User reviews

It's fun to see the plot of this early talkie careen back and forth between traditional melodrama and coming of age story, with some hints of almost incestuous attraction in a May-December romance. Conway Tearle plays a middle-aged bachelor who has raised the son of a friend (who died when the boy was only 6). Now the boy, affectionately nicknamed The Imp (David Manners) is turning 21 and he's engaged to be married to Loretta Young, daughter of Tearle's housekeeper. The Imp is a callow youth (after all, he's played by David Manners) and he skips a carefully planned birthday dinner to spend the night carousing with a sexy, gold digging nightclub singer (Myrna Loy). She thinks the boy has a big inheritance and so agrees to marry him when he asks her, but what she doesn't know is that Manners has very little money at all. Young finds a love letter from Loy to Manners, but Tearle covers up for Manners by saying it was written to him (they both have the same first name). This ploy, however, upsets Young even more; it turns out that she has been nursing a crush on the older man for some time. Tearle goes though an elaborate charade to keep the truth from Young, not realizing all the time that Young is miserable.

It's a 1930 movie, so it's a little stiff and stagy, in production and acting. Loy is wonderful, like a breath of fresh air whenever she's around, glittery and sexy and dangerous. Manners is his usual rather awkward self (when he's staring with lust at Loy, he looks rather like Harpo Marx during his drunk scene in THE COCOANUTS) but he has the leading man looks needed for the part. Young is not as good as she would be in later movies; both she and Tearle are rather stiff. The characters could be fleshed out a bit more; all the exposition is crammed into a long dialogue scene in the first ten minutes of the movie. I would particularly recommend this to Loy fans-it's always fun seeing her as a kind of femme fatal (as she was in several of her early films) and contrasting that image with her good-girl/wifely image later in her career.

"The Truth About Youth" is a 1930 film of special interest because of two of its young stars, Loretta Young and Myrna Loy. The story concerns a housekeeper's daughter Phyllis (Young) who is engaged to the young man of the house, "The Imp" (David Manners). He has just turned 21 and has been raised by a triumvirate of guardians, chiefly Richard (Conway Tearle). "The Imp" (whose real name is Richard) falls madly in lust with a man trap called Kara, who performs at a club and is known as "The Firefly." He writes her a passionate letter and when Phyllis finds it, the elder Richard claims it's his.

Because this is an early talkie, the film comes off as rather wooden. Both Loy and Young are gorgeous, Loy as a vamp and Young as a sweet young thing. Both had those short hairdos with the tight wave so popular back then. Loy has the better role as a money-grubber, and she's great. The gown she wears in performance is a knockout - an actress could wear it to the Oscars today.

The men are just okay, with the exception of two of the guardians, J. Farrell McDonald and Harry Stubbs, who provide some humor.

Before she became Nora Charles, Loy was cast as a vamp, usually an exotic one, until a producer who knew her personally decided to mine her humor. "The Truth About Youth" is an excellent chance to see her in an early role.

There is just so much to say about this rather obscure little film that is unremembered today.

This light piece of early sound Warner Brothers is between so many different worlds. It's between the roaring twenties and the Great Depression. The roaring twenties are over but the poverty of the 30s have not yet arrived. Thus you have a night club and act worthy of the roaring twenties. And nobody after the roaring twenties would have continually called a grown man "The Imp" (David Manners' character) versus his right name.

It's between two wars - the two world wars, and so you have a trio of men who appear to have had their friendship founded in the military - though they never come out and say so. The dead friend they continually refer to - heck, Conway Tearle's character has been raising his son for 15 years! - probably died in military service, thus the debt they feel and the reason all three consider themselves the lad's wards. It's far enough away from WWI at this point that one can speak of war somewhat romantically.

This film is also between the silent and sound eras. 1930 was actually the first full year of talking films, and the industry hadn't yet quite gotten down the art of doing sound film. Thus there is an over powering score that drowns out conversation in some parts, and there is absolutely no score in others to the point that I expect to hear crickets chirping.

