Mademoiselle Else (2002)

In the French TV drama Mademoiselle Else (2002), a middle-class Austrian woman decides she’s willing to do anything to free her father from prison--even if it involves dispensing of her good name. Based on an acclaimed novel by Arthur Schnitzler, the film chronicles the plight of young Else Braun (Julie Delarme), a nineteen-year-old who turns to prostitution to raise her father’s bail money. As a perk to viewers, the sad-eyed Braun announces her decision in the most dramatic way imaginable: bursting into a crowded parlor without a stitch covering her. Viva the verve!