Mad Youth (1940)
A rich society mother hires a male escort, but he falls for her daughter instead. The mother-daughter conflict forces the daughter to run off to stay with a friend who is enslaved by a prostitution ring.
- Melville Shyer
- Willis Kent
Rating: 4.6/10 by 7 users
Alternative Title:
Country:
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 16 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $0
Plot Keyword: parent child relationship, diary, gigolo
To give this it's due, it does try to deal with some rather more grown up themes, but somehow the whole thing just falls a bit flat. In a sort of spin-off from "The Lady Refuses" (1931), this time "Lucy" (Betty Compson) - not averse to a gigolo or two of her own, takes umbrage when her daughter "Marian" (Mary Ainslee) falls for the "Count DeHoven" (Willy Castello), her mother's latest rent-a-beau who engages in his task with great gusto. As we all expect from the outset, he manages to fall for "Marian" and the ensuing conflict exposes the younger girl to the nefarious activities of a seedy vice operation. Will she be saved from this life of degradation? Will the "Count" grow a pair...? Some of the "entertainments" in the establishment in which she ends up working raise a smile or two - especially the torero with his canine "bull" - but for the most part it's a rather unremarkable menage-à-trois depiction of what could have been a more grittily presented exposé of the rather shallow lives of the nouveau riche of the time. There is little by way of chemistry on the screen from any quarter and the dialogue - aside form the odd one-liner from Ainslee, drags somewhat. It's OK. Nothing more.
