Yet another interesting David O. Selznick production for RKO, Young Bride (1932) stars the noted beauty Helen Twelvetrees in an adaptation of the 1929 play Love Starved, a domestic drama about young newlyweds that illustrates the old saying 'marry in haste, repent at leisure.' Unhappy librarian Allie Smith (Twelvetrees) is wooed by Charlie Riggs (Eric Linden), a charming ne'er-do-well and poolroom braggart. Caught by Allie's boss in what looks like a compromising situation, they marry and for a time do their best to make the relationship work. But Charlie can't face reality, and misrepresents his humble messenger job as a partnership in a stock brokerage. He eventually drifts back into a relationship with a taxi dancer, Maizie (Arlene Judge). Learning that Allie is pregnant, Charlie scrapes some money together with the idea of making amends. But he's robbed just before Allie confronts him with his lies and infidelities. The last-minute reformation of the loutish husband, just in time to avert a suicide, didn't convince. Neither did some of the dated '20's jargon in Garret Fort's screenplay, such as the term 'wet smack' to represent a kiss, and 'boop-boop-a-doop.' Reviewers thought Helen Twelvetrees' efforts were wasted on the sordid story but had kind words for Arlene Judge 's entertaining bad girl, and the comic support of cheerful Cliff Edwards, stuttering Roscoe Ates and Polly Walters, whose character was labeled 'a dumb Dora type.' Producer Selznick's later output rejected working class misery in favor of glossy upscale fare, such as Made for Each Other (1939) and Since You Went Away (1944).

By Glenn Erickson