Huddle

Tony Ametto (Ramon Novarro) is a young steelworker from an immigrant family. He wins a scholarship to Yale. The poor freshman is ill-fitting with his football-obsessed rich schoolmates. He is defensive and sticks to his books. He falls for heiress Rosalie Stone (Madge Evans) who is a friend of his roommate. The outsider finds himself running for the football team.

Ametto is not an appealing character. A character with that size chip on his shoulder can be done with appeal. It's not here in this movie. He needs to be a bad boy with anger issues. In this case, he's a poor boy with inferiority complex. I don't like him. Otherwise, this is a fine college movie, but it's no Animal House.

When you watch HUDDLE, don't be surprised if it feels like you've seen this film before. That's because in the 1920s and into the 30s, there were many films with similar themes. The formula is like this: A young man who is either selfish or cocky goes to college and makes the football team. However, he does something or the team THINKS he does something and he is an outcast. Later, however, he makes good and does not let everyone know. When they discover this, he is once again loved and praised and the film concludes. Just one of many examples is the William Haines film, BROWN OF HARVARD, but there were many more.

So already, it's obvious that this film isn't all that new or ground-breaking. Now this isn't to say that it's not worth a peek. The film does have a few minor story innovations and the film is still very watchable. However, with Ramon Novarro's rather lackluster performance and strong accent (making it difficult for a hard of hearing person like myself to understand him--thanks to no closed captioning), it's a film that I would not rush out to see unless you love this style of film.

FYI--While this film was set at Yale University, only one very brief scene is of the classroom. And in this one case, the professor decides to cancel class and sends everyone back to the dorms! According to this film, Yale was an incredibly easy school to attend back in 1932!!! No classes--just football and girls!

A young steelworker earns a scholarship to Yale, where he eventually joins the prestigious football team. But will he ever get to HUDDLE with the best player's upper-class sister?

Ramon Novarro, MGM's chameleon star of the 1920's & '30's, gives this minor film the old college try, but is ultimately defeated by the plot & story line. His acting is good, as usual, and he even gets to sing a little, but he's simply too old to be playing a university football hero (he turned 33 in 1932).

The real difficulty, however, is that the film tries for some degree of social consciousness in its dealing with class struggle, but the framework is just too flimsy for such a weighty, albeit noble, subject. It is difficult to get much solemnity out of a sports film, especially when sprinkled with such ludicrous scenes as Novarro drunk in a public restroom or fist fighting with his coach. The game sequences seem a trifle interminable and MGM didn't help by giving the movie rather cheap production values.

One expects action & romance from a Ramon Novarro picture, not a message film, but the Studio was obviously losing interest in its star. Novarro had become a relic from a bygone era, his private life was always a worry to the front office, and by 1935 his career at MGM would be over.

Novarro's costars, although rather boisterous, are ultimately defeated by the script as well. Pretty Madge Evans is the girl Novarro pines after for four years. John Arledge plays Novarro's loyal roommate; their scenes together, perhaps unconsciously, tend to be a mite gynandrous. Frank Albertson (an actor who deserved major stardom, but never achieved it) is a college buddy, while Kane Richmond is Novarro's nemesis.

Ralph Graves, who was actually a year younger than Novarro, gives a fine performance as Yale's football coach. Una Merkel is a Southern doll with an almost impenetrable accent. Henry Armetta & Ferike Boros add more than a dash of ethnicity as Novarro's Italian-American parents.

Finally, Ramon Novarro still remains the principle reason to watch most of his MGM sound films. As a young immigrant, he had persevered over much hardship to become a major silent screen star. Charming & talented, it is a shame that today Novarro is remembered chiefly for the manner of his death rather than his contribution to American movies.

There is no doubt that there is a potentially great film hiding in HUDDLE, but sadly it gets lost somewhere. The movie is a serious attempt to look at the consequences of the class system in a supposedly egalitarian America. RAMON NOVARRO is excellent as the poor son of Italian immigrants struggling to be accepted as a student at Yale. He comes up against the class system at every turn, including his love-life, and he feels he must constantly prove himself to be accepted by his peers. This results in him putting himself in great physical danger in a very well-acted climactic sequence. Novarro was truly a fabulous actor, much under-rated.

But the film goes on way too long, and loses its focus. In attempting to include lots of college hi-jinks and comedy sequences, the theme gets lost, and much of the film plays poorly in comparison with the great 1926 silent film BROWN OF HARVARD, which covers similar territory. It's all a bit of a shame given that all the players are terrific and the theme quite radical for its day. For a 1932 film too the sound-recording is quite bad, with the annoying song sequences badly out of sync (did Yale students really sing that much!?).

But there are some rather risque sequences, a touch of gay sub-text (involving Ramon's room-mate, played very well indeed by JOHN ARLEDGE - again BROWN OF HARVARD handles this situation much better), lots of male and female youthful beauty to admire (Ramon looks great, and KANE RICHMOND must be one of the best looking men ever filmed), and sufficient action to see you through to the end. If only the script editor, and then the film editor, had been a little more vigilant, this may have turned out to be a really great film. Who was it who said "every film is a missed opportunity"?

Ramon Novarro (as Tony Amatto) works in a steel mill; he is the son of Italian immigrants, and seems likely to remain a member of the working class. Then, as luck would have it, he wins a college scholarship. At Yale, Mr. Novarro becomes a football star; but, he still faces class discrimination.

Don't miss the opening sequence of this film; it's a terrific introduction to the film, and defines Novarro's character: Novarro is seen in his "working class" job; he gets into a fistfight, encounters a beautiful woman, and ends up under a pile of rubble. The woman with the irresistible legs is Madge Evans (as Rosalie Stone); she is both beautiful, and "upper class". Novarro re-encounters her later in the film, along with Una Merkel (as Thelma) and Martha Sleeper (as Barbara Winston). Novarro's nemesis is Ms. Evans' brother Kane Richman (as Tom Stone); and, his roommates are John Arledge (as Jim "Pidge" Pidgeon) and Frank Albertson (as Larry). Silent star Ralph Graves is a sound coach Malcolm Gale.

Mr. Arledge, as Novarro's second roommate "Pidge" is the best supporting performer (beating off some stiff competition). "I've lived with twelve fellas in my time and only liked three of them," Arledge explains, after Novarro chases him around the dorm, trying to get some first aid down his pants.

The film is a little too long for its own good; and, it wavers too far from the main story of a poor working class youth winning a chance to attend college, and break class barriers. It's difficult to determine what Novarro is actually learning at Yale. He already knew how to fight, and doesn't seem to have accumulated too many career options - though, he is certainly better off with a Yale diploma. Novarro (#44) and the cast are appealing, even when the story wavers. The end game plays well.

****** Huddle (5/14/32) Sam Wood ~ Ramon Novarro, John Arledge, Madge Evans