''The Truth About Youth'' is a 1930 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

drama with songs produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Directed by

William A. Seiter William Alfred Seiter (June 10, 1890 – July 26, 1964) was an American film director. Life and career Seiter was born in New York City. After attending Hudson River Military Academy, Seiter broke into films in 1915 as a bit player at Mack Senne ...

, the film stars

Loretta Young Loretta Young (born Gretchen Young; January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the fil ...

Conway Tearle Conway Tearle (born Frederick Conway Levy, May 17, 1878 – October 1, 1938) was an American stage actor who went on to perform in silent and early sound films. Early life Tearle was born on May 17, 1878, in New York City, the son of the ...

David Manners David Joseph Manners (born Rauff de Ryther Duan Acklom; April 30, 1900 – December 23, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor who plays John Harker in Tod Browning's 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', which stars Bela Lugosi in the title role.Pace ...

and

Myrna Loy Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...

. It was based on the 1900 play ''When We Were Twenty-One'', written by Henry V. Esmond.

Plot

Richard Carewe has raised Richard Dane since childhood. Dane was the son of Carewe's close friend and Carewe promised to care for his son before the friend died. Carewe plans for Dane to marry Phyllis Ericson, the daughter of his housekeeper. Phyllis, however, has no interest in Dane and is in love with Carewe. The film begins on the day of Dane's twenty-first birthday. Carewe is planning a surprise birthday party. Dane never shows up as he has gone to a nightclub to see his new girlfriend, Kara, a notorious gold-digger who sings and dances at the nightclub under the name of ''The Firefly''. Dane returns home in the early hours of the morning drunk and carelessly drops a note from Kara on his way to his room. Early the next day, the housekeeper finds the note Dane had dropped and shows it to her daughter Phyllis, who shows the note to Carewe. As the note is addressed to "Richard", Carewe thinks quickly and pretends the note is his. Phyllis is upset as she is in love with Carewe. When confronted with the note by Carewe, Dane gets upset and plans to elope with Kara. He goes and proposes marriage to Kara, who accepts because she thinks he is rich. After the wedding, when Kara discovers he is poor, she tells him that she never wants to see him again. Carewe, not knowing that Kara has already married Dane, offers her five thousand dollars to pretend to be his own lover in public. When Phyllis arrives at the nightclub, she almost cries when she witnesses Kara's attentions to Carewe. She leaves the nightclub. Later on, Dane arrives and is heartbroken to find Kara has sold herself a day after their wedding. Dane goes home and confesses everything to Phyllis. She realizing the truth, confesses her love for Carewe when he returns. They embrace as Carewe confesses his love for her also.

Cast

as Phyllis Ericson *

as Richard Carewe *

as Richard Dane 'The Imp' *

as Kara *

J. Farrell MacDonald John Farrell MacDonald (June 6, 1875 – August 2, 1952) was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. He appeared in over 325 films over a four-decade career from 1911 to 1951, and directed fort ...

as Colonel Graham *

Myrtle Stedman Myrtle Stedman (born Myrtle Lincoln; March 3, 1883 – January 8, 1938) was an American leading lady and later character actress in motion pictures who began in silent films in 1910. Biography Stedman was born Myrtle Lincoln in Chicago, Ill ...

as Mrs. Ericson *

Harry Stubbs Harry Oakes Stubbs (December 7, 1874 – May 9, 1950) was an English-born American character actor, who appeared both on Broadway and in films. He was born on December 7, 1874 in Southampton, Hampshire, England. Stubbs immigrated from England ...

as Horace Palmer *

Yola d'Avril Yola d'Avril (8 April 1906 – 2 March 1984) was a French-American actress, who appeared in numerous productions between 1925 and 1953. She was also known as Yola Vermairion and Yola d'Avril Montiague. Biography d'Avril was born in Lille, Franc ...

as Babette - Kara's Maid * William Irving as Jim Greene * Joseph E. Bernard as Headwaiter * Ray Hallor as Hal - Dane's Pal * William Bailey as Jim - Kara's Boyfriend

Songs

* "Playing Around" (''Sung by Myrna Loy'') * "I Have to Have You" (''Sung by Myrna Loy'')

Box Office

According to Warner Bros records the film earned $231,000 domestically and $50,000 foreign.

Preservation

The film survives intact at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at the Library of Congress'' page 190 c.1978 by The American Film Institute and has been broadcast on both television and cable (e.g., AAP). On home video it is available from

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

sharing space with another Loretta Young film, '' The Right of Way''.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Truth About Youth, The 1930 films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films directed by William A. Seiter First National Pictures films American films based on plays American drama films 1930 drama films 1930s American films