Surface ordering phenomena and finite-size effects determine properties of free standing films by decreasing the number of layers. Computer simulations have shown that the boundary layers reconstruction can cause a disappearance of the first order Sm A - Sm CC phase transition by diminishing the number of layers. Within the wetting analogy it is shown that the surface tension temperature dependence correlates with the type of surface ordering in free standing films. Finite-size effects of two categories are discussed : i) dependence of thermodynamic parameters on the system size (finite-size scaling), ii) destruction of the long-range order by thermal fluctuations in a sense of Landau-Paierls theorem and related effects (dimensional crossover). Anomalous experimental properties of the free suspended films with high spontaneous polarization are studied. The dimensional crossover is investigated for nonferroelectric and ferroelectric smectic phases with high spontaneous polarization.