Accent on Youth: A Sweet, Sometimes Stiff Rom-Com

Is it worth the watch?

If you like old-school, snappy dialogue where people talk in full paragraphs about their feelings, you'll probably dig Accent on Youth. It’s got that classic theater vibe. If you hate movies where the main character is a bit of a dense grump, maybe skip it. You have to be okay with a lot of people standing around in rooms talking about who should marry who.

Herbert Marshall is the lead here. He plays the playwright, and he’s got that specific, dry way of speaking that makes you think he’s bored even when he’s happy. He’s supposed to be this sophisticated guy who knows everything about love on paper but is completely clueless in his own living room.

Sylvia Sidney plays the secretary. She’s got these big, expressive eyes that do all the heavy lifting when the script gets a little too wordy. There’s a scene early on where she just looks at him, and you can see the whole plot unfolding. It’s effective, even if the movie tries a bit too hard to make their age difference the *main* problem.

Oddly specific things I noticed

• The furniture looks incredibly uncomfortable. Everyone sits so upright.
• The way people answer phones in this movie is hilarious. It’s always so formal.
• Donald Meek is in this, and honestly, I’d watch him read a phone book. He just pops up and makes everything feel ten percent more grounded.

The middle part of the film drags, if I’m being honest. The playwright tries to set her up with a younger guy, and it feels like a sequence from Our Leading Citizen where you just want to shout at the screen to stop meddling. It gets a little repetitive. We get it, you think you're too old for her!

I found myself wondering if this would have worked better as a stage play. There’s almost no reason for the camera to move. It’s just people walking from one side of a desk to the other. It feels very contained, almost like the walls are closing in on the characters.

Still, there’s something genuinely sweet about it. It doesn't have the cynicism you see in later romantic comedies. It’s just... polite. Sometimes, that’s all I really want on a rainy Tuesday. ☕

It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s definitely not a waste of an hour. Just don’t expect it to change your life or anything. It’s just a nice, slightly dusty little story about people being messy with their hearts.