Olivia is a 1951

1951 in film

The year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...

 French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 film directed by Jacqueline Audry

Jacqueline Audry

Jacqueline Audry was a French film director who started making films in post-World War II France and specialised in literary adaptations. She was the first commercially successful woman director of post-war France....

. It is based on the 1950 semi-autobiographical

Autobiography

An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...

 novel by Dorothy Bussy

Dorothy Bussy

Dorothy Bussy was an English novelist and translator.-Family background and childhood:Dorothy Bussy was a member of the Strachey family, one of ten children of Jane Strachey and the great British Empire soldier and administrator Lt-Gen Sir Richard Strachey...

. It has been called a "landmark of lesbian

Lesbian

Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

 representation".

Plot

Olivia arrives at a finishing school

Finishing school

A finishing school is "a private school for girls that emphasises training in cultural and social activities." The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the educational experience, with classes primarily on etiquette...

 and falls in love with headmistress Mlle. Julie. Mlle. Julie feels the same, but tries to suppress her desire.

Cast

• Edwige Feuillère
  Edwige Feuillère
  Edwige Feuillère was a distinguished French stage and film actress....
  
   as Mlle. Julie
• Simone Simon
  Simone Simon
  Simone Thérèse Fernande Simon was a French film actress who began her film career in 1931.-Early life:Born in Béthune, Pas-de-Calais France, she was the daughter of Henri Louis Firmin Champmoynat, a French engineer, airplane pilot in World War II, who died in a concentration camp, and Erma Maria...
  
   as Mlle. Cara
• Marie-Claire Olivia as Olivia Dealey
• Yvonne de Bray
  Yvonne de Bray
  Yvonne de Bray was a French stage and film actress. She was born Yvonne Laurence Blanche de Bray in Paris and died there.-Selected filmography:1952 – We Are All Murderers1950 – Olivia1949 – Gigi...
  
   as Victoire
• Suzanne Dehelly as Mlle. Dubois
• Marina de Berg as Mimi
• Lesly Meynard as Frau Riesener
• Danièle Delorme
  Danièle Delorme
  Danièle Delorme is an French actress and film producer....
  
   as Une ancienne élève
• Rina Rhéty as Signorina
• Tania Soucault as Georgie
• Elly Norden as Laura
• Nadine Olivier as Cécile

Reception

For her part as Mlle. Julie, Edwige Feuillère was nominated for a BAFTA award for Best Foreign Actress in 1952.