''The Devil Goes to Boarding School'' () is a 1944 Italian

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by Jean Boyer and starring

Lilia Silvi Lilia Silvi (22 December 1922 – 27 July 2013) was an Italian film actress. Silvi was one of several young actresses presented as an Italian equivalent to the Canadian-born Hollywood star Deanna Durbin. She appeared opposite Amedeo Nazzari, the ...

Leonardo Cortese Leonardo Cortese (24 May 1916 – 31 October 1984) was an Italian film actor and film director, director. He appeared in more than 30 films between 1938 and 1962. He also directed eight films between 1952 and 1967. He was born and died in Ro ...

and

Greta Gonda Greta Gonda (1917–1974) was an Austrian stage and film actress who emigrated to Italy where she worked as a leading lady.Gundle p. 267 She was born in Margarethe Tomicek Mondschein in Vienna, but left for Italy in the mid-1930s. In later life Go ...

. The plot is based on the

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

of the

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

'' Mam'zelle Nitouche'' by

Henri Meilhac Henri Meilhac (; 23 February 1830 – 6 July 1897) was a prolific French playwright and opera librettist, known for his collaborations with Ludovic Halévy on comic operas with music by Jacques Offenbach. He also wrote occasionally for serious w ...

and

Albert Millaud Albert Millaud was a French journalist, writer and stage author (Paris, 13 January 1844 – Paris, 23 October 1892).Cinecittà Studios Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City) is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios were constru ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Robert Gys Robert Gys (1901–1977) was a French art director.O'Shaughnessy p.238 Selected filmography * '' Imperial Violets'' (1924) * '' The Phantom of the Moulin Rouge'' (1925) * ''Miss Europe'' (1930) * ''Dance Hall'' (1931) * '' The Dream'' (1931) * '' ...

Synopsis

Graziella, a high-spirited young

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

ess, it sent to

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

in order to try and curb her mischievous behaviour. While at first she pretends to be docile, this is just a cover for her to play more tricks on her teachers. In particular she becomes a thorn in the side of one of a young male

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

and sets out to sabotage a

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

he is staging starring his

dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

girlfriend.

Cast

as Graziella *

as Rodolfo Poggi / Marcello Mari *

as Nora Nori *

Guglielmo Barnabò Guglielmo Barnabò (11 May 1888 – 31 May 1954) was an Italian stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1926 and 1954. Life and career Born in Ancona, Barnabò made his stage debut in 1921 at the Greek Theatre of S ...

as Il giudice Testones * Giacinto Molteni as Bortolo * Vittorina Benvenuti as Signorina Polipini nº1 *

Anna Capodaglio Anna Capodaglio (pseudonym of Anna Adele Alberta Gramatica; 19 September 1879 – 29 June 1961) was an Italian actress. She appeared in more than twenty films from 1936 to 1945. Her sisters Emma Gramatica and Irma Gramatica Irma Gramatica (born ...

as Signorina Polipini nº2 *

Olinto Cristina Olinto Cristina (5 February 1888 – 17 June 1962) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Born in Florence to stage actors Raffaello Cristina and Cesira Sabatini, Cristina began acting on stage as a child, within the company of Ti ...

as Il direttore del teatro *

Liana Del Balzo Liana Del Balzo (4 March 1899 – 26 March 1982) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 90 films between 1935 and 1979. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and died in Rome, Italy. Even making her film debut quite late, in her for ...

as Signora Testones * Giannina Gobbi as Professoressa Bellona * Lea Migliorini as Una collegiale

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. * Reich, Jacqueline Beth. ''Fascism, Film, and Female Subjectivity: The Case of Italian Cinema 1936-1943''. University of California, Berkeley, 1994.

External links

* 1944 films Italian comedy films 1944 comedy films 1940s Italian-language films Films directed by Jean Boyer 1940s Italian films Films shot at Cinecittà Studios Films based on operettas Minerva Film films {{1940s-Italy-film-stub