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5.3/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.3/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Freshman Love remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Honestly, only if you have a weird soft spot for 1930s campus comedies where the plot is thinner than a piece of notebook paper. If you like classic screwball energy or just want to see a very young Lloyd Bridges in the background, you might find something here. But if you hate movies where the 'romance' feels like a weird business transaction, stay far away.
Frank McHugh is playing the coach here, and he is just vibrating with this frantic, twitchy energy. He spends the whole movie trying to sabotage other teams by using Patricia Ellis as bait. It is honestly kind of uncomfortable to watch, even for a movie this old. She is treated more like a piece of equipment than a person.
The actual rowing parts? They are... there. It’s mostly just people sitting in boats looking intense while the camera cuts away to people cheering on the shore. It reminded me a bit of the frantic pacing in I Love a Parade, where everything moves fast but nobody really goes anywhere.
There is a moment where the dialogue gets so rapid-fire that I had to rewind it twice. It feels like the writers were terrified that if they let the characters breathe for a second, the audience would realize the movie didn't have much else going on. It’s not quite as chaotic as Way Out West, but it shares that same desperate need to keep you laughing at things that aren't actually that funny.
It’s not a good movie by any stretch, but it’s a weird artifact. It feels like a relic from a time when college was just a backdrop for goofy pranks and light flirting. If you enjoy the dusty corners of cinema history, check it out. Just don't expect a masterpiece.