Mad Youth
Brief Synopsis
A conflict between a mother and daughter forces the daughter into a prostitution ring.
Cast & Crew
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Melville Shyer
Director
Mary Ainslee
Marian Morgan
Betty Compson
Mrs. [Lola] Morgan
Willy Castello
Count De Koven
Betty Atkinson
Helen Johnson [later known as Maisie]
Tommy Wonder
Harry
Film Details
Also Known As
Girls of the Underworld, Modern Mothers
Genre
Drama
Release Date
Jan
1939
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Real Life Dramas
Distribution Company
State Rights
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 1m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8 reels
Synopsis
Mrs. Lola Morgan, a woman in her forties, calls an escort service, requesting a young man to accompany her to a bridge party and is assigned Count De Koven. Mrs. Morgan then asks her daughter Marian, a girl of twenty, to lend her some money because she has already spent her month's alimony. While her mother is at the bridge party, Marian invites her friends Helen Johnson, Harry and Bill, to a party at the Morgan house. At Marian's party, wild dancing and games of strip poker prevail, while at the bridge party, Mrs. Morgan gossips with her aging women friends about their many affairs. After Marian's friends leave, Mrs. Morgan returns home and introduces her daughter to the count, whom Marian calls a gigolo. Mrs. Morgan sends her daughter to bed, but Marian watches her mother and the count through a keyhole and later learns that her mother expects to marry the count. Meanwhile, Helen, having left Marian's party, returns to her grandmother's home and sneaks in through a window. Time passes and the count, tired of being an escort, asks Marian to La Golondrina Cafe, where she meets Helen and her other friends. That night, Helen's grandmother discovers that she is missing and locks her out of the house. At the club, Marian drinks too much and is taken home by the count, where she finds Helen waiting. Refusing to return to her grandmother's home, Helen decides to marry a Mr. Bowman of Pittsburgh, whom she has met through a lonely-hearts correspondence service. Over the next few months, the count continues to see Marian, but then abruptly ends their relationship without explanation. When Mrs. Morgan reads her daughter's diary and learns of the affair, Marian leaves home to visit Helen in Pittsburgh. There, Marian discovers that Helen, now called Maisie, is living in a brothel, where she has been forced to work after being lured to the house by the prospect of marriage. Marian is taken prisoner and a similar fate awaits her. Meanwhile, a now reformed count, discovering that Marian has left home, lectures Mrs. Morgan on the responsibilities of motherhood and then begins a search for Marian. He finds her, and after a fight with the residents of the house, rescues Marian and Helen. Now an American citizen with a legitimate job, the count proposes to Mary.
Director
Melville Shyer
Director
Cast
Mary Ainslee
Marian Morgan
Betty Compson
Mrs. [Lola] Morgan
Willy Castello
Count De Koven
Betty Atkinson
Helen Johnson [later known as Maisie]
Tommy Wonder
Harry
Lorelei Readoux
Beth
Margaret Fealy
Grandmother
Donald Kerr
Taxi driver
Ray Hirsch
Jitter Bug
Eugene Taylor
Jitter Bug
Maxine Taylor
Jitter Bug
Patti Lacey
Jitter Bug
Aileen Morris
Jitter Bug
Pearl Tolson
Jitter Bug
Ethelreda Leopold
Hal Price
Crew
Film Details
Also Known As
Girls of the Underworld, Modern Mothers
Genre
Drama
Release Date
Jan
1939
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Real Life Dramas
Distribution Company
State Rights
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 1m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8 reels
Articles
Mad Youth - Mad Youth
Most teenagers would feel awkward catching her mother sweet-talking a gigolo on the phone, but Marian (Mary Ainslee) seizes the opportunity to have some of the gang over while mom Lola (Betty Compson) is out playing bridge with escort Count De Koven (Dutch actor Willy Costello). That wild party, full of strip poker, jitterbugging and baton twirling (??), is Marian's first entry into the seedy underworld of marriage-for-hire and sex trafficking. A great example of the "cautionary film" exploitation subgenre, Mad Youth has a wild, campy, Reefer Madness-y feel without that film's hysteric finger-wagging, with sassy, salty dialogue ("What happened? Did he walk out on her?" "No - he walked IN on her.") and a pre-Code piquancy. Plus it's nice to see Compson (whose lack of shame for taking on Poverty Row projects shines on the screen) in her element as a man-hungry mom who refuses to go down for the count. See what baton twirling can lead to?
Mad Youth - Mad Youth
Most teenagers would feel awkward catching her mother sweet-talking a gigolo on the phone, but Marian (Mary Ainslee) seizes the opportunity to have some of the gang over while mom Lola (Betty Compson) is out playing bridge with escort Count De Koven (Dutch actor Willy Costello). That wild party, full of strip poker, jitterbugging and baton twirling (??), is Marian's first entry into the seedy underworld of marriage-for-hire and sex trafficking. A great example of the "cautionary film" exploitation subgenre, Mad Youth has a wild, campy, Reefer Madness-y feel without that film's hysteric finger-wagging, with sassy, salty dialogue ("What happened? Did he walk out on her?" "No - he walked IN on her.") and a pre-Code piquancy. Plus it's nice to see Compson (whose lack of shame for taking on Poverty Row projects shines on the screen) in her element as a man-hungry mom who refuses to go down for the count. See what baton twirling can lead to?
Quotes
Trivia
'Costello, William' (as Willy Castello) billed as the Clark Gable of Europe and the heart throb of the entire continent.
Orchestra and all acts by courtesy of La Golondrina Cafe, Los Angeles.
Betty Atkinson named World's Champion Majorette while with the University of Southern California Marching Band.
Ethelreda Leopold named Most Popular Chorus Girl in all of Hollywood.
Notes
The working titles of this film were Girls of the Underworld and Modern Mothers. Although no confirmed release date has been found, evidence indicates that the film was released in 1939. Although onscreen credits list Melville Shyer as director, the Variety and Film Daily reviews credit Willis Kent as director. Similarly, although onscreen credits list Robert Jahns as film editor, the Variety credits I. R. Johns. It is possible that Johns and Jahns are the same person. The credits also include the acknowledgment: "Orchestra and all acts courtesy of La Golondrina Cafe of Los Angeles." La Golondrina is the oldest Mexican restaurant in the city.
