Strike!

Strike! is a teen comedy set at an American girls' boarding school in 1963. Odette Sinclair is forced by her parents to change schools, so she is critical of her new surroundings from the outset. The school is not just uniforms and strict rules, though. There is plenty of mischief in Verena, Tinka, Tweety and Momo, who have formed their own little club. The club's purpose is nothing less than to further its members' careers and make their dreams come true, and those dreams have nothing to do with husbands and children. The girls are feminists - and that before the women's movement had really taken off.

Strike! has something to say, but that can be hard to guess from the over-the-top opening. Gradually the story gains more substance, and it is none the worse for striking more serious notes. The school's board has decided that the girls' school is to merge with a boys' school, but Verena, Odette and the rest of the gang rightly fear the consequences. Will they become second-class pupils? The girls set about preventing this forcefully - and humorously - and as the film's original title suggests, they go so far as to go on strike. Strike! is not an entirely fitting title, however, so it is not surprising that the film was later released under the title "All I Wanna Do".