Young Ideas (1943) - Turner Classic Movies

Brief Synopsis

A widow's grown children try to break up her romance with a college professor.

Cast & Crew

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Jules Dassin

Susan Peters

Herbert Marshall

Michael Kingsley

Mary Astor

Jo[sephine] Evans [Kingsley]

Elliott Reid

Richard Carlson

Photos & Videos

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Young Ideas - (Original Trailer)

Film Details

Also Known As

Faculty Row

Genre

Comedy

Release Date

Nov 1943

Premiere Information

not available

Production Company

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.

Distribution Company

Loew's Inc.

Country

United States

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 17m

Sound

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.37 : 1

Film Length

6,927ft (8 reels)

Synopsis

When popular novelist Josephine Evans suddenly drops from sight during a lecture tour and then telephones her New York literary agent, Adam Trent, to announce that she is canceling the tour, Adam frantically summons Jo's children, Jeff and Susan. Guessing that their mother has fallen in love, worldy adolescents Jeff and Susan track her to Digby, Pennsylvania, the college town in which she gave her last lecture. As predicted, Jo confesses that she has fallen in love with chemistry professor Michael Kingsley, but stuns her children when she reveals that she has married him. Susan and Jeff reluctantly move in to their stepfather's stuffy house and their introduction to him is awkward and painful, as Michael is as dull and provincial as they are fun-loving and sophisticated. When Michael proclaims that his wife will not be resuming her writing career, Jo, Jeff and Susan all protest. Jeff and Susan are so incensed by Michael's conservative attitudes that they vow to break up the marriage, even after Michael makes a sincere, if ungainly, attempt at ingratiating himself with them. While agreeing to enroll at Digby, Jeff and Susan sweetly advise Michael to read Jo's last novel, As I Knew Paris , knowing that he will be scandalized by it. Jeff and Susan then begin classes at Digby, and Susan is immediately smitten with her theater professor, Tom Farrell. After she makes a bet with some co-eds that she can secure a date with Tom, even though dating professors is against Digby policy, Susan rattles Tom by revealing that she knows more about his lecture topic than he. Susan then hints that she has highly personal information about the next playwright on Tom's reading list, and Tom, anxious to avoid more humiliation, invites her to dinner that night. Later, Susan and Jeff drop by Michael's chemistry lab and, as he pours over As I Knew Paris , casually tell him that the book's most decadent female characters are based on Jo. Once alone, Michael envisions Jo entertaining men in Paris and, consumed with jealousy, rushes to the local book store and buys all of its copies of As I Knew Paris . Upon returning home, Michael first finds Jo having tea with Pepe, a French delivery boy, then discovers Tom at the door. After chasing the confused Tom away, Michael angrily announces that he is eating out. Susan catches up with Tom and sneaks into his apartment, where she regales him with stories about her mother's literary friends. Susan then reads a script that Tom has just finished and offers to help him rewrite it with more believable characters. Jo, meanwhile, questions Michael about his odd behavior, and he coldly admits that he finds her novels "cheap." Later, Jeff and Susan, who have wired Adam, advance their plot by advising Michael not to attend an upcoming chemistry conference in Philadelphia, as Jo will be on her own. Though concerned, Michael decides to go anyway, but as his train is pulling out, he sees Adam, who has just arrived from New York, give Jo a warm kiss. Panicked, Michael disembarks at the first stop and returns home, only to discover that Adam has moved in and is escorting Jo and the children to an off-limits roadhouse. There, the teetotaling Michael insists on engaging Adam in a drinking contest. Although Michael has bet that he can out-last Adam because of his superior body chemistry, seasoned drinker Adam remains sober, while Michael ends up drunk and playing the bass with the club band. The next day in class, a hung-over Michael is teased by his students and is reprimanded by the dean. Susan, meanwhile, is having second thoughts about continuing the plot, as she realizes that she has fallen in love with Tom. To keep his sister in line, Jeff drops by to see Tom and tells him that the women in As I Knew Paris are modeled after Susan. Later, a fed-up Michael throws both Pepe and Adam out of his house, then reveals to Jo that "her weakness" almost cost him his job. When Michael demands that Jo change her ways, Jo decries him for not trusting her and packs for New York. Susan then storms home, furious at Jeff because Tom has rejected her. A week later, however, Tom comes by the Kingsley home and tells Susan that he loves her, past or no past, and the two reconcile. Susan and a repentant Jeff then conspire to reunite Michael with Jo, who has just filed for divorce. Posing as scared, young children, Jeff and Susan convince the judge in the case to deny Jo and Michael a divorce. Although confused by the judge's harsh comments, Jo and Michael forgive each other in court and reunite. When they finally deduce what their children have done, Jo and Michael chase them around the courthouse and give them a good spanking. Susan and Tom then reveal that they, too, are newlyweds.

