Young and Willing

Paramount made this film in 1941, but the movie-going public didn't see Young And Willing until 1943 when the film was sold to United Artists to help them fulfill booking commitments. That it was held up for two years is always a bad sign.

It's not a horribly bad film, but not all that good. It concerns six people who are aspiring thespians who share an apartment. Bills such as they are are paid by Martha O'Driscoll who has a rich dad. The others living there are William Holden, Eddie Bracken, Susan Hayward, James Brown and Barbara Britton. It was agreed no romance, but Brown and Britton have already broken that rule, they are secretly married.

The young folks do struggle and when O'Driscoll's father learns she's been living coed he threatens to take her back to their small Illinois home town where family values prevail. The six of them pull all kinds of schemes to both keep O'Driscoll around and get a big break from playwright Robert Benchley.

One thing that truly drove me up the wall as much as it did to the characters on screen was Florence MacMichael's baby talking voice. She's a high minded young woman who finks on the arrangement to O'Driscoll's dad. That woman was hard to take from the moment she opened her mouth until the rest of the film was over. She made me glad when it was over.

This had to be the ultimate of what Bill Holden called his 'Smiling Jim' roles before Sunset Boulevard which he ached to get out of. But at least Young And Willing being the last film the public saw Holden in before he joined the Army Air Corps kept him in the public eye. The public wouldn't see him again until 1946 in Blaze At Noon.

Beware of Florence MacMichael.

The movie is a fast paced comedy, action oriented and a clear plot. Star power in the actors, and everyone delivered a fine performance. But for whatever reason, it wasn't funny.... and I love comedies. Perhaps it was the writing and plot. It didn't seem to have many funny scenes.

In the 1940s, it simply wasn't proper for a man and a woman to cohabitate without being married. Let alone three men and three women! Although they've all taken a pledge not to get romantically involved with each other until their acting careers have taken off, young love just can't be stopped. When one of the girls' father stops by for an impromptu visit, the boys are forced into a hasty exit to pretend they don't live in the apartment.

The entire film takes place in the one-room apartment, so it's easy to imagine Francis Swann's original play onstage. It feels like one lengthy Frasier episode, with gags, mistaken identities, and situational comedy, so if you like that sort of fast-paced hilarity, you'll probably like this one. I couldn't stop laughing. I love fast-paced wit, and it's always funny to laugh at fledging actors if you once were one yourself.

While William Holden and Susan Hayward play two of the roommates, it's Florence MacMichael who stays in my memory as the funniest one in the show. She's the thorn in everyone's side, and while she might annoy some audience members with her constant baby-talk, I found it adorable. Young and Willing isn't a classic most people remember, but it's certainly funny enough to rent during a fun girls' weekend.

I love this movie but I fear that it is now, possibly, lost forever. If there is a print of this movie, I hope that it can be restored and put back out. I last saw it on Night Owl Theater, on TV, in the 1960's. You can see that I have remembered it for a very long time. I know that "Out of the Frying Pan" is still periodically revived, but I really want to see the 1943 movie. I understand that this movie is unavailable. I was unaware that William Holden and Susan Hayward were in it. I do recall Eddie Bracken. It would be great if this movie could be put on the list for restoration. There are few other movies that would be more suitable for restoration

I found it hard to believe that a studio would waste the talents of William Holden and Susan Hayward on such an embarrasing, sophmoric script. Ms. Swann (screenwriter) capped her career writing for the dreadful TV series DARK SHADOWS. Holden and Hayward and the rest of the players put their heart and souls into this hard-to-watch comedy. They all play it to the hilt, but got no laughs out of me. Eddie Bracken did his usual shtick -- and Robert Brenchley (who I find more irritating than funny) does his usual thing. Breezy, likeable Barbara Britton is nice to watch and we get to see handsome James Brown in his underwear. Martha O'Driscoll is way over-the-top. This MIGHT have worked if the players were kids (17-20)-- instead we have actors in their mid-twenties looking pretty ridiculous. I usually don't like writing negative reviews, but I'm upset that I actually had to sit through this, based on a highly recommended review on IMDB. I actually BOUGHT the video. Yikes!