Life Begins in College

An eye-popping racist comedy based on the Jim Thorpe-like story of a Native American man on the football team of an Ivy League college, this film contains so many stereotypes not even white men are immune. It is some kind of redemption, I suppose, when every character is portrayed as an idiot; however, white folks are clearly seen as superior idiots. Super talented Joan Davis as the horny white gal who cannot keep her hands off the red man, takes the prize for most offensive song: "Big Chief Swing It" (or maybe the prize goes to "Our Team Is on the Warpath." The popular and influential Ritz Brothers star, and Tony Martin lends his golden tones to the antics, but nothing can redeem this insipid time piece. The only reason to watch it is as a lesson in American racism in the not-so-good old days.

42-year-old Nat Pendleton plays an Indian (with a wooden-Indian manner of speaking that disappears towards the end) who goes to college. Everyone dumps on him, save the Ritz Brothers, but when he starts winning football games for the college, everyone likes him.

It's a Ritz Brothers movie, their first feature with the names above the title. Their on-at-all-times stereo shtick comedy doesn't appeal to me, but director William Seiter deals effectively with my usual dislike by filling the movie with subplots common to college movies of the era: romance (Gloria Stuart plays the daughter of football coach Fred Stone and her rocky romance with pursuing Dick Baldwin), band music (Tony Martin sings a few songs) and, of course, football. Why there's even a brief scene in a classroom!

The best comedy performance is Joan Davis'. She plays a co-ed in hot pursuit of Nat Pendleton, and her barely-repressed craziness and timing are the most amusing thing in this rote movie.

The movie works all right as an average programmer. If you're fond of the Rotz Brothers, you'll enjoy their antics. Otherwise it averages as an amiable time-waster with several fine performers collecting a paycheck. And the Ritz Brothers, of course.

I've seen about half a dozen Ritz Brothers movies and have tried hard to like them...with no success. This was not the case with Wheeler & Woolsey. In their case, the more I watched, the more i enjoyed that comedy team. Perhaps, if I see more, I'll also grow to like the Ritz Brothers...or, I'll become suicidal! Now if anyone can get good performances out of the brothers, it should be the director of this picture, William A. Seiter, as he directed one of the greatest comedies of the 1930s...Laurel & Hardy's "Sons of the Desert". He also directed one of Wheeler & Woolsey's best, "Peach-O-Reno".

The film is set at Lombardy College and begins with Nat Pendleton arriving and making me groan. Why? He's supposed to be an American-Indian and it about as stereotypical and insulting as possible. Perhaps folks laughed at this in 1937 but today it just comes off as sad and painful to watch. It also actually had the purpose of making me look forward to seeing the Ritz Brothers enter the picture!

The plot involves the school and their losing football record...so they force Coach O'Hara to resign even though just about everyone likes him. The new Anerican-Indian student wants to help...and is fabulously wealthy. But he doesn't want anyone to know he's rich...otherwise folks (like the Ritz brothers) will want to become his friend. So, he asks the Ritz Brothers to pretend to be the donors and give the money a huge endowment...provided they keep O'Hara. This Indian also wants to be quarterback. What's next? Plenty!

In addition to the Ritz Brothers doing their schtick, Joan Davis is also on hand to provide comic relief...such as it is. Surprisingly, she manages to be more annoying than the Brothers, as hers is a strictly one-note performance as the man-crazy girl.

If it sounds like I didn't adore the film, you're right. However, oddly, it wasn't the Brothers' fault (though it usually is). The insulting Indian character and Davis manage to do a lot to make me dislike the film. Overall, a misfire and a film which has its moments...but it also has a lot to dislike as well.

By the way, I am not sure about the rules for football back in 1937, but I looked and today it IS legal for a quarterback to throw the ball to himself (even if it's not tipped) if he's lined up in the shotgun formation.

Too often the Ritz boys were not allowed to just let loose and run away with a picture like other comedy teams of the time. Even as headliners in this one, they are not really given the chance to shine as characters. In "Life", they are three college-campus tailors who befriend an American Indian who shows up as a freshman and is promptly abused by his classmates.

Fans of the politically correct steer clear, as this film does not treat Native Americans with a whole lot of respect. The first shot of the film is a sign identifying the college as a school for American Indians. A girl says, "I've never seen an Indian here". An older gentleman replies, "Oh the school was started for Indians, but they have schools on reservations now. A few years back an Indian tried to go here, but of course we ran him out!" Enter Nat Pendleton as the latest Indian, nearly running folks over on his motorcycle.

But back to the Ritzes. They get three specialty song and dance numbers entirely unrelated to the plot. Some good crazy dancing. One or two funny scenes otherwise. Meanwhile the leading man is entirely unlikeable and a bad actor to boot, so we don't even root for him to get the girl. Tony Martin has what amounts to a cameo. Joan Davis fans will be pleased.

In Life Begins At College, the Ritz Brothers playing three zany tailors go to school and in fact start their own fraternity and admit one member, newly arrived Indian student played by Nat Pendleton joins them.

Pendleton is playing a student not too bright, but he's also one of those oil rich Indians from Oklahoma. When some of the alumni try to force out football coach Fred Stone, Pendleton gives the school an endowment to keep Stone at his job. Amazing how Dean Maurice Cass's attitude changes when the Ritzes say the magic word endowment.

There's a romance going between school quarterback Dick Baldwin and Gloria Stuart. Baldwin is as bland as Grandma's soup when she has unexpected company for dinner. A little livelier is Joan Davis pursuing Nat Pendleton so you'd think she was trying to scalp him. Tony Martin appears simply as 'Bandleader' in the credits, enough to get a couple of opportunities to vocalize. Who dubbed Gloria Stuart's singing is anyone's guess.

Pendleton's charcter is based on Jim Thorpe who at that time was making a few dollars in bit parts for films. Stone's character I would say was based on Amos Allonzo Stagg who was the grand old man of football and would live right up to the 60s and would pass the century mark.

Life Begins At College with the Ritz Brothers joining the Marx Brothers from Horsefeathers and Wheeler&Woolsey from Hold 'Em Jail in the pantheon of college football films. The Ritzes of course do run amuck on the gridiron as did these contemporaries in their films.

This is still an amusing film.