We Went to College (1936)

Director:

Joseph Santley

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay) and
Maurice Rapf (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 June 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Phil is high strung and needs a rest so Nina talks him into going to the Sutter College homecoming. He takes his wife and Glenn...

Plot Keywords:

Brick | College | Homecoming | Contract | Writer

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Charles Butterworth	...	Glenn Harvey
Walter Abel	...	Phil Talbot
Hugh Herbert	...	Professor Ellery Standish
Una Merkel	...	Susan Standish
Edith Atwater	...	Nina Talbot
Walter Catlett	...	Senator Budger
Charles Trowbridge	...	President Tomlin
Tom Ricketts	...	'Pop'

Also Known As:

The Old School Tie (UK)

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #2329) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Charles King in the role of "Cookie", Nora Cecil and Lillian Harmer are in studio records/casting call lists as cast members, but they did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie. Others listed in contemporary news items as being in the cast, but who were not seen, were Pat West, E. Alyn Warren, Arthur Aylesworth and Edgar Kennedy.

Soundtrack:

Academic Festival Overture in C minor, Op.80

Pretty grim

Sociologically this movie is interesting: At the time it came out, college was less common for people than it's now become. Though the characters are ostensibly engaged in their alumni homecoming event, it's a silly event. Maybe college was like that in the thirties but it sure wasn't when I went in the seventies.

The cast boasts some big names. They're mostly second- or third-leads -- father or uncle types. They do OK, though Walter Abel, as one of the two central characters, seems annoyed throughout. More annoyed, I'd say, than his character is meant to be.

In its favor, it has a chamber music performance. It has Shakespeare, too. I couldn't quite make this out but I think a scene for Othello had the Moor played in black-face: Not just darkened skin but real minstrel show regalia. If so, that is unfortunate and if I am mistaken, my apologies to all.

Either way, from it's dopey opening credits, I can't think of any real reason to see this.