Then there is their choice of stars during this transitional period. Of course, Loretta Young at 17 does a grand job and she had a career that straddled both the silent and sound eras. David Manners may be unfamiliar today, but he was the juvenile lead in practically every film made until 1936, when he suddenly retired. The odd bird in the cast has to be Conway Tearle in the lead as a man trying to save his ward , "the Imp" from a gold digging temptress (Myrna Loy). Tearle had a good voice, and in the early sound era that was enough to get you leads for a couple of years. Tearle had the good fortune to be the lead in Warner Brothers' biggest hit until Robin Hood in 1938, that being 1929's "Gold Diggers of Broadway". Unfortunately, physically, Tearle was so non descript that career criminals would have killed to look like him - He is just so neutral in his features that he is impossible to describe. Once more distinctive actors begin to arrive on the scene such as Cagney and Gable, Tearle was pretty much out of leading roles.

Finally let me say something about Myrna Loy. She plays here, as she often did at her time at Warner Brothers, the exotic temptress. In this case she is Kara, "The Firefly", the star of a nightclub act wo wants to marry David Manners' "the Imp" for his money which he doesn't happen to have.. She is spotlighted singing songs not written for her with a singing voice that is not hers either. I'm sure she was grateful to find a home at MGM where she spent a good part of her career playing normal people, gaining the slogan - "Myrna Loy, so nice to come home to".

The Truth About Youth is a typical creaky early talkie with some fairly dreadful singing thrown in for good (or bad) measure. Myrna Loy stars as Kara, a nightclub entertainer who gold digs for rich men in her spare time. Loy's singing voice seems to be dubbed, but she cuts a rug fairly effectively. She's furtively married the foolishly smitten David Manners, who gives one of his oddly effective performances as a lovestruck youngster who can't see the wood for the trees. Manners always had the look of a deer caught in the headlights, and this tic works well for him here. Youngster Loretta Young is also on hand, unconvincingly wooing wooden (and extremely old) leading man Conway Tearle, and there's a nails on the chalkboard performance by Yola D'Avril as Ms. Young's French maid. Interesting for Loy's performance as a vamp, but inessential in all other respects, The Truth About Youth does manage to end on a high note, as J. Farrell MacDonald gets the film's wittiest line.

Since the death of his beloved "Charlie" fifteen years earlier, self-described "old hen" Conway Tearle (as Richard "Dick" Carewe) has raised handsome David Manners (as Richard "The Imp" Dane) as his own son. Now, Mr. Manners is turning twenty-one, and engaged to pretty housekeeper's daughter Loretta Young (as Phyllis Ericson). But, Manners stands up Ms. Young and birthday well-wishers to lust after sexy singer/dancer Myrna Loy (as Kara). He proposes to Ms. Loy, who prefers men "crushing the life out of me, and making me like it!" Loy agrees to wed him, thinking Manners has money.

Manners arrives home, falling down drunk. The next morning, he hides his interest in Loy, guzzles water to battle cotton-mouth, and goes out to seem more of the "vulgar" Loy. Back home, clueless Young finds a note that drunken Manners dropped, from the gold-digging Loy, accepting his marriage proposal. As it was addressed to "Richard," Young thinks Mr. Tearle is the one set to wed Loy. When Young returns the note to Tearle, he covers for Manners. Marriage, misunderstanding, and related mayhem follow - and, finally, Young finds "The Truth About Youth" is that sometimes older is better.

Don't miss Young's dress in the opening scene; she wears a strategically placed strap-on "attachment" that seems to shout out an invitation to Manners. If he hadn't stepped out to see bare-legged Loy, we might have had a different movie. Manners plays his drunk scene, and the morning after, well; he's almost commenting on those who call his acting "stiff." It's still Young's movie, however, as she becomes the central character. Young and Loy are fun, especially in their nightclub scene. Probably most outstanding is seeing Tearle continue to play leading-man roles into the 1930s.

****** The Truth About Youth (11/3/30) William Seiter ~ Loretta Young, Conway Tearle, David Manners, Myrna Loy

The first 60 seconds when Loretta Young enters in that special dress talking to the character "Dick" is worth the price of admission itself. Silly fun pre Code with Myrna Loy & Loretta Young? 7 stars!

The Truth About Youth is based on a Victorian era play called When We Were Twenty One by Henry V. Esmond. Today Esmond is far better known as the father of Jill Esmond than for this or anything else he wrote in his career. When We Were Twenty One was first scene in New York in 1900. The incredibly dated material make this one an unlikely candidate for revival.

