Young Sinners
Cast & Crew
John Blystone
Hardie Albright
Thomas Meighan
Dorothy Jordan
Cecilia Loftus
James Kirkwood
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Teenage sweethearts Constance Sinclair and Gene Gibson carouse on a Florida beach with a group of their high society friends. When the alcohol supply runs low, the couple go to "rum row" in Gene's speedboat, but are arrested by revenue officers as they return to the party. Connie's prim mother Caroline is furious when, as a result of the arrest, a photograph of Connie in a revealing bathing suit is published in a local newspaper. Determined to separate Connie from the dissolute Gene, Caroline takes her on to Samoa, where they meet the pretentious Baron Karl Franz Josef von Konetz, and Caroline arranges his engagement to Connie. When the Sinclairs and the baron return home to celebrate the engagement, Connie is surprised by the sudden appearance of Gene, who had not contacted her while she was away. Gene assures Connie of his love for her, and Connie rushes off to tell her mother that she will not marry von Konetz. While Connie is absent, however, Gene learns of her engagement to the baron and leaves after writing her a note of congratulations. The disspirited Connie then agrees to go along with Caroline's plans, while Gene engages in a three-day drunken party that forces the apartment manager to summon Gene's hypocritical father John. The elder Gibson is disgusted by his son's behavior, but cannot defend himself against Gene's charges of neglect. John's adviser Trent counsels him to entrust Gene to the care of Tom McGuire, an Adirondack guide who specializes in "rebuilding rich men's sons." McGuire arrives and, after explaining to John that he will build up Gene physically, leaves with the youth, who resents his Irish tutor. At McGuire's cabin in the Airondacks, Gene vows to improve himself so that he can beat up McGuire, but as the weeks pass and his strength and clarity of mind return, he grudgingly begins to respect him. Gene is also impressed by McGuire's devotion to his wife Maggie and young son Timmy and wishes that his father had been as attentive as McGuire. The test of Gene's newfound determination comes when he convinces McGuire to attend his sister's wedding. McGuire is reluctant to leave the youth alone, but Gene assures him that he can be trusted. Once McGuire leaves, however, Connie appears. Gene is glad to see her, but insists that she return to her hotel to spend the night. When a snowstorm prevents her from leaving, Connie attempts to seduce Gene, but he locks himself in his bedroom. The next morning, an admiring Connie admits that Gene has changed for the better. When McGuire returns to the cabin before Connie leaves, he is furious upon discovering that she spent the night there. Before Gene can explain, McGuire hits him, and the two are brawling when John, Caroline and Trent arrive for a visit. Gene bests McGuire and explains that he wishes to marry Connie. John gives his consent and offers Gene a job and an apartment, and Caroline, who learned her lesson about matchmaking when the baron was arrested for writing bad checks, also approves. McGuire pronounces that Gene has graduated and tells the sweethearts that if they make friends of their children, they will not need the likes of him. Connie calls McGuire an "old sweetie," and the grateful Gene tells him that he is a real pal.
Director
John Blystone
Cast
Hardie Albright
Thomas Meighan
Dorothy Jordan
Cecilia Loftus
James Kirkwood
Edmund Breese
Lucien Prival
Edward Nugent
Gaylord Pendleton
David Rollins
Arnold Lucy
Nora Lane
Joan Castle
John Arledge
Yvonne Pelletier
Billy Butts
Sid Jordan
Dixie Lee
Crew
Jasper Blystone
William Conselman
H. P. Devick
Ralph Dixon
William Fox
Samuel T. Godfrey
James F. Hanley
Sid Jordan
Eva Monrad
John Seitz
Sophie Wachner
E. Clayton Ward
Sigurd Wathne
Gordon Wiles
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The play was copyrighted under the title Wings of Youth. According to the contract with the playwright in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department at the UCLA Theater Arts Library, Fox agreed not to release the film nationally until January 1, 1931, until April 1, 1931 in Philadelphia, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Detroit, and until August 1, 1931 in the United Kingdom, unless a run of the play in those places had already ended. The company paid the author $55,000 for the motion picture rights, which at the time was a high figure. The Twentieth Century-Fox Produced Scripts Collection at the ULCA Theater Arts Library contains an adaptation by Maurine Watkins that is dated before any material written by William Conselman. According to information in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department, also at UCLA, Watkins' material was not used in the final film. According to New York Times, this was Thomas Meighan's first film in two years. Variety notes that Dorothy Jordan was borrowed from M-G-M and that the film included some newsreel ski shots. Variety complained that "padding is responsible for the running time of 79 minutes" and suggested that "theatres which want to chop will find the trimming easy to do with the film in better shape at around the hour mark." The running time is, in fact, listed at 70 minutes in Motion Picture Herald release charts dated after the film's release.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1931
Released in United States 1931
