So This Is College

Could anybody be as obnoxious as the frat boys in the first 20 minutes of this antique? They throw food, they argue about who gets the most girls, they make the freshmen carry their trunks up the fraternity house steps....On the screen it's less funny than that sounds.

Elliott Nugent and Robert Montgomery play football stars entering their senior year. As soon as they are all moved in, they get right down to the intelligent dialog:

Montgomery: The team's got a tough schedule this year.

Nugent: Yeah, we sure have.

Montgomery: I've decided we're gonna cut out the women until after the football season's over.

Nugent: You – hey, are you serious?

Soon enough, the pair cross paths with cute co-ed Sally Star, who enchants them both. Nugent's approach is pushy, Montgomery's more polite, but she shows interest in both and rather quickly the picture develops into a fairly standard two-fellows-in-love-with-the-same- girl story.

The farce takes a more serious turn at about the one hour mark— Nugent, in particular, becomes suddenly human and much more sympathetic. The climax of the story hangs not on which of them will get the girl but a much more important question:

With their friendship all busted up, will Nugent and Montgomery blow the big game against Stanford?

Technically, it's an early talkie fraught with the typical weaknesses—static camera work, dropped dialog—of that brief period during which filmmakers rushed to adopt a new and imperfect technology, making it up as they went. Dramatically, it's really pretty silly.

Still….There is some lively football action in the closing minutes. Also, Cliff Edwards sings a couple of okay tunes.

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"

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.

(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.

I finally watched SO THIS IS COLLEGE, a 1929 MGM college film with music. I bought it from Warners a while back, but Robert Montgomery is not a fave so I shelved it.

Right off the bat, I was surprised to see Elliott Nugent billed over Montgomery and at 33, a pretty old college senior (Montgomery was 25). Nugent acted in 17 or so films and some TV but is better known as a writer/director. He was son of actor J.C. Nugent. This might be Montgomery's first starring role.

Anyway. In another of those "2 pals who fall for the same girl" plots, Nugent and Montgomery are college football heroes and roomies. They both fall for Babs (Sally Starr, her talkie debut), have lots of parties (it is college after all), and are endlessly singing, listening to, or dancing to "I Don't Want Your Kisses if I Can't Have Your Love." Starr falls for Nugent which sends Montgomery into a petulant sulk. Can the 2 pals make up in time for the "big game"? Real footage of a USC/Stanford game is used along with lots of location shooting on USC campus.

On hand in support are Cliff Edwards (another mid-30s college senior) who sings a snappy "Sophomore Prom," Lee Shumway as the coach, Polly Moran as the cook, and Phyllis Crane as Betty. Among the bit players are Joel McCrea, Ward Bond, Ann Dvorak, Ray Cooke, Richard Carle, Delmer Daves, and of course Grady Sutton.

There's a bizarre subplot about a dry cleaner, his wife, and a pair of pants. Max Davidson and Ann Brody are the couple.

Funniest bit has Polly Moran running back to the kitchen after the "boys" sitting at a U-shaped table pelt her with saltines while they scream, "Polly want a cracker?'