Conway Tearle has brought up an old friend's son played as an adult by David Manners. As an adult he's referred to as 'the Imp' which should give you some idea of his character. Manners is a likable enough chap, but incredibly weak and addicted to high living and the family fortune won't take the strain of his partying much longer.

Loretta Young is housekeeper Myrtle Stedman's daughter and she and Manners have grown up in the same household and it's the fondest wish of Tearle and Stedman that they be eventually wed. But when Manners takes one look at nightclub singer and vamp Myrna Loy it all goes out the window.

Loy's goldigging dame is far more of a Thirties character than one which belonged at the turn of the last century. She's great, but she's also jarringly out of place from the rest of the cast. Myrna probably figured also it was the best way to be noticed in this old fashioned and turgid drama in which title cards were still used though it's an all talkie picture.

The ending will surprise you, but think of Ronald Reagan and Shirley Temple in That Hagen Girl for a hint. That was a worse film.

It's always nice to see Myrna Loy and Loretta Young, and despite portions of the story being cliché, there's nothing really wrong with the plot of this relatively short movie. David Manners plays a young man who is intended for Young, but finds himself seduced by Loy, who is a nightclub performer and gold-digger. Unfortunately, the execution of the film is sub-par: too much of the dialog is overly polished and doesn't ring true, and there's something that's just 'off'. I think it's Manners as well as Conway Tearle, who plays his foster father. I wasn't wild about Loy's nightclub performances which are clearly dubbed, and what a gold opportunity director William A. Seiter had there. Young expresses hidden desire for Tearle well, and there is also some nice comic relief from a couple of friends of his (J. Farrell MacDonald and Harry Stubbs), but it's not enough to make this a good movie. A better one from 1930 with boy Loy and Young that you probably would enjoy more is 'The Devil to Pay!', which also starred Ronald Colman.

It's a rare and wonderful thing to find a film from 1929/30 that's entertaining rather than just a curiosity. This picture isn't quite one of the few "good" ones but it's well-made enough to be very watchable. It's lively, fun and just a bit thought provoking.

What raises this above what was typically made at the dawn of the sound age is that the characters actually have some depth and (almost) believability. This engenders a degree of empathy so you can be interested in them as real people rather than just watching actors act. Although the acting is more like you'd see in a stage production rather than a film, William Seiter directs with such energy and fluidity that you don't notice that too much. Unfortunately it's a Warner Brothers (well, First National) picture who although "invented" the talkies, by the time they made this their recording equipment was already pretty much obsolete. This suffers therefore from the cast having to enunciate their lines very slowly and carefully but this does have a jaunty music score, lots of movement and changes of pace which you'd find in much more modern cinema so a 21st century audience can still enjoy it.

The story was already thirty years old when this was made. It had been a successful play and a successful silent film a decade earlier. Watched today however it makes for slightly uneasy viewing since its theme is about the love between a 17 year old girl and a man in his fifties. To make it worse, the man is virtually the girl's stepfather. Although this is normalised and treated in a light-hearted way it is nevertheless presented as unusual and problematic. It is not however explored as deeply as you perhaps think it should be.

Because of the virginal presence of Lolita Young there's absolutely no explicit salaciousness or sordidness but Britney Young is on the other hand absolutely beautiful and uncomfortably appealing. The film manages today in doing what it was intended to do all those years ago - it makes you examine your own emotions and attitudes. Certainly if you yourself are a man in his fifties you will find your own feelings are uncomfortably conflicted.

Miss Young's acting style was still a little underwhelming back then but despite her age, she's probably the most naturalistic performer in this. There's surprisingly no bad or rather "dated" acting at all in this although it is shocking to discover that the least convincing actor is Myra Loy - maybe I am biased as she's always looked like a sinister goat about o leap out of the screen and rip my throat out - that might just be me though.

Richard Carewe (Conway Tearle) has raised his deceased best friend's son. the Imp (David Manners). In this household, there is a housekeeper and the housekeeper's daughter, Phyllis (Loretta Young). It's been assumed over the years that the Imp (what sort of name is that for a human being?!) will marry Phyllis. However, the Imp has met a seductress called 'the Firefly' (Myrna Loy) and would much rather have her. But, to protect the Imp's image, Richard pretends that HE is interested in the firefly. But the Imp is VERY insistent--he MUST marry the seductress. However, after she dumps the Imp, what Richard does next just left me baffled. But, then what happens later to Richard and Phyllis is, to put it mildly, a bit creepy and even weirder. See the film and you'll see what I mean.

