Under Eighteen

Audience Reviews

View All (5) audience reviews

huck d I haven’t enjoyed a completely unknown movie this much ever. In this pre-code classic, the gorgeous Marian Marsh plays a young women of the Depression torn between her virtue and values — that have amounted to poverty, stress, and strain — and an ambition for a better life for her mother and sister, the latter who married a no good self-obsessed loafer. A virtually unknown movie that couldn’t have balanced the age old question of what price is worth paying when events beyond your control create desperate circumstances. The title Under Eighteen was absurd, Marsh was at least 18 in 1932, who gave an extremely sophisticated performance for such a young actress, but the title had nothing to do with the movie. A more appropriate name might have been, “The Pool in the Penthouse.” Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/08/24 Full Review Audience Member What a ridiculous title. Ignore it, it has nothing to do with this movie about two sisters, one of whom (Anita Page) is married to an abusive deadbeat (Norman Foster), and the other of whom (Marian Marsh) is dating a humble deliveryman (Regis Toomey). As Marsh witnesses Page's marriage and her need for money for a divorce, she resolves to marry for money instead of love, and later catches a rich man's eye (Warren William) when she fills in for a model. She goes up to William's wild penthouse pool party where William practically salivates over her, asking her to swim in his suave voice by saying "Why not take off your clothes and stay awhile?" He's great in the film, and it's a pretty strong cast. There are the seemingly requisite pre-code underwear scenes, as well as some pretty snappy 30's dialog between the couples, which keep the film entertaining, but I hated the way the film played out, so it's a mixed bag for me. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member This pre-code film was not quite as scandalous as I'd expected based upon the title, but it still delivers some pre-production code bits you wouldn't see on film for another 40 something years, including divorce, ladies undressing, drunken parties and wife beating. Archie Mayo directed this story a about the young Marian Marsh who refuses to marry her milk truck driver boyfriend because she doesn't want to live in poverty like her older sister. Forgettable, but the pre-code elements made it worth watching. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member another gr8 pre-coder Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member pretty good early talkie Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Under Eighteen

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW