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Spring Madness

  • 1938
  • Approved
  • 1h 7m
IMDb RATING
5.1/10
333
YOUR RATING
Lew Ayres and Maureen O'Sullivan in Spring Madness (1938)
Romantic ComedyComedyRomance

Harvard seniors Sam and Lippencott plan to sail to Siberia after graduation, but Sam's girlfriend Alex wants him at her college dance. When the sailing date moves up to clash with dance, fri... Read allHarvard seniors Sam and Lippencott plan to sail to Siberia after graduation, but Sam's girlfriend Alex wants him at her college dance. When the sailing date moves up to clash with dance, friends on both sides to influence Sam's choice.Harvard seniors Sam and Lippencott plan to sail to Siberia after graduation, but Sam's girlfriend Alex wants him at her college dance. When the sailing date moves up to clash with dance, friends on both sides to influence Sam's choice.

  • Director
    • S. Sylvan Simon
  • Writers
    • Edward Chodorov
    • Philip Barry
    • Eleanor Golden
  • Stars
    • Maureen O'Sullivan
    • Lew Ayres
    • Ruth Hussey
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.1/10
    333
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • S. Sylvan Simon
    • Writers
      • Edward Chodorov
      • Philip Barry
      • Eleanor Golden
    • Stars
      • Maureen O'Sullivan
      • Lew Ayres
      • Ruth Hussey
    • 9User reviews
    • 3Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos13

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    Top cast41

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    Maureen O'Sullivan
    Maureen O'Sullivan
    • Alexandra Benson
    Lew Ayres
    Lew Ayres
    • Sam Thatcher
    Ruth Hussey
    Ruth Hussey
    • Kate McKim
    Burgess Meredith
    Burgess Meredith
    • The Lippencott
    Ann Morriss
    Ann Morriss
    • Frances
    Joyce Compton
    Joyce Compton
    • Sally Prescott
    Julie Bishop
    Julie Bishop
    • Mady Platt
    • (as Jacqueline Wells)
    Frank Albertson
    Frank Albertson
    • Hat
    Truman Bradley
    Truman Bradley
    • Walter Beckett
    Marjorie Gateson
    Marjorie Gateson
    • Miss Ritchie
    Renie Riano
    Renie Riano
    • Mildred
    • (as Renee Riano)
    Sterling Holloway
    Sterling Holloway
    • Buck
    Dick Baldwin
    Dick Baldwin
    • Doc
    John Archer
    John Archer
    • Dartmouth College Student
    • (uncredited)
    Herbert Ashley
    Herbert Ashley
    • Train Conductor
    • (uncredited)
    William Bailey
    William Bailey
    • Train Conductor Announcing "Board"
    • (uncredited)
    Wesley Barry
    Wesley Barry
    • Dartmouth College Student
    • (uncredited)
    Jack Baxley
    • Railroad Train Announcer
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • S. Sylvan Simon
    • Writers
      • Edward Chodorov
      • Philip Barry
      • Eleanor Golden
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews9

    5.1333
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    Featured reviews

    5SnoopyStyle

    dated comedy

    Sam Thatcher (Lew Ayres) and his best friend "The Lippencott" (Burgess Meredith) are graduating in two months and intend to go to Russia to learn about the Soviet system. Sam is reluctant to tell his girlfriend Alexandra Benson (Maureen O'Sullivan) about leaving for two years.

    There is some fast talking comedy and some old style romancing. It's date and I'm not really connecting with these people. The comedy keeps trying and I keep not laughing at it. The ladies are all gorgeous and I fear having to date any of them. The two guys are 30 instead of being in the early 20's. These are the days when the Soviets are still believed to be good for the people. Most importantly, I struggle to find this funny. By the halfway point, I stopped caring and the second half is a real grind.
    7atlasmb

    "Say, Is He A Communist, Or Just A Meatball?"

    This is an amusing comedy with a simple plot. After the Easter break, college men and women of the Northeast return to school. On the train back to Boston, the men of Harvard and Dartmouth, in particular, express their rivalry. And the women of the Northeast College for Women interact with the men and talk about their plans for the upcoming shindig, the Spring Dance.

    The five women who are housemates at NCW are played by Maureen O'Sullivan (Alex), Ruth Hussey (Kate), Ann Morriss (Frances), Joyce Compton (Sally), Julie Bishop (Mady) and Marjorie Gateson (Miss Ritchie).

    The action follows two Harvard seniors, Sam (Lew Ayres) and his buddy, known as The Lippencott (Burgess Meredith). They have plans to visit Russia for two years, working and studying. They want to avoid the usual post-graduation path---a conventional job and, probably, marriage. The crux of the conflict in this rom-com is that Sam and Alex met during the break and strong feelings are undeniable. As Alex has stars in her eyes, Sam is finalizing plans to vamoose.

