Under Eighteen

Someone said on this board that they liked the film but were uncertain was to the plot for most of the film. Actually, that person is correct, now that I think about it. I read the plot so I knew what it was supposed to be, but actually that plot didn't unfold right away.

Margie, played by the beautiful Marian Marsh, lives with her mother and wants nothing more than to get her out of the hot apartment and into someplace cool. It's summer in New York - I've lived there, and for those who have "summer in New York" needs no explanation. Just add, "in 1929" and you have an idea of the suffering of these people.

Margie's boyfriend Jimmie is relentlessly cheerful, which aggravates Margie even more. Then the final blow -- her sister Sophie (Anita Page), her sister's unemployed husband, and their baby move in with them. The couple bickers constantly because Sophie's husband can't seem to find a job.

Margie ends up modeling a fur for a wealthy man, Mr. Harding (Warren William) in the salon where she works, and really catches his eye. The coat went for $16,000. I looked it up in today's money. Six figures. Well, $16,000 isn't exactly cheap now.

Margie notices some of the models in the shop are kept by wealthy men. She actually starts to consider it. Then Sophie's husband hits her, and Sophie wants a divorce. But the lawyer costs $200. Margie tries to get it from her boss, who refuses; Jimmie has it but he won't give it to her so her sister can get a divorce.

Finally, she goes to see Mr. Harding, who is in the midst of a wild party. This is the best scene in the film. Boy, were they having fun.

This is an okay movie, but supposedly the studio had high hopes for it. When it didn't become a massive hit, it hurt Marsh's career. However, I don't believe she cared all that much about acting. She was in it to help her family, and once she married, she retired.

The end of this film is fun but strange. Warren William as usual is marvelous. He could be sly, mean, funny -- he's one reason I love TCM as it gives people an opportunity to see him. He died in 1948 at the age of 53.

Marian Marsh is adorable here, with an angelic and doll-like beauty which she showed to good advantage as Trilby in Svengali. When John Barrymore asked her if anyone had commented on her resemblance to his then wife, Delores Costello, she said yes, the butcher who gave her liver for her cat had remarked upon it.

Worth seeing for the performances.

What a ridiculous title. Ignore it, it has nothing to do with this movie about two sisters, one of whom (Anita Page) is married to an abusive deadbeat (Norman Foster), and the other of whom (Marian Marsh) is dating a humble deliveryman (Regis Toomey). As Marsh witnesses Page's marriage and her need for money for a divorce, she resolves to marry for money instead of love, and later catches a rich man's eye (Warren William) when she fills in for a model. She goes up to William's wild penthouse pool party where William practically salivates over her, asking her to swim in his suave voice by saying "Why not take off your clothes and stay awhile?" He's great in the film, and it's a pretty strong cast. There are the seemingly requisite pre-code underwear scenes, as well as some pretty snappy 30's dialog between the couples, which keep the film entertaining, but I hated the way the film played out, so it's a mixed bag for me.

Under 18 (1931)

** (out of 4)

A rather bland Pre-Code from Warner doesn't live up to any of its hype especially when you see the cast, the story and the innuendo in the title. Margie Evans (Marian Marsh) lives in poverty and thinks that marriage is the one way out but when her older sister (Anita Page) gets married and still lives poor, she sees another chance of making good. At her factory she learns that rich men can give women what they want with a few "favors" and Margie meets a possible candidate in the womanizing Raymond Harding (Warren William). The story, the title, the suggestive language and throw in Marsh, Page and William and yet the end result is still rather bland and boring. I was really surprised to see how tame and uninteresting this Pre-code was and it really does seem like the studio was trying to do a Pre-code without all the naughty stuff. When I say naughty there's certainly not going to be anything X-rated but if you're a fan of this genre then you know Warner was the king and could deliver perfect entertainment. Several things struck me about this production and the majority of it goes back to the screenplay. The story is rather tame and for the life of me I couldn't understand some of the twists and turns in the story. I won't give away the ending but what happens to the William's character is just downright silly and it gets even double with yet another twist. The main female character is just as confusing because she sells herself so that her sister can get a divorce and you have to wonder what the point of this was since you could have had the sister being unhappy and going into the arms of William to get a divorce. At just under 80-minutes there's quite a bit of dialogue with some of it being funny but the majority of it just doesn't contain enough spice to make up for everything else going on. Marsh is pretty good here even though the screenplay doesn't offer her too much. Those who have seen the Edward G. Robinson film FIVE STAR FINAL will remember the charming Marsh. William is doing William like no one else could and Page is always entertaining even if she spends most of her screen time just fighting with the husband. The sexuality level is pretty low throughout even though it's hinted at at times. UNDER 18 has all the elements for a good Pre-code but sadly the screenplay gets lost one scene after another and in the end you can't help but see it as a disappointment.

