Looking through the TCM schedule a few weeks back, I came across a movie that had an interesting-sounding premise, so I decided to record the movie in order to be able to do a review on it here and see if it was as interesting as it sounds. That movie was The Age of Consent.
The plot hinges on a cultural norm that would have been a thing back in 1932 when the movie was released, but not today, that being that college was not for married people. It's an attitude that began changing with World War II and married GIs returning home from the war and wanting to better themselves with a college education, something we see in a movie like Apartment for Peggy. But apparently, back in the day, it was get married and leave college to start working life. Mike Harvey (Richard Cromwell) is a college student in love with co-ed Betty Cameron (Dorothy Wilson), and theirs is the sort of relationship you could see as a sort of long-term engagement if it were another movie of there era where only the man is off at college.
Betty, like most people in those days, isn't thrilled with the idea of sex outside of marriage, but also doesn't want to get married to Mike just yet. Wait until they both get out of college, at which point Mike will have much better career prospects. Mike, on the other hand, is actually thinking about dropping out to marry Betty, who is apparently only at school for the preverbial Mrs. degree. He says he's even got a friend out in California who has a job all lined up for him, something which is a pretty big deal since the movie was released in 1932 when there was a depression going on.
Complicating matters is a pair of professors the students really seem to look up to. David Matthews (John Halliday) and Barbara (Aileen Pringle) are spinsters now, but back in the day when they were both college students they were in love with each other. They decided that they were going to wait until graduating from college to get married, but they discovered that by the time graduation came around, what they had had between them had drifted away, and now they were only friends. So they really understand both sides of the situation. And then there's Mike's friend Duke (Eric Linden), who might just be willing to pick up Betty on the rebound should things ever go south between her and Mike, or at least be a shoulder to cry on and maybe she'll fall in love with him while crying on that shoulder.
Disappointed by Betty's saying no to marriage, at least for now, Mike goes to one of the eateries popular with college students and meets Dora Swale (Arline Judge). She's always had a thing for the college guy, specifically Mike, and decides to take him back to the house where she lives with her father (Reginald Barlow), who won't find them because he works the night shift. Except that Dora and Mike fall asleep together, and in the morning, Dad comes in to find them. With Dora's honor on the line -- apparently she isn't yet whatever the age of consent is in the state where the movie takes place -- for Mike it's either go to jail for corrupting the morals of a minor, or uncorrupt her by marrying her. Poor Mike has to dump Betty, and that's when things go south.
Age of Consent is an interesting film, even if in terms of its production it's not quite so good. It's nowhere near as flawed technically as many of the talkies from 1930 and 1931, but it doesn't feel anywhere near as vibrant as the better pre-Codes out there. And the ending is fairly ridiculous, as though the screenwriters didn't know how to resolve the plot entanglements they had created for themselves. Still, as a time capsule, it's definitely worth a watch, because it's just that different.
No comments:
Post a Comment