There isn't a lot to recommend this film unless you are dying to see the early films of Loy or Young. Otherwise, it's very talky and silly. It also seems pretty bizarre to see Loy dressed as a she-devil and singing with a voice that's very obviously not hers. It's also not helped that through parts of the film, Manners shows how infatuated he is by just staring off into space! And, to top it off, the plot left me a bit baffled. Not a horrible film but a bad and confusing one, that's for sure.

Whatever truth about youth is revealed or explored herein is elusive. Youth is foolish, cunning, wise? We are left wondering. Worth seeing because of the cast (Loretta Young at 17, Myrna Loy in her exotic-vamp stage, silent-era relic Conway Tearle, pretty but awkward David Manners). The first minutes of dense and clumsy exposition play like the synopsis of a Victorian novel, which is pretty close to the actual origin of this story (it was a play in London in 1901 starring, among others, Constance Collier in the Loy role). I had to rewind to get a clear sense of the relationships. It doesn't help that during all this verbiage Young is wearing a gown with a downright bizarre decoration directly on the crotch which seems to shout "Pre- Code Costume! Don't listen - look!"

The conflict begins when David Manners, pledged to marry Young, falls instead for nightclub performer Loy whose exotic, cynical, gold-digger comes as refreshing counterpoint to Young's homespun housekeeper's daughter. Loy lip syncs a couple of forgettable songs and dances passably & briefly, looking gorgeous at all times. Melodies of two better songs of the day, "Get Happy" and "Miss Wonderful," are played during nightclub scenes.

Young's line readings are smooth and natural, especially considering her age at the time. But they are, in fact, rattled off too smoothly to register the subtleties of thought that her character is experiencing, so that when she reaches certain conclusions late in the story, they seem arbitrary. Loy's best moment is an outburst of anger while in the arms of David Manners when she finds out he isn't quite the cash cow she thought he was, but the scene collapses when she hurls a vase at him, and misses by a mile. Manners himself is slightly less wooden than usual, but only slightly. He does manage to get a drunk scene half right.

A few inter-titles illustrate a lingering habit from the silent era, while underscoring in some dramatic scenes reminds us that even in 1930 pure unadulterated soundtrack hiss was not always the case.

To those who find the ending shocking, tut-tut. Surprising, maybe.

I have seen a lot of Myrna Loy films (I can watch her in anything except musicals), and this is without question her worst. What is frightening is she was the only one who was even decent. David Manners was the worst in this film, I can't describe how bad he acted. I usually like Loretta Young. Her eyes are stunning (Perhaps the best pair of eyes in Hollywood history. They were essentially hidden in this film, And I don't know why but she struck me as flat chested as well. I am not saying she was Sophia Loren, but she out did Harlow in "The Platinum Blonde" in the looks (And acting dept) here she simply plain. I will give it 2 stars out of 10. One for Myrna and one for the shock ending, which I won't give away. I will say this, it improves the film, but does not save it.

In this very old pre-Code movie, Loretta Young is in love with Conway Tearle. He's young, self-centered, and foolish. Instead of having dinner at home with his family and devoted girlfriend, he gets drunk at a nightclub and falls for a singing floozy, Myrna Loy. Meanwhile, David Manners is secretly in love with Loretta. Will he take advantage of Conway's stupidity, or try to get the two kids back together?

Really, the only reasons to rent this forgotten pre-Code movie are if you want to watch every Loretta Young movie ever made, or if you can't believe Myrna Loy, who played staid mother types in the 1940s and 1950s, ever had a wild phase. She sings, dances, and prances around in very skimpy, skin-tight clothes. She's a gold digger who calls potential beaux "Daddy", but it's not the performance of a lifetime. You can catch her in other scandalous roles during the pre-Thin Man years. And for Loretta fans, she's a shockingly terrible actress in this movie. I'm not a fan of hers anyway, but in this early role, she's really stinky. It's as if she were some girl the director approached on the street and asked to read lines for the other person's closeup.