Director

Jules Dassin

Cast

Susan Peters

Herbert Marshall

Michael Kingsley

Mary Astor

Jo[sephine] Evans [Kingsley]

Elliott Reid

Richard Carlson

Allyn Joslyn

Dorothy Morris

Frances Rafferty

George Dolenz

Emory Parnell

Rod Rogers

Roberta Smith

Lois Collier

Ava Gardner

Marilyn Harris

Noel Neill

Ken Lundy

Intellectual student

Frank Faylen

Charles Arnt

Almira Sessions

Budd Buster

Paul Burns

Polly Bailey

Ray Saxon

Football player

William Farmer

Ed Agresti

Fred Aldrich

Harry Lamont

Alex Novinsky

William Bishop

French lieutenant

Carlos Barbé

French lieutenant

Arthur Dulac

Marcel De La Brosse

Shimen Ruskin

Robert E. O'connor

Daniel Ocko

Myron Healey

John Estes

Ed Kilroy

Anne O'neal

Ellen Lowe

Jean Porter

June Terry Pickrell

Older secretary

Harry Holman

Court clerk, Harry

Crew

Mac Alper

Associate (Sets)

George Bassman

Cedric Gibbons

Ian Mclellan Hunter

Original Screenplay

Irene

Costume Supervisor

Charles Lawton

Director of Photography

Bill Noble

Original Screenplay

Original Dixieland Jazz Band

George Rhein

Assistant Director

Douglas Shearer

Recording Director

Robert Sisk

David Snell

Leonid Vasian

Associate (Art Direction)

Edwin B. Willis

Ralph E. Winters

Videos

Young Ideas - (Original Trailer) A widow's grown children try to break up her romance with a college professor in Jules Dassin's Young Ideas (1943).

Film Details

Also Known As

Faculty Row

Genre

Comedy

Release Date

Nov 1943

Premiere Information

not available

Production Company

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.

Distribution Company

Loew's Inc.

Country

United States

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 17m

Sound

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.37 : 1

Film Length

6,927ft (8 reels)

Articles

Young Ideas

August 11, 2010

In MGM's delightful comedy Young Ideas (1943), Mary Astor stars as widow Josephine Evans, a successful author who marries a stuffy college chemistry professor (Herbert Marshall) following a whirlwind romance. When her two adult children (Susan Peters and Elliott Reid) find out, they hatch a plot to break up the marriage as quickly as possible. After a series of comic complications, the two learn a lesson about meddling in other people's love lives.

Young Ideas was an early, light-hearted effort from up-and-coming MGM director Jules Dassin. He went on to direct a number of distinguished and decidedly darker films for other studios including The Naked City (1948), Night and the City (1950), and Rififi (1955).

In addition to utilizing the veteran talents of Academy Award®-winning actress Mary Astor (The Maltese Falcon [1941], The Great Lie [1941]) and Herbert Marshall (The Little Foxes [1941]), Young Ideas also gave MGM a chance to showcase some of their newer up-and -coming actors including Susan Peters and Elliott Reid who play Astor's meddling children. A very young Ava Gardner has a brief uncredited role as one of the college co-eds.

