“What you call sin, I call the great spirit of love, which takes a thousand forms.”Mädchen in Uniform [Girls in Uniform] (Leontine Sagan + Carl Froelich, 1931)
May
9
Teacher Appreciation Day
Manuela (Hertha Thiele) in her Don Carlos costume with her beloved teacher, Frl. Von Bernburg (Dorothea Wieck). Note the similarity with Garbo vehicle Queen Christina (Rouben Mamoulian, 1933). DPs: Reimar Kuntze & Franz Weihmayr.
A goodnight #kiss on the lips was all it takes for 14-year old Manuela to fall for her teacher, Fräulein Von Bernburg. Then, while celebrating her rousing performance as the male lead in the play Don Carlos, Manuela gaily blurts out that yes, she indeed is in love with her teacher! This lack of discipline can't go unpunished, with devastating results.
– Fräulein Von Bernburg
Mädchen in Uniform with its all-female cast was, no… is!, a daring sapphic romantic drama based on a wildly popular play by Christa Winsloe. After multiple well attended screenings the film got banned in Germany because of its anti-authoritarian undertones, and almost banned in the US because of its lesbianism. Thankfully one of the picture's admirers – Eleanor Roosevelt – stepped in, resulting in a limited release.