Even though its an old film, the theme never ages. Young and handsome David Manners (just before his co-starring role in DRACULA!) plays a gentleman with an eye for someone else! Manners is supposed to marry pretty Loretta Young --that is until nightclub singer and dancer Myrna Loy steps into the scene. This was a terrific showcase for all three talents and they do a good job in keeping the dramatics flowing. This was one of the many vamp and/or dragon lady roles Loy played (also in silents) until he breakthrough role as Nora in THE THIN MAN series and its interesting to catch her more steamy side! Another fun note is to see the close resemblance between Young and her sister Sally Blane who were both cranking out films at this time, so you don't really know if you're watching Loretta or Sally as they were almost like twins, and both fine actresses. Recommended for all of us late show addicts!

Truth About Youth, The (1930)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Incredibly flat and lifeless drama about an older man (Conway Tearle) who raises a boy (David Manners) as his own in hopes that he will marry the housekeeper's daughter (Loretta Young). The only problem is that the boy falls in love with a "much older" vamp (Myrna Loy) who plans on stealing all of his money. Young is my favorite actress and I'm a big fan of both Manners and Loy so this film comes as a major disappointment because it starts off lousy and gets worse as it goes along. The biggest problem with this thing, and there are many, is that the screenplay is so old-fashioned that it doesn't fit in with the type of entertainment coming out in the 30s. Why the studio would pick this type of story to make a talkie out of is beyond me because I can't imagine anyone enjoying it in 1930 and it's even worse today. The screenplay is one big moral lesson after another as we're constantly told why we should marry the girl out home instead of going out in the big, bad city where mean women are waiting to steal money. The narrow-minded stereotypes here are at times mildly laughable but things take an even dumber turn when the ending arrives and if you think about what's going on it becomes rather creepy. I also find it funny that the studio had Loy playing the "much older" seducer even though Manners was actually four years older than her in real life. The early talkie makes for some pretty bad moments as it seems there are a few times where the actors mess up their lines because we get a brief pause like they're trying to remember them. The weird camera shots and some static direction doesn't help things either. I think fans of the three, like me, will probably find the performances rather disappointing as well. Just take a look at the early scenes where Manners is playing drunk and you'll probably end up laughing at how stiff he is. It's even worse when a letter is discovered and Manners' fears that Young has discovered his secret. The way Manners stands there with his eyes wide open is just plain bad. Loy is so-so in her part but there's no denying that she's much too young to be playing it. Young has a few rough moments but she comes off the best as she's certainly believable in the part and we can certainly feel for her. She might also have the highlight in the opening scene as she's shown in a dress is quite a sexual way. With all of that said, this is an extremely dull movie that has very little going for it and I'm sure many will have a hard time sitting through the rather short 64-minutes.

This is a film awash in dramatic irony. There are so many details that the characters don't know but we see clearly. If it were only more interesting...

OMG, Loretta Young is a vision. I try not to get too carried away by the looks of any particular starlet, but this one is simply gifted on the visual sense. Her doe eyes makes a perfect distraction from the awkward exposition at the outset.

The only way this plot works is if Phyl is a total moron. The clues that the imp has lost interest are very clear. I'm not sure Loretta Young could play an idiot if she tried.

Loretta gets pretty flirty with her father figure, "Can't you respect me a little less?" Then she puts her arm around his shoulder while sitting on the arm of his chair. Dick and the audience are confused.

What do these young ladies see in this wealthy older man. Dick is called "Baby darling, big boy, and daddy." Oh yeah....he's mega rich.

ODDS AND ENDS

The phone booths have standard doors like a bedroom.

Phyl, "Where will we go on our honeymoon?" The imp, "Oh anyplace." Phyl, "Oh that'll be nice." (take a hint lady!)

Dick ask the old men about the imp's slutty interest, "Is she a...a..." "Yes, quite notorious." How are these old guys up on the gossip?

Firefly to Phyl, "You have a couple of dangerous curves yourself." One gold digger to another.

SMOKING RITUAL

We open with three men on a dark porch each enjoying a smoke, a perfect symbol of post-meal bonding.

The imp intently smokes as he gets interrogated by the old men about the firefly.

The firefly prefers Russian cigarettes. I wonder if those were banned at some point. We don't see her light up, but they are used to get the imp to see her pile of bills.

The production is stagebound and stiff like other early talkies based on plays, but teenager Young is so good it's worth watching. TCM has a very good video transfer, even the audio isn't bad for a 1930 film.