Young Romance (1915) User Reviews

A shop girl's romance

[kidboots · 7/10 · 25 March 2009]

The Taliaferro sisters were early stars of the stage and screen. Mabel made her name in films earning the title "the sweetheart of the movies". Edith conquered the stage, originating the role of "Rebecca of Sunny brook Farm" in 1913. She only made 3 films of which "Young Romance" was the first. Even though Cecil B. DeMille has the title of Director General - it feels like the work of William C. de Mille. An intimate little drama of ordinary people, the kind of film William excelled in.

After the beautiful titled introduction, the story begins. Nellie (Edith Taliaferro) of the Notions counter in a city department store reads and dreams of romance. Tom (Tom Forman) who works in the hardware department in the same store is also reading the same romantic serial - he, however, dreams of adventure. Tom decides to live like a gentleman for a week while Nellie decides to live like a lady - also for a week. Nellie finds an advertisement for the Hotel Imperial in the paper while Tom opts for Bellview Mansions (it's more expensive!!) When Tom arrives at his destination he finds it is a real dive and he is not impressed!!

Nellie is posing as Miss Ethel Van Dusen - Tom as Roderick de Vignier, the hero of the romantic serial they had both been reading. They meet at the beach - Nellie is stranded on a rock and he comes to her rescue - just like her serial romance. There is a funny scene at the hotel's restaurant where the waiter is determined to direct them to the most expensive items on the menu!!! On Wednesday friends arrive to see Miss Van Dusen (the real one that is) - so Nellie is ready to flee but when she accidentally bumps into them, it seems they haven't seen her since she was a child, so that is a problem averted.

Count Spagnoli (Al Garcia) is in reality a fortune hunter. There is a bit of mystery - is he being blackmailed by Tom's landlady??? There are not enough titles provided to understand what is going on.He sees an article in the paper that says Miss Van Dusen is to inherit $50,000. He begins to romance her and like a little duffer, she falls for his oily charms. Tom is left out in the cold.The Count invites her out for a ride in his motor boat - he is actually planning to kidnap her until she agrees to give him some of her inheritance. Even when she relents and falsely signs over $10,000 he still leaves her on the island until the cheque is cashed. Tom overhears the Count making his escape - he has already seen Nellie in the motor boat - and forces the evil partner at gunpoint to take him to the island where Nellie is being held captive.

Tom and Nellie have fallen in love but both are afraid that if they tell each other their real circumstances they will lose that love. They go back to their everyday world - still dreaming of their magical holiday. Then Tom is promoted to the Perfume department!!! They fall into each others arms!!! This is a beautiful slice of life about a time that will never come again and it is Highly Recommended!!!

a charming little antique

[mjneu59 · 6/10 · 17 January 2011]

Two young clerks in a department store meet and fall in love during a seaside vacation in Maine, but part as strangers because, unknown to each other, both had been masquerading as upper-class 'swells', just to see how the better half lives. With so much coincidence already at work it's hardly surprising when (happily) the two are reunited after their mutual charade is over, but despite an all-too convenient resolution the scenario still shows plenty of simple, unassuming charm after more than three-quarters of a century in the archives (as of the screening I attended, way back in 1987). Likewise, the film itself has been beautifully preserved, with the freshly struck, tinted print opening like a small window onto the manners and customs of a more innocent age.

1915 Beach party movie

[funkyfry · 5/10 · 8 November 2002]

Some funny situational comedy punctuates the strictly routine story, which is about trouble some beach kids (1915 style) get into when they try to spend a week away from work to pretend to be rich and carefree. Everything happens pretty fast, but there's the standard blackmail creating endless possibilities for melodrama to prevent the two's inevitable coupling until the end of the fifth reel. Pretty standard stuff from Cecil's brother Willie.

Mediocre Film, but Quality Print

[Cineanalyst · 5/10 · 18 October 2009]

"Young Romance" is a simple, rather pointless, little film; perhaps, it could be called a programmer, since there seems to be nothing special about it. An exception is that, today, the film is somewhat special for a film from 1915 because it's available in such great condition. When an early film says it's produced for home video by David Shepard, you can expect topnotch quality; indeed, the picture has been transferred from an excellent 35 mm print. For anyone who's seen many early silent films, you know this can be enough to make a film worth watching, and I'd recommend this one on that basis.

"Young Romance", however, is distinctly average otherwise, or even less than. Girl and boy fall in love, and there's a bad guy who captures the girl for a while, before the boy saves her and they live happily ever after. It's a hackneyed story, in other words. The setup for the romance is that the two work in the same shop (but in different sections, so they don't meet in the beginning, but can in the end) and both separately decide to pretend they're rich for a week. The plot for actors pretending to be characters pretending to be other characters is nice, but this photoplay doesn't do much with it. The photography looks crisp thanks to the quality print and transfer, but the cinematography itself is nothing special for 1915, but it's not bad, either. It's also a short, lighthearted picture, with thankfully few title cards, so it's not boring and can be somewhat enjoyable.

(Note: Cecil B. DeMille is displayed as "director-general" on the film's credits, but it doesn't seem that he was the film's director; he was probably either a supervising producer or just stole credit from George Melford to help sell the picture. The "director-general" credit is small compared to DeMille's usual credits even around 1915, this film doesn't look like a DeMille picture, and I haven't found any historian yet to give DeMille credit for this production.)

Decent

[Michael_Elliott · 12 March 2008]

Young Romance (1915)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Early romantic comedy directed by William C. DeMille and Cecil B. DeMille (even though the IMDb credits someone else). A poor girl (Edith Taliaferrpo) and poor boy (Florence Dagmar) work at the same department store but don't know one another. They've both got a week's vacation coming up and both decide to pretend to be rich in hopes of finding someone rich to marry them. They both end up at the same resort and eventually hook up with both thinking the other is rich. The biggest problem with this film is that, like most romantic comedies of today, the thing is just way too predictable but the star's charm keeps things going. The best scene is when the two go on a date at an expensive restaurant and the waiter keeps order the most expensive stuff on the menu not knowing the guy is poor and won't be able to pay for it.

Charming Little Flic

[iquine · 5/10 · 26 September 2017]

(Flash Review)

Not much has changed in 100+ years since this film was first show. Many people still dream of living like the upper class. This is the case of two young regular-class people who work at the 'notions counter' (ha, so classic) of a department store. Each not knowing each other, set off to spend a luxurious week pretending to be wealthy at a summer resort. Their paths cross while in their faux façade and they hit it off. How long can they hide their true social status from each other? What quirky scenarios will entangle their pretend personalities? For this era, the film quality is pretty good and the story was told with minimal title cards. A fun twist here and there but I felt too many scenes seemed to drag. Always fun to see life during that time period.

A Delightful Discovery from 1915

[hoppitysmummy · 10/10 · 31 August 2017]

There seems to be some confusion over who directed this splendid little movie, as Robert R Connelly's 'Motion Picture Guide' (Silent Film 1910-1936) also lists George Melford. If so, this is quite a revelation from the director of the turgid THE SHEIK (1921).

Agreed, the plot is slight and predictable, but the film is well paced and developed, with a good thread of humour running through it. The characters' lack of finances and the methods used (second hand clothes, a cheap hotel near the posh one) are amusingly done, and young Tom's extreme discomfort (reminiscent of a similar scene in George Orwell's 'Keep the Aspidistra Flying' is achingly funny and nicely balanced BY the later scene at the more modest diner.

I had not heard of this movie until it cropped up on YouTube, and found it a total delight. Once again, a very good music score is supplied by the tireless Robert Israel.