THE AGE OF CONSENT (1932)

Though a member of good standing in Golden Age Hollywood royalty simply for directing MY MAN GODFREY/’36 and STAGE DOOR/’37, far too little is otherwise known or celebrated in Gregory La Cava’s output to ignore what might be taken as an overlooked throwaway, yet plays out as an intensely felt contemporary youth drama set at some sub-Ivy League East Coast university for the underwhelming elite.  Taken from a B’way play that had the misfortune to open (and quickly close) just as Wall Street crashed, it’s the old story of horny kids & class lines in a college town.  Here, likeable junior Richard Cromwell can hardly wait two years to marry (i.e. start screwing) pretty co-ed Dorothy Wilson.  After a dance, and a silly fight, he escorts Arline Judge’s cute little diner waitress, a townie, home after midnight, where he’s invited in since Pop’s off at work.  After an illicit nightcap or two, he awakes next morning ‘entwined’ just as Pop gets home.  Turns out the girl’s underage, that’s statutory rape in any county and that means a quick marriage or jail.*  What makes this one work so well is La Cava’s ability to get believable perfs from his cast, all in their early twenties which makes a huge difference in these things.  Especially since, with behavior & dress so vastly removed from modern norms, it can still feel realistic.  Plus, La Cava offers no real villains, even the girl’s Dad has a point, while the rich wild campus king, Eric Linden, too sweet-natured to seriously worry about.  John Halliday has the strangest role as mentor/professor, a man who purposefully missed his chance for love & marriage and doesn’t know he regrets it until he sees what Cromwell would do for love.  (Or is it all hormones?)  Especially when he reconnects with the spinster prof he blew off twenty years ago.  (Before she reenters the picture, Halliday sets off definite gay vibes in his interactions with Cromwell.  Ironic as Cromwell was gay; something Angela Lansbury found out only after their semi-arranged marriage.)  Only a bit over an hour, no doubt this had a modest theatrical release.  Yet gets so much right; something often the case with La Cava’s half-hidden works.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  For a more modern look at Ivy League life that also gets small town atmosphere right, try John Sayles undervalued BABY IT’S YOU/’83.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2022/10/baby-its-you-1983.html

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  *The camera ‘finds’ the lovebirds fully dressed and asleep.  So did anything happen?  You bet, even in Pre-Code films some things still had to be inferred.