The Truth About Youth

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".

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.

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.

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!