the schoolmaster, Herbert.Some may say it gets into melodramatics as it nears the end with the storm, the school board meeting, and the over-the-top teacher who wants a hearing over the misunderstood letter.But it provides solid entertainment for little over an hour, and I would recommend this sensitive movie for anyone who wants to discover Miss Simone Simon at her best.

This is a film that is mostly enjoyable and engaging until late in the film, when it becomes very, very creepy indeed! In fact, it's May-December romance is much more disturbing and creepy than the famous Ronald Reagan turkey, THAT HAGAN GIRL. How Herbert Marshall and the rest were able to get away with producing such a ridiculously flawed film is beyond me.The film starts off very well and a lot could have been made of the story. It all begins at a private girls high school in Austria, of all places. Marshall is the beloved head master of the school and practically all the young ladies are infatuated with him. One in particular, Simone Simon, is REALLY infatuated and it's pretty obvious to the audience though inexplicably Marshall and the rest are in the dark about this. Simone's infatuation is so great that she even writes love letters but doesn't send them. When a very prudish and self-righteous teacher finds one of the letters, they want to make an example of her--though she really hasn't really done anything and they have no idea the object of the letters is Marshall. In this inquisitorial climate, Marshall and some of the staff stand up to two vindictive teachers who seem to be on their own private witch hunt, of sorts.So far, all this is great entertainment. I can't see Marshall as being THAT sexy but this certainly wasn't a major issue, as he was very kind and possessed one of the most beautiful voices in film. However, completely out of the blue, the film falls off the deep end into very creepy territory. Although there was no indication whatsoever that Marshall would reciprocate, when he found out that Simone's letters were fantasy letters about him, he instantly declared his love for her!! This out of the blue declaration made no sense and coming from both a much older man AND one of her teachers really made my skin crawl. I am a male teacher about the same age as Marshall and I teach at a high school. I can assure you that NO ONE would find my declaring my undying love for any of students to be romantic or right in any moral sense. Heck, I'd likely make the TV news! Now I know times have changed and perhaps society might not have taken quite as strong a view about this back then, but even in the 1930s this is really, really weird and must have nauseated the audiences. In the final love scene that occurs just as the film is ending, many must have felt really annoyed or sickened. I know I couldn't enjoy this and saw Marshall's character as a bit of a pedophile.The only reason I could recommend this film at all is an early appearance by Tyrone Power near the very end. Power fans will no doubt want to see him, but I can assure them that his performance is bland and too short to satisfy.Finally, I can say only one more thing about the film----Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!

A young Simone Simon falls for her teacher (Herbert Marshall) in "Girls' Dormitory," a 1936 film set in a European girls' school where the teachers are Herr and Fraulein. When Herbert Marshall is the object of a girl's affections, you know this is an old one. Like the previous poster, this film made me feel old, too, but for a different reason - I didn't like seeing Ruth Chatterton thrown over for this babe! Simon plays a 19-year-old, but like "Ladies in Love" from the same time period, she looks like she's about 15. She's a total dazzler with those pouty lips, exotic eyes, sexy voice, and kittenish presence. She was a natural for "Cat People," that's for sure. And in real life, she was no less of a man magnet - even at an advanced age, she had plenty of male attention.Herbert Marshall plays the world's most absent-minded professor, failing to see that his colleague, Ruth Chatterton, has been in love with him for years and waiting for a marriage proposal. Similarly, he never catches on that Simon is in love with him either. In the story, Chatterton comes to Simon's defense when a love letter is found by one of the sterner teachers, and a move is afoot to expel her. Chatterton is a lovely actress, in her forties in this film. She only made a few other movies after this one, returning to her theatrical roots for the most of the rest of her career.Tyrone Power, then billed as Tyrone Power, Jr., as his son is today, has a small role toward the end of the movie. He's gorgeous.Girls' Dormitory is dated as all get-out, but worth seeing for Chatterton, Simon, and Power when he was beginning to find his place at 20th Century Fox.

Herbert Marshall does his best with a foolish character and a melodramatic script. Simone is electric on the screen but the chemistry between she and Ruth Chatterton is far more compelling than between Marshall and either one of his leading ladies. I LOVED this movie when I was young, but cannot remember why. Seeing it now just makes me feel very, very old because the mores and standards promulgated are just so outdated.