Finishing School

Finishing School is a 1934 pre-Code romantic drama film starring Frances Dee as a young woman who gets into trouble after being sent to a finishing school by her neglectful parents. This film was condemned by the Legion of Decency. Plot Virginia Radcliff is enrolled at the exclusive Crockett Hall finishing school by her mother, with the acquiescence of her wealthy businessman father. Miss Van Alstyne, the head of the school, informs her new student of Crockett Hall's strict rules of ladylike conduct, but Virginia's new roommate, Cecilia Ferris, soon sets her straight. Van Alstyne and the rest of her staff do not really care what they do as long as it does not become public and stain the reputation of the school. On the weekend, Cecilia (nicknamed "Pony" for her love of horses) takes Virginia to New York, chaperoned by a fake "Aunt Jessica". They meet Pony's boyfriend and Bill Martin, a conceited college football star, in a hotel room. With her new-found independence, Virginia decides to see what it feels like to get drunk. When she is, an equally-intoxicated Bill tries to take advantage of her. Hotel waiter Ralph "Mac" McFarland rescues her, punching Bill in the face. When he sees how drunk she is, Mac offers to drive her back to school. On the way, she discovers he is a medical intern at a children's hospital. The hospital does not pay him, so he has to work at the hotel to make ends meet.