1935's "Accent on Youth" was the first film adaptation of Samuel Raphaelson's 1934 Broadway play, the story of a wealthy 50 year old playwright, Steven Gaye (Herbert Marshall), whose latest offering, intended as a tragedy following 19 straight comedies, depicts a romance between a young woman and an older man. Yet for the previous three years, he has never noticed that his loyal young secretary, Linda Brown (Sylvia Sidney), has been in love with him. Life imitates art when Linda decides to marry her co-star in the play (Phillip Reed), much like her character does, but soon regrets the whirlwind decision. Rarely does the film leave Herbert Marshall's home, a static presentation that the cast tries hard to overcome. Among the smaller roles are Dick Foran and Lon Chaney, as Butch and Chuck, buddies of the young groom, who really only figure in the denouement. Foran was still billed as 'Nick Foran,' while this was the very first time that Creighton Chaney was credited on screen with his new moniker, 'Lon Chaney Jr.' (Chaney would be strangling Foran seven years later in "The Mummy's Tomb"). Later versions of this story include Bing Crosby in 1950's "Mr. Music" and Clark Gable in 1959's "But Not for Me."
Review of Accent on Youth
