So This Is College

In Robert Montgomery's third film for MGM he and Elliott Nugent play a couple of BMOCs on campus and the biggest guys on campus are football players and seniors. The two have a goodnatured rivalry over all things including women they date. But along comes flapper Sally Starr and these two have their mojos in overdrive.

It's as the Bard said it Antony And Cleopatra, Cleo leaves all the men not just satisfied but wanting more. Nugent and Montgomery are both hot to trot for her and it threatens all with them including their team work on the gridiron.

Lots of music, 20s style in So This Is College mostly provided by Cliff 'Ukelele Ike' Edwards. Starr also shows her stuff in some 20s style dancing.

The climax is the big game USC versus Stanford and there's quite an ironical postscript for these two yoyos. It's a good introduction for the work of Robert Montgomery who was starting to be noticed they don't want you.

This is very much a pre-code movie. It depicts two male college students who are very much in love with each other, though they don't know that. What does that mean? You mean: do they have sex? No, I don't think so. But they are VERY affectionate physically, especially near the end. They are also physically attracted to co-eds. Sp they're bi-sexual, or whatever you want to call that. I'd say that they are two straight men who have fallen in love with each other. We haven't got a term for that yet.

Other than their relationship, there isn't a lot to this movie. The second half is a very long football game between USC and Stanford that goes on way too long.

If you're interested in the history of college football, you might like the second half of this. If you're interested in how Hollywood portrayed same-sex romance, this might interest you. Otherwise, I didn't find it a very engaging movie.

This film is one of a genre very popular in late-20's and early 30's;in which college boys agonize over "loving" the same girl. Usually a girl they've just met. Our movie explores this issue in a rather uninspired manner . A dedicated "cinemaphile" has to endure lots of abject silliness in order to stay with it. Of main interest is that Robert Montgomery makes his initial "talkie" appearance here;and later-to-be successful playwright Elliot Nugent is also on display as actor only. And for just a few moments toward the end of the film one can view a very charismatic Joel Mccrea in the stands of the football stadium with the lead actress.He even has a few lines to say.Incidentally, following the storyline is a tad difficult. Continuity is apparently of little importance to the film makers, thus scenes and characters pop up seemingly out of nowhere. The actors constantly say and do the same things over and over in different ways scene after scene. And it would be absolutely fascinating to know how the lead female was selected .The poor actress is given the thankless role of 'femme fatale ' despite the physical appearance of a chubby 15 year old. From an historical viewpoint if you care about movies you almost have to watch it, but be prepared for a "bumpy night"

SO THIS IS COLLEGE is one of those movies that has such an antique look to it you can't help but to stop and see what it is when you're flipping through the TV channels. It is a pretty good musical. The cast works well. Max Davidson is a great Jewish character actor. I recall seeing him in some of the early Laurel and Hardy silents. This film from 1929 gives an interesting look at college life in the late '20s. It's a lot of fun. It includes a big football game sequence. Robert Montgomery stars, in one of his earliest film roles.

(3 stars)

"Are you afraid of me?" "Yeah, I'm afraid you'll bite me." "Don't be silly, you know I'm a vegetarian."

An odd little film, combining wacky college humor, a love triangle, musical numbers, and footage from the 1928 USC and Stanford football game at the L. A. Memorial Coliseum, then just five years old. It's too long at 98 minutes but it had its moments, and was an interesting window into the spirit of the Roaring Twenties. Released just a couple of weeks after the stock market crash, it felt a little like the end of an era.

On the positive side, the playful banter and teasing between the college kids yields some occasional amusing moments. It was Robert Montgomery's first starring role, and Sally Starr is charismatic as the plucky young woman playing him off of his buddy (Elliott Nugent). Watch also for uncredited appearances from Joel McCrea and Ann Dvorak. The carefree dancing at a party was a lot of fun, including some wild moves from Nugent (at roughly the 32:29 point), and you get little bits like jazz inspired vocal riffs and Starr tooling around in a 1927 Chrysler Series 70 roadster. The football footage goes on a little long, but it's always interesting to see the plays being run way back when, and how primitive the equipment was (those helmets!). If you're not into football, I'm sure the last 10 minutes or so will overstay their welcome.

The film never quite makes it because the two male leads often engage in boorish behavior, hazing the freshmen and going after the same women aggressively. It's all meant to be great fun, e.g. Oh those crazy college kids, and while they never do anything egregiously bad, they're not very likeable either. It's certainly a male point of view and the moral, essentially "bro's before ho's," wasn't all that appealing to me. Also, despite it being pre-Code, it's all very safe and rather bland, with no eyebrow-raising moments. It might be worth a look though.