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6.4/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.4/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Age for Love remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
You should watch this if you like Pre-Code movies that feel way more modern than they have any right to be. It is definately for fans of domestic drama and people who like looking at 1930s furniture.
Don't bother if you want a fast plot or if you can't stand characters who just sit around and talk about their feelings in fancy rooms. It moves slow. 🐌
Billie Dove is Jean and she is basically the only reason I stayed awake through the first twenty minutes. She has this way of looking at the camera that makes you feel like she knows exactly how ridiculous her husband is being.
Her outfits are also incredible. There is this one silk robe she wears that probably cost more than my first car.
She wants to work. She likes her life. But then there is Dudley.
Dudley is played by Charles Starrett and, man, is he a wet blanket. He has this very stiff way of standing, like he's swallowed a yardstick before every scene.
He wants kids. He wants a wife who stays home and waits for him to come back from the office. Boring.
The sound quality is a bit rough since it’s 1931. You can hear the background hiss whenever the room gets quiet.
There is a scene where they are eating dinner and the clinking of the forks on the plates is so loud it becomes distracting. It’s like the sound guy forgot to turn down the table mic.
Edward Everett Horton shows up too. He is doing his usual nervous, twitchy routine which is always a win in my book.
He really lightens things up when the drama gets a bit too heavy-handed. Without him, this movie would be a real slog.
The movie is trying to be deep about whether women can "have it all." It feels like a conversation people are still having today, which is kind of depressing if you think about it too long.
Jean is so much more interesting when she’s at her job. When she’s at home with Dudley, she looks like she’s shrinking.
It reminded me a bit of the vibe in The Smiling Madame Beudet, just with more talking and less weird camera tricks.
The husband eventually leaves and marries someone else who actually wants the house and kids. Her name is Sylvia.
Sylvia is fine, I guess. But she’s so ordinary compared to Jean.
There is this one shot of Jean looking out a window after the breakup that lingers for way too long. I think it was supposed to be poetic, but I just started wondering what she was looking at on the street below.
The pacing is all over the place. One minute they are married, and the next, years have passed and everything is different.
It doesn't have that smooth flow you get in something like The Sign of the Cross. It’s much more clunky.
I also kept thinking about A Regular Girl while watching this. There’s just something about these early 30s movies and their obsession with "independent" women who eventually get pressured by society.
The ending isn't really a happy one, or at least it doesn't feel like one to me. It feels like everyone just settled because they were tired of arguing.
It’s not a masterpiece. It’s just a weird, slightly clunky look at how people used to fight about the same stuff we fight about now.
If you see it on a streaming list, give it a go for Billie Dove alone. Just be ready to roll your eyes at the husband a lot. 🙄
Anyway, I'm going to go look up where I can buy a robe like the one Jean had. Probably can't afford it.
IMDb 7.7
1928
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