Parents Wanted (1932) review - a weird little relic

If you are into dusty, forgotten 1930s melodramas where everyone talks like they are trying to win a fast-speaking contest, Parents Wanted might be worth a lazy Sunday watch. But if you hate scratchy audio and actors who gesture wildly with their hats, stay far away. 🤷‍♂️

The whole thing is basically about a young guy—played by William Janney—who is desperately trying to find a family to take him in. The legal system in this movie makes absolutely no sense, though.

Honestly, it feels like they wrote the script in a weekend over too many cups of cheap coffee. Janney is so earnest it almost hurts to watch.

He has this weird habit of grabbing his own suit lapels whenever he gets sad, which is basically every five minutes. It makes him look like a tiny, worried politician.

There's this one scene where Ethel Wales is pouring tea and she clearly spills a huge puddle right into the saucer. She doesn't even blink, she just keeps talking about adoption papers while the cup is literally floating in tea. ☕

I found myself thinking about The Pip from Pittsburg while watching this. That short had actual energy, whereas this one feels like it's running on fumes by the halfway mark.

Harold Goodwin shows up too, looking like he'd rather be doing literally anything else. He has this glazed look in his eyes during the dining room scene that is honestly very relatable.

Also, the music just... stops sometimes? Like the guy running the soundboard just fell asleep or went to get a sandwich.

It's not a complete waste of time if you like obscure history, but it's definately not a masterpiece. If you want something with actual bite, maybe try The Devil's Prize instead.

At one point, an old man played by Edward McWade walks into a room and just stares at the camera for three whole seconds. I'm pretty sure he forgot his line, but they couldn't afford another take so they just left it in.

That is the kind of movie this is. Anyway, it's short, and that is its best quality.