"Under 18" is a charming pre-Code film that includes the best of the genre: beautiful art deco sets, stunning period fashions, and scenes that were titillating for their time.

According to notes in the bio of Ms. Marsh, the film was not a critical success, but I do not understand why. The film's best asset is the performance of Marian Marsh herself, who is cute as a Kewpie doll. She plays Margie, a seamstress in the back room of Maison Ritz--a couture fashion house--where she is enthralled by the happenings in the front salon, where rich men bring their women to select expensive gowns and furs.

Margie's friends and relatives exist on the lower end of the financial spectrum, trying to get ahead. Her boyfriend, Jimmy, is an optimist. He always tells her that good times are just around the corner. But when times get worse, Margie is tempted to take a short cut.

In 1931, as skyscrapers captured the imagination of the public, it must have felt like there were two worlds--the life of penthouse luxury that existed in the sky and the life of the hoi polloi down on street level. This film captures that concept very well (similar to Fitzgerald's vision of a distant, unattainable East Egg in "The Great Gatsby").

There is nothing about this film that I would criticize. It offers a wonderful view of the life and times of the early thirties, including the changing mores that some saw as opportunity and others saw as the demise of traditional values.

"Under Eighteen" was undoubtedly a lurid title for motion pictures in the early 1930's, but the subject matter and depicted activities were appropriately lurid,too. A film enjoyable to watch today, the subject matter, in general, was apparently old hat to many movie-goers of the era, including Variety magazine, which in its review (Dec. 29, 1931 p.167) gave the film a fairly cool shake, saying the tour of depression-era love was just one more monotonous presentation "of this much viewed tale... both silent and in sound."

But for those of us looking at the movie as a time of historical interest 90 years removed, this film is a splendid document. The desperate drudgery of life in view for a lower rung family is presented with distressing clarity, and stands in contrast to life for folks of the snappy, devil-may-care upper echelon. Costuming, street scenes, and interior decor from 1931 are all on wondrous parade here. The story's culminating opulent and debauchery-filled 40th-floor penthouse party is breathtaking and truly not to be missed. In such parties did young women really dance the fox trot to society orchestras in dripping-wet bathing suits right after having bobbed in the swimming pool on giant rubber ducks? And with random male partners, to boot? The Variety review kind of casts doubt on that.

I enjoyed the performance of Marian Marsh in what was heralded as her first starring role. Her eyes are sumptuous and for me helped her portray many an emotion, although Variety said she failed to impress and would not benefit from being in this film. But I enjoyed her portrayal of youthful innocence and optimism changing to suspicion and dismay as she realized the quality of relationships in the adult world around her portend a cloudy future.

Variety also felt that Warren William wouldn't benefit from his time in this film, but I thought he came on with a highly convincing turn as a potentially sinister presence (although his selectivity for victimization as evidenced by his miserly pouring of seducing drinks for Marian was a step leading to a muddled and apparently rushed wrap-up ending). Regis Toomey as Marian's love interest did a good enough job, but his role had limitations in that what he stood for was inconsistently presented. And wow! That big kiss between Marian and Regis is really something! Kisses between men and women in the 1930s was often just one tightly closed mouth on the other, but 18 year old Marian was romantically liberal with her offering here!

Distinct and interesting characters with great faces abound in this film, even though the story admittedly has some limitations in logic. But for fans of early 1930's films this is a valuable entry in the array and should be given a chance by all fans of older film.