The Truth About Youth is a typical creaky early talkie with some fairly dreadful singing thrown in for good (or bad) measure. Myrna Loy stars as Kara, a nightclub entertainer who gold digs for rich men in her spare time. Loy's singing voice seems to be dubbed, but she cuts a rug fairly effectively. She's furtively married the foolishly smitten David Manners, who gives one of his oddly effective performances as a lovestruck youngster who can't see the wood for the trees. Manners always had the look of a deer caught in the headlights, and this tic works well for him here. Youngster Loretta Young is also on hand, unconvincingly wooing wooden (and extremely old) leading man Conway Tearle, and there's a nails on the chalkboard performance by Yola D'Avril as Ms. Young's French maid. Interesting for Loy's performance as a vamp, but inessential in all other respects, The Truth About Youth does manage to end on a high note, as J. Farrell MacDonald gets the film's wittiest line.
Review of The Truth About Youth
