DbcultAccessing Vault...
Cult Review
Archivist John
Senior Editor
If you have any interest in seeing what Princeton looked like before it became a backdrop for modern prestige dramas, Varsity is worth a look. Otherwise, it’s a bit of a struggle. It’s one of those 'part-talkies' from 1928, which means you spend the first half of the movie reading title cards and the second half being startled by characters who suddenly sound like they are shouting from the bottom of a well. It’s a movie for people who like the aesthetic of the 1920s—the heavy wool sweaters, the wooden dorm furniture, and that very specific brand of collegiate anxiety—but it’s probably going to bore anyone looking for a tight story.
The whole thing centers on Buddy Rogers. He plays Jimmy, the big man on campus. Rogers has this face that was clearly designed for the silent era; he does a lot of work with his eyebrows. There are moments where he’s meant to look conflicted about his secret father or his girlfriend, but he mostly just looks like he’s trying to remember if he left a window open. He’s charming, sure, but in that very stiff, 'America’s Boyfriend' way that feels a bit alien now.
The real heart of the movie is supposed to be Chester Conklin as Pop, the janitor who is secretly Jimmy’s dad. Conklin is usually a comedian—you might recognize him from his work with Chaplin—and seeing him try to play this heavy, tragic role is... well, it’s a choice. He spends a lot of time lurking in the shadows of the dorm hallways. There’s one shot where he’s looking through a doorway at Jimmy, and the lighting is so dramatic it almost feels like a horror movie instead of a father-son drama. It’s a bit much. The movie wants you to feel this deep, aching pathos for him, but because the sound quality is so scratchy when he finally speaks, the emotion kind of gets lost in the hiss of the audio track.
I found myself looking at the backgrounds more than the actors. The location shooting at Princeton is the best thing about the film. There’s a scene in a dorm room that feels cluttered in a very real way—not the staged, clean 'movie' version of a room. There are pennants on the wall and books stacked haphazardly. It feels lived-in. Then there’s the drinking. It’s 1928, so we’re right in the middle of Prohibition, but these kids are hitting the flasks like it’s a legal requirement. The movie doesn't really judge them for it, which is a nice break from the preachy tone of some other films from the era, like The City That Never Sleeps.
The dialogue scenes are where the wheels really fall off. When the sound kicks in, everyone stops moving. It’s like the actors were terrified that if they shifted their weight, the microphone (probably hidden in a nearby potted plant) wouldn't pick them up. Mary Brian is the love interest, and she’s fine, but her scenes with Rogers have zero heat. They stand about three feet apart and talk at each other. It’s less like a romance and more like two people negotiating a real estate contract. There’s a specific moment where she reacts to a piece of news and her face stays frozen for about five seconds too long. It’s one of those 'is the film stuck?' moments.
The pacing is weirdly lopsided. The first thirty minutes feel like they’re rushing to get somewhere, and then the middle of the movie just hangs out in the dorms for an eternity. There’s an extra in one of the hallway scenes—a tall guy with glasses—who keeps looking directly at the camera. Once you notice him, it’s hard to look at anything else. He’s just there, ruining the reality of 1920s Princeton by being clearly aware he’s in a movie.
I did like the football game footage. It’s grainy and chaotic, and it doesn't have that over-choreographed feel of modern sports movies. You get a sense of how dangerous those games actually were. No one has any real padding; they just look like guys in slightly thicker sweaters running into each other at full speed. It’s one of the few times the movie feels like it has a pulse.
The ending feels like it was written in a cab on the way to the set. Everything gets resolved in about two minutes of screen time, and then it just... stops. It’s not satisfying, but by that point, I was mostly just thinking about how itchy those wool uniforms must have been. It’s a movie of small observations rather than big emotions. If you want a better-paced drama from this period, you’re better off looking at something like The Show, which at least understands how to keep a scene moving. Varsity is more like a slide show of a world that doesn't exist anymore. It’s interesting to look at, but you wouldn't want to live there.
IMDb 5.4
1927
Community
Log in to comment.
