Freshman Year (1938)
A budding entrepreneur nearly loses everything after his get-rich quick scheme selling "flunk" insurance to his fellow students goes terribly awry.
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Powerful
Boring
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
After a slow beginning, this movie develops into quite an entertaining "B" musical, a process stimulated by a very lively performance by Ernest Truex (of all people) as Professor Peabody. Other players are also not lacking in vigor, and I would also single out Dixie Dunbar and Constance Moore. By the humble standards of the Universal "B", production values are extremely lavish and there is certainly no stinting on extra players. Alan Ladd can be glimpsed as a spectator at the concert. And I loved the Murtah Sisters. (I don't know where IMDb got the impression they were billed as the Murtagh Sisters. Maybe Universal got it wrong in its publicity material, but they are certainly billed as the Murtah Sisters on the actual movie credits). Anyway, the songs are both pleasant and enjoyable, although I would agree that they are not exactly memorable. Frank McDonald's direction is capable, if unimaginative, and the photography is a bit less glamorous and imaginative that we would expect from Woody Bredell, but I guess Universal spent the budget on that huge cast line-up plus some good songs from the likes of Harry Barris and Joe McCarty and McDonald had to film eight reels with celerity.