Producer: Robert Sisk
Director: Jules Dassin
Screenplay: Ian McLellan Hunter, Bill Noble (writers)
Cinematography: Charles Lawton
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Leonid Vassian
Music: George Bassman
Film Editing: Ralph E. Winters
Cast: Susan Peters (Susan Evans), Herbert Marshall (Prof. Michael Kingsley), Mary Astor (Josephine 'Jo' Evans), Elliott Reid (Jeff Evans), Richard Carlson (Tom Farrell), Allyn Joslyn (Adam Trent), Dorothy Morris (Co-ed), Frances Rafferty (Co-ed), George Dolenz (Pepe), Emory Parnell (Judge Canute J. Kelly).
BW-77m.

by Andrea Passafiume

Young Ideas

Young Ideas

In MGM's delightful comedy Young Ideas (1943), Mary Astor stars as widow Josephine Evans, a successful author who marries a stuffy college chemistry professor (Herbert Marshall) following a whirlwind romance. When her two adult children (Susan Peters and Elliott Reid) find out, they hatch a plot to break up the marriage as quickly as possible. After a series of comic complications, the two learn a lesson about meddling in other people's love lives. Young Ideas was an early, light-hearted effort from up-and-coming MGM director Jules Dassin. He went on to direct a number of distinguished and decidedly darker films for other studios including The Naked City (1948), Night and the City (1950), and Rififi (1955). In addition to utilizing the veteran talents of Academy Award®-winning actress Mary Astor (The Maltese Falcon [1941], The Great Lie [1941]) and Herbert Marshall (The Little Foxes [1941]), Young Ideas also gave MGM a chance to showcase some of their newer up-and -coming actors including Susan Peters and Elliott Reid who play Astor's meddling children. A very young Ava Gardner has a brief uncredited role as one of the college co-eds. Producer: Robert Sisk Director: Jules Dassin Screenplay: Ian McLellan Hunter, Bill Noble (writers) Cinematography: Charles Lawton Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Leonid Vassian Music: George Bassman Film Editing: Ralph E. Winters Cast: Susan Peters (Susan Evans), Herbert Marshall (Prof. Michael Kingsley), Mary Astor (Josephine 'Jo' Evans), Elliott Reid (Jeff Evans), Richard Carlson (Tom Farrell), Allyn Joslyn (Adam Trent), Dorothy Morris (Co-ed), Frances Rafferty (Co-ed), George Dolenz (Pepe), Emory Parnell (Judge Canute J. Kelly). BW-77m. by Andrea Passafiume

Jules Dassin (1911-2008) - TCM Schedule Change for Director Jules Dassin Memorial Tribute on Friday, April 20th

April 1, 2008

In Tribute to director Jules Dassin, who died Monday, March 31st, at age 96, TCM is changing its evening programming on Sunday, April 20th to honor the actor with a double-feature salute.

Sunday, April 20th
8:00 PM Naked City
9:45 PM Topkapi

TCM REMEMBERS JULES DASSIN (1911-2008)

Jules Dassin gained experience in theater and radio in New York before going to work in Hollywood in 1940, first with RKO (as assistant director) and then with MGM. Dassin hit his stride in the late 1940s with such dynamic (and still well-regarded) film noir melodramas as "Brute Force" (1947), "The Naked City" (1948), "Thieves' Highway" (1949) and "Night and the City" (1950), starring Richard Widmark who died this past Monday, March 24th.

After being blacklisted he moved to Europe, where he scored his greatest international successes with the French-produced "Rififi" (1955) and the then-scandalous "Never on Sunday" (1959), starring his second wife Melina Mercouri. For the most part, his later films--such as "Up Tight" (1968), an ill-conceived black remake of John Ford's 1935 classic "The Informer"--have been disappointing and inconclusive. Dassin, however, maintained that among his own films, his personal preference was "He Who Must Die" (1958), starring his wife Melina Mercouri. It is one of his least known films and is rarely screened today but here is a description of it: "Greece, in the 1920's, is occupied by the Turks. The country is in turmoil with entire villages uprooted. The site of the movie is a Greek village that conducts a passion play each year. The leading citizens of the town, under the auspices of the Patriarch, choose those that will play the parts in the Passion. A stuttering shepherd is chosen to play Jesus. The town butcher (who wanted to be Jesus) is chosen as Judas. The town prostitute is chosen as Mary Magdalene. The rest of the disciples are also chosen. As the movie unfolds, the Passion Play becomes a reality. A group of villagers, uprooted by the war and impoverished, arrive at the village led by their priest. The wealthier citizens of the town want nothing with these people and manipulate a massacre. In the context of the 1920's each of the characters plays out their biblical role in actuality."

Family

DAUGHTER: Julie Dassin. Actor. Mother, Beatrice Launer.
SON: Joey Dassin. Mother, Beatrice Launer.
SON: Rickey Dassin. Mother, Beatrice Launer.

Companion
WIFE: Beatrice Launer. Former concert violinist. Married in 1933; divorced in 1962.
WIFE: Melina Mercouri. Actor, politician. Born c. 1923; Greek; together from 1959; married from 1966 until her death on March 6, 1994.

Milestone

1936: First role on New York stage (Yiddish Theater)

1940: First film as assistant director Directed first stage play, "The Medicine Show 1941: Directed first short film, "The Tell-Tale Heart"

1942: Feature directing debut, "Nazi Agent/Salute to Courage"

Jules Dassin (1911-2008) - TCM Schedule Change for Director Jules Dassin Memorial Tribute on Friday, April 20th

In Tribute to director Jules Dassin, who died Monday, March 31st, at age 96, TCM is changing its evening programming on Sunday, April 20th to honor the actor with a double-feature salute. Sunday, April 20th 8:00 PM Naked City 9:45 PM Topkapi TCM REMEMBERS JULES DASSIN (1911-2008) Jules Dassin gained experience in theater and radio in New York before going to work in Hollywood in 1940, first with RKO (as assistant director) and then with MGM. Dassin hit his stride in the late 1940s with such dynamic (and still well-regarded) film noir melodramas as "Brute Force" (1947), "The Naked City" (1948), "Thieves' Highway" (1949) and "Night and the City" (1950), starring Richard Widmark who died this past Monday, March 24th. After being blacklisted he moved to Europe, where he scored his greatest international successes with the French-produced "Rififi" (1955) and the then-scandalous "Never on Sunday" (1959), starring his second wife Melina Mercouri. For the most part, his later films--such as "Up Tight" (1968), an ill-conceived black remake of John Ford's 1935 classic "The Informer"--have been disappointing and inconclusive. Dassin, however, maintained that among his own films, his personal preference was "He Who Must Die" (1958), starring his wife Melina Mercouri. It is one of his least known films and is rarely screened today but here is a description of it: "Greece, in the 1920's, is occupied by the Turks. The country is in turmoil with entire villages uprooted. The site of the movie is a Greek village that conducts a passion play each year. The leading citizens of the town, under the auspices of the Patriarch, choose those that will play the parts in the Passion. A stuttering shepherd is chosen to play Jesus. The town butcher (who wanted to be Jesus) is chosen as Judas. The town prostitute is chosen as Mary Magdalene. The rest of the disciples are also chosen. As the movie unfolds, the Passion Play becomes a reality. A group of villagers, uprooted by the war and impoverished, arrive at the village led by their priest. The wealthier citizens of the town want nothing with these people and manipulate a massacre. In the context of the 1920's each of the characters plays out their biblical role in actuality." Family DAUGHTER: Julie Dassin. Actor. Mother, Beatrice Launer. SON: Joey Dassin. Mother, Beatrice Launer. SON: Rickey Dassin. Mother, Beatrice Launer. Companion WIFE: Beatrice Launer. Former concert violinist. Married in 1933; divorced in 1962. WIFE: Melina Mercouri. Actor, politician. Born c. 1923; Greek; together from 1959; married from 1966 until her death on March 6, 1994. Milestone 1936: First role on New York stage (Yiddish Theater) 1940: First film as assistant director Directed first stage play, "The Medicine Show 1941: Directed first short film, "The Tell-Tale Heart" 1942: Feature directing debut, "Nazi Agent/Salute to Courage"

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

The working title of this film was Faculty Row. Modern sources also list The Professor Takes a Wife as a working title. According to contemporary news items, screenwriter Bill Noble wrote Young Ideas while he was a student at the University of Washington and submitted it to M-G-M as part of his application to the studio's "junior writing department." After M-G-M bought the script, veteran writer Ian McLellan Hunter rewrote it with Noble, who was then put on the studio payroll. Frances Raeburn was cast in the picture, but dropped out due to an appendectomy, according to Hollywood Reporter. Although CBCS lists Howard Freeman and Grady Sutton in the cast, they did not appear in the final film. According to a January 1943 Hollywood Reporter news item, Virginia Farmer was cast, but her appearance in the final film has not been confirmed.

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