Fighting Youth
Cast & Crew
Hamilton Macfadden
Charles Farrell
June Martel
Andy Devine
Ann Sheridan
J. Farrell Macdonald
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
At State, "a college, not a school," "Cy" Kipp arrives at the campus penniless and immediately tries to borrow money. He is the boyfriend of "Dodo" Gates, but notices Carol Arlington, the beautiful daughter of a businessman. "All-American" football player Larry Davis intimates to Betty Wilson that he hopes to marry her, but maintains that he must graduate and find a job first. When Cy is unable to pay for his meal at the Heigh-ho Cafe, he is assigned to wash the windows but only succeeds in breaking the glass. Carol secretly meets with Louis Markoff, who is posing as a law student, and he explains that a "committee" of radicals has selected her to be the new president of the Student League of Freedom. The committee orders an attack on the football program, which they contend exploits the talent of individual students for the college's benefit. To subvert Larry, Carol flirts with him at the gas station where he works and persuades him to stand up Betty and join her at a league meeting. At the meeting, Larry impulsively joins Carol's plan to fight football and is offended when Betty intimates he is not such a hero off the field. During State's game against Manchester, Larry is distracted, and his fumbling causes conservative coach Parker to withdraw him from the game. Afterward, Larry and Carol go to the cafe. Markoff's rumors that Larry deliberately lost the game cause Parker to suspend him. Former coach Bull Stevens and the "Old Grads" are brought in to restore morale, and Larry quits the team after rough tactics send his roommate, Paul, to the hospital. Markoff finds that his room has been ransacked and persuades Betty to withdraw the hidden records of committee meetings for Larry's benefit. However, Betty is kidnapped, and the next day, she and Markoff appear before Dean Churchill. Markoff, who is relying on campus radical Tony Tonetti for his alibi, is instead suddenly exposed as Russian agent Boris Marovich. Tonetti is actually a Department of Justice agent on the trail of enemy aliens who are out to subvert the United States government. At the police station, the spoiled Carol receives a spanking. Parker still refuses to accept a former radical on his team, even to break a losing streak, until at the end of the fourth quarter, the crowd shouts, "We want Larry!" Finally Larry is sent in, and in the remaining few minutes, wins the game by one point. He and Betty are then reunited.
Director
Hamilton Macfadden
Cast
Charles Farrell
June Martel
Andy Devine
Ann Sheridan
J. Farrell Macdonald
Edward Nugent
Phyllis Fraser
Herman Bing
Alden Chase
Larry "moon" Mullins
Jim Purvis
Paul Schwegler
Dale Van Sickel
Jim Thorpe
Leslie Cooper
Howard "red" Christie
Nick Lukats
Frank Sully
Glen Boles
Murray Kinnell
Charles Wilson
Jeff Cravath
Walter Johnson
Clara Kimball Young
Ralph Brooks
Bob Hale
Dell Henderson
Russell Wade
Clyde Dilson
David O'brien
William Moore
Mickey Bennett
Charles Tannen
Parker Mcconnell
William R. Arnold
Colonel Mcdonnell
Roberta Gale
George Humbert
Lew Kelly
Tiny Sandford
Al Williams
Jack Mower
Frank Baker
"dutch" Fehring
Jack Gratten
John Morley
Wade Boteler
Babe Lawrence
Edmund Cobb
Vance Carroll
Harry Adams
Marcia Remy
Kay Hughes
Mary Bovard
Constance Lee
Helen Valkis
Chloe Elrod
Jean Rogers
John King
Auguste Tollaire
Crew
Bakaleinikoff
Ralph Berger
George Blair
Bernard Burton
Robert Dillon
Ansel Friedberger
John P. Fulton
Henry Johnson
Gilbert Kurland
Carl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle
Hamilton Macfadden
Fred Mchugh
Fred S. Meyer
Stan Meyer
Florabel Muir
Victor Noerdlinger
Maurice Pivar
Jean Raymond
Edward J. Snyder
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Motion Picture Herald and CBCS list "Moon" Mullins, Jim Purvis, Paul Schwegler and Jim Thorpe as "Old grads," although they are credited as football players on screen. Motion Picture Herald and CBCS also list Herman Bing's role as "Luigi," not "Herman." During the opening credits, technical and title credits appear on footballs, kicked toward the camera while marching songs play in the background. According to Hollywood Reporter, the film was timely because of recent publicity on "Communist activity in the schools."
