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6.1/10
Archivist John
Senior Editor
A definitive 6.1/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Love's Young Scream remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have twenty minutes and a weird obsession with how people in the 1920s thought college worked, Love's Young Scream is worth your time. It is a total relic, but a fun one.
People who love physical comedy that feels like it’s being made up on the fly will dig this. If you can’t stand the over-the-top mugging of silent-era actors, stay far away from this one. 🏃♂️
The whole thing feels like it was filmed over a long weekend where everyone was slightly sleep-deprived. It’s got that frantic Christie Comedies energy that I honestly find kind of comforting.
Cliff Lancaster stars as our lead, and he’s got this lanky, awkward energy that reminds me of a younger, less coordinated version of the guy in The Strong Man. He spends a lot of time looking confused, which, honestly, same.
The plot is basically just an excuse to get people running through doors. There’s a fraternity, a girl (the lovely Anne Cornwall), and a skeleton that gets way more screen time than you’d expect.
I love how the skeleton is clearly just a bunch of plastic or wood bits held together by visible wire. It moves with this jerky, unnerving rhythm that actually makes it funnier than if it looked real. 💀
There’s a moment where the skeleton is hidden in a bed, and the reaction shot from Cliff is so long it almost becomes a different movie. He just keeps staring. And staring.
Anne Cornwall is probably the best thing here, though. She has these huge, expressive eyes that do more work than the actual script by Sig Herzig and Al Martin.
She doesn’t just play the 'love interest'—she feels like she’s actually in on the joke. It reminds me of the energy in Go West, Young Woman, where the women actually get to be funny too.
One thing that bugged me was the lighting in the indoor scenes. It’s very flat, like they just turned on every light in the building and hoped for the best. 💡
But then you get a shot of the old cars outside and everything looks gorgeous again. The contrast is jarring if you're paying attention to the technical stuff, but maybe don't do that.
The pacing gets a little hairy around the ten-minute mark. It feels like they realized they didn't have enough story for a full two-reeler, so they added more running.
It’s not quite as polished as It's the Old Army Game, which had a bit more of a professional sheen to it. This feels more like a home movie made by professionals who were bored.
I noticed James Harrison in the background of one scene just looking completely lost. He’s supposed to be part of the fraternity crowd, but he looks like he wandered in from a different set entirely. Maybe from the set of A Fraternity Mixup?
There is a gag involving a window that I swear I’ve seen in five other movies from 1928. It still works, though, because gravity is always funny.
The intertitles are okay, but some of the jokes are a bit 'groaner' status. You can tell they were trying really hard to be hip for the 1920s college crowd.
I kept thinking about Why I Would Not Marry while watching this, mostly because of the cynical view of romance. Everyone in this movie is basically one misunderstanding away from a total meltdown. 😂
Is it a classic? No, not really. But it’s got a specific kind of soul that you don’t find in the big 'prestige' silent films.
It’s messy and the makeup on Gus Leonard is a bit much. He looks like he’s wearing a mask made of flour.
Actually, the whole cast is a bit of a 'who's who' of people you recognize but can't quite name. Harry Depp shows up, and he has such a specific, weird face that you can't help but watch him in the background of every shot.
If you like seeing how comedy used to be built—brick by brick, gag by gag—it’s a decent watch. Just don’t expect it to change your life or anything.
It’s just a silly movie about a guy, a girl, and a very floppy skeleton. Sometimes that’s enough for a Tuesday night. 🌙
The ending is abrupt, too. Like they just ran out of film and said 'yep, that'll do.' I kind of respect that.
IMDb —
1919
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