    Yes, the story is simple, but the execution is so much fun. The dialogue is steeped in the lingo of the day. The cast is charming. And it is always fun to watch the upcoming stars of the era. For instance, this is the last of five films released in 1938 starring Maureen O'Sullivan, and it is after her third appearance in a Tarzan film.

    In addition to Miss O'Sullivan's usual charms, I especially enjoyed Miss Hussey. And when it comes to fun, Miss Compton has "plent". Sally is a prodigious flirt and can wrap any man, it seems, around her little finger.

    Ayres and Meredith are, likewise, great together. The men try to remain true to their pact to travel to Russia, but the women develop a three-pronged strategy to assist Alex's plans.

    My favorite scene is where the girls goad the police into giving the boys a ticket. And the big dance scene is quite fab and tres cray.
    7boblipton

    In The End, Quite Funny

    30-year-old Lew Ayres and 31-year-old Burgess Meredith are planning a two-year trip to Russia. I suppose I should mention they are about to graduate. Ayres is going to miss the Spring Dance with steady girlfriend Maureen O'Sullivan, but says she'll realize he's gone when he doesn't show up. The girls at the local lady's college -- who range in age from 19 to 33 -- plot how to get him to stay in the US and marry Miss O'Sullivan.

    People staying in college well past four years aside (or maybe they didn't matriculate very young), it's a sweet, frothy little comedy from a play by Yale graduate Philip Barry. Under the direction of S. Sylvan Simon, it's played for laughs, and succeeds in raising a good smile or two, concerned, as it is, with people who should be adults by this point, but haven't had the necessity of doing so. Looking back, 1938 seems a little late for this sort of tomfoolery, but unlike the college shows of the 1920s, there are one or two scenes in an actual classroom. With Ruth Hussey, Ann Morriss, Joyce Compton, Julie Bishop, and Sterling Holloway.
    6ksf-2

    not Lew Ayre's best.... girls scheme to keep boys around

    Certainly some big, fun, familiar names in this MGM 67 minute shortie - a YOUNG Burgess Meredith, almost 30 years before he was the Penguin in Batman. I didn't really get him in the old black and white films. He and Lew Ayres were both about 30 by now, although they both look younger than that. Maureen O'Sullivan is "Alex", the heroine of our story, who is determined to drag her man to the spring dance. Sterling Holloway (was also the voice of Winnie the Pooh!) has about four lines in this one. The first half of the film is all about the girls and their antics as they lay out their plans for the dance. lots of giggling. In spite of all the great comedians with whom the director worked over the years, i found this one pretty bland and monotone. I'd recommend watching L. Ayres in "Holiday" instead; also from 1938... that one is 100 times funnier. I think they cast gave it their best, but had to work with a lame, whitewashed script. Might have been a little more interesting before the Hays Commission. The men take the women to Maloney's restaurant, and Sam (Ayres) tells Alex he is going to Russia, and can't attend the dance with her. Then the scheming starts.... Directed by Sylvan Simon, who had made a bunch of movies with Red Skelton, Abbott & Costello, and even Lucille Ball. Simon croaked at age 41... heart attack.
    6bkoganbing

    Only the most hardened Stalinist.

    Spring Madness is adapted from a flop Phillip Barry play Spring Dance that only ran for 24 performances in 1936. As this was a flop and not a hit like The Philadelphia Story MGM let it's B picture unit handle it. So we see no big stars like Cary Grant, James Stewart, and Katharine Hepburn in it.

    A good B picture cast like Maureen O'Sullivan, Ruth Hussey, Julie Bishop, and Ann Morriss head the cast which is set at a girl's ivy league college. They do fine.

    But I think the reason this play flopped because the leading male character played by Lew Ayres is really a fathead. He and his sidekick Burgess Meredith want to take a slow boat to Vladivostok and live and study in Russia.

    By 1938 only the most hardened Stalinist would want to go there. When the play was running on Broadway the purge trials were getting started. When the film was released they were in high gear. Very few believed the babble defense the Daily Worker had of them.

    There are some funny scenes and Burgess Meredith steals all scenes he's in with some outrageous overacting. On Broadway his part was played by a young Jose Ferrer.

    The film has a few good laughs many with Burgess Meredith.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Spring Madness (1938) is an American romantic comedy film based on the play of the same title by Philip Barry. It was directed by S. Sylvan Simon for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and stars Maureen O'Sullivan, Lew Ayres, Ruth Hussey and Burgess Meredith.
    • Quotes

      Kate 'Katie' McKim: And what is man but woman's last domesticated animal?!

    • Connections
      Referenced in Lucky Night (1939)
    • Soundtracks
      Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms
      (1808) (uncredited)

      Music traditional

      Lyrics by Thomas Moore (1808)

      In the score during the opening credits

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • November 11, 1938 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Sorority House
    • Filming locations
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      • 1h 7m(67 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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