Girls in Distress
1939Jeune Filles en Detresse (Young Girls in Distress) was director G. W. Pabst's last French production before his (ill-timed) return to Nazi-occupied Austria in 1941. Somewhat reminiscent of Maedchen in Uniform, the story is set in a private girl's school, populated almost exclusively by children from broken homes. Among the few students who can claim family stability is Micheline Presle, but even her happiness is threatened when her lawyer father Andre Luguet inaugurates an affair with stage actress Jacqueline Debulac. With the help of Debulac's daughter Louisa Carletti, Presle is able to break up her father's romance and deliver him into the open arms of her mother Marcelle Chantal. On the whole, the performance by the younger cast members are more convincing than those rendered by the film's so-called adults.
Acted in
Marcelle Chantal
as Docteur Marthe Presle
Jacqueline Delubac
as Pola d'Ivry, la mère de Margot
André Luguet
as Maître Jacques Presle
Micheline Presle
as Jacqueline Presle
Louise Carletti
as Margot Montbleu
Ariane Murator
Barbara Shaw
as La belle-mère d'Amélie
Claude Lehmann
Gaston Jacquet
as Le père d'Amélie
Georges Jamin
as Le beau-père d'Amélie
Merly
Marcel Lupovici
as Morel
Pierre Nay
Christiane Ribes
as La mère d'Amélie
Noëlle Norman
as Une élève de la pension
Sinoël
as Le concierge du théâtre
Paulette Élambert
as Denise Tarrand
Gabrielle Robinne
as Le mère d'Yvette
Pierre Bertin
as Legris, le secrétaire de Me Presle
Arthur Devère
as Le père d'Alice
Nane Germon
as Ernestine
Robert Pizani
as Monsieur Tarrand
Milly Mathis
as La mère d'Alice
Margo Lion
as La mère de Thérèse
Marguerite Moreno
as Madame Vuilliard
Jean Aquistapace
as Ternier, le ministre de la justice
Liliane Barnassin
Hélène Bellanger
Ariane Borg
as Une élève de la pension
Victoria Carletti
as Une élève de la pension
Jacqueline Daniel
Monique Dantis
Marguerite de Morlaye
Genevieve Dorlane
as Madame Tarrand
Antoinette Ferlay
Michel François
as Michel Mortier
René Génin
as Le concierge du ministère
Madeleine Lebeau
as Une élève de la pension
Rosine Luguet
as Une élève de la pension
Mlle Malakowsky
as Amélie
Robert Manuel
as Robert
Marthe Mellot
as Mademoiselle Jeanne
Christiane Rombaldo
Germaine Stainval
Monique Thibaut
as Une élève de la pension
Solange Turenne
Génia Vaury
Georges Vitray
Yvonne Yma
as L'habilleuse de Pola