Girls in Distress
1939 · 90 MIN · IMDB 6.2 · 76 VOTES · DIR. G.W. Pabst
Overview
Jeune 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.
Dialogue Timeline — 1,154 lines
A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE
00:00:32 GIRLS IN DISTRESS
00:05:09 The Princess will dine alone in her dungeon.
00:07:42 Very light for you, but very heavy for a father.
00:10:34 There's a time when girls can no longer cling to their mother's skirts.
00:14:03 - The Divine One? - Greta Garbo!
00:16:56 Sure!
00:20:43 I wonder if we should include them all. What do you think?
00:23:48 She wanted to kill herself after.
00:26:44 I'm always sure. And I wait all afternoon.
00:30:02 I'm afraid I'm taking you away from your daughter.
00:33:14 What is the meaning of this? Leave at once.
00:36:18 Go right ahead.
00:40:40 Margot, when you're alone, you can't win.
00:43:24 LICODIPA!
00:46:48 - What is it? - Close your eyes.
00:50:10 I don't trust this Madame Montbleu.
00:53:22 I note, I diagnose. It's my job.
00:58:27 But I have a law.
01:01:58 If anyone had told me it would be you---
01:06:20 "How the night is calm! Calm as my soul."
01:12:14 And a passing fancy will remain just that.
01:17:23 Are you undermining the government?
01:21:36 As for the law, it will follow.
01:25:05 And it's all because of Licodipa!