1931's "I Like Your Nerve" is an alleged First National comedy that wears out its welcome in record time. Coming off the classic gangster thriller "Little Caesar," Douglas Fairbanks Jr. does what he can with a clichéd character of idle rich American Larry O'Brien (the kind of role that Harold Lloyd played in 1923's "Why Worry?"), sent to the South American town of San Arango, where he indelicately falls in impulsive love with beautiful Diane Forsythe (Loretta Young), despite her imminent betrothal to the much older Clive Lattimer (Edmond Breon). Displaying as much nerve as the title suggests, Larry manages to court the admittedly reluctant bride, going so far as to address her father, Ariel Pacheco (Henry Kolker), who happens to be the nation's Minister of Finance, a position with an unpleasant recent history of violent death. It's not long before the impetuous youth uncovers the sadly obvious reason behind the arranged marriage, but as usual the instant attraction between the two stars comes off as wholly forced and labored. Of the small credited cast of just six players, it's a pleasure to see Boris Karloff listed last as Pacheco's retainer Luigi, as one would think that a dozen lines and about a minute and a half on screen might have gone unbilled, about five months prior to "Frankenstein." Fairbanks and Young do make an attractive couple, but nothing feels natural about their relationship, and even the supposedly happy ending makes one wonder where the pair can go, since they hardly know each other; I had the same problem with the conclusion of "The Graduate" - what exactly does victory entail? Not entirely dull, but lacking in humor and real substance. Director William McGann was a former cinematographer for the elder Fairbanks, while Boris Karloff and Loretta Young would be reunited nearly three years later, opposite George Arliss in "The House of Rothschild."
Review of I Like Your Nerve
