So This Is College (1929) User Reviews

Creaky early college comedy is routine stuff all the way...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 9 January 2006]

Never has college been presented on screen with so many over-age players posing as college kids. How can we explain CLIFF EDWARDS (who was 35), ELLIOT NUGENT (34) and youngster ROBERT MONTGOMERY (25), all playing college seniors in a flimsy vehicle about friendships spoiled when a pretty girl causes the break-up of male roommates. It's the sort of routine college comedy done many times before without any new twists.

It's fun seeing ROBERT MONTGOMERY looking so youthful, but he's the only one who convincingly portrays a college guy. Nugent plays the kind of football hero he satirized when he co-wrote "The Male Animal" with James Thurber, a spoof on college life and brawn over brains.

Nugent at least looks a bit more believable as a football player than the slim Montgomery, but he's just satisfactory in a role that requires him to be earnestly in love with the girl his roommate has also taken a fancy to. Nugent's talent as an actor is about on a level with the bumbling but earnest Sonny Tufts (at a later era), and he wisely turned his talents toward directing by the late '30s.

It's primitive fluff, watchable if you're curious about how college life was depicted by Hollywood in the late '20s--but quite forgettable as a piece of light entertainment.

An Historical Artifact from MGM

[richardrandbman · 4/10 · 12 January 2006]

This film is one of a genre very popular in late-20's and early 30's;in which college boys agonize over "loving" the same girl. Usually a girl they've just met. Our movie explores this issue in a rather uninspired manner . A dedicated "cinemaphile" has to endure lots of abject silliness in order to stay with it. Of main interest is that Robert Montgomery makes his initial "talkie" appearance here;and later-to-be successful playwright Elliot Nugent is also on display as actor only. And for just a few moments toward the end of the film one can view a very charismatic Joel Mccrea in the stands of the football stadium with the lead actress.He even has a few lines to say.Incidentally, following the storyline is a tad difficult. Continuity is apparently of little importance to the film makers, thus scenes and characters pop up seemingly out of nowhere. The actors constantly say and do the same things over and over in different ways scene after scene. And it would be absolutely fascinating to know how the lead female was selected .The poor actress is given the thankless role of 'femme fatale ' despite the physical appearance of a chubby 15 year old. From an historical viewpoint if you care about movies you almost have to watch it, but be prepared for a "bumpy night"

Badly dated but the last half hour is not bad if you make it that far

[csteidler · 4/10 · 19 January 2017]

Could anybody be as obnoxious as the frat boys in the first 20 minutes of this antique? They throw food, they argue about who gets the most girls, they make the freshmen carry their trunks up the fraternity house steps....On the screen it's less funny than that sounds.

Elliott Nugent and Robert Montgomery play football stars entering their senior year. As soon as they are all moved in, they get right down to the intelligent dialog:

Montgomery: The team's got a tough schedule this year.

Nugent: Yeah, we sure have.

Montgomery: I've decided we're gonna cut out the women until after the football season's over.

Nugent: You – hey, are you serious?

Soon enough, the pair cross paths with cute co-ed Sally Star, who enchants them both. Nugent's approach is pushy, Montgomery's more polite, but she shows interest in both and rather quickly the picture develops into a fairly standard two-fellows-in-love-with-the-same- girl story.

The farce takes a more serious turn at about the one hour mark— Nugent, in particular, becomes suddenly human and much more sympathetic. The climax of the story hangs not on which of them will get the girl but a much more important question:

With their friendship all busted up, will Nugent and Montgomery blow the big game against Stanford?

Technically, it's an early talkie fraught with the typical weaknesses—static camera work, dropped dialog—of that brief period during which filmmakers rushed to adopt a new and imperfect technology, making it up as they went. Dramatically, it's really pretty silly.

Still….There is some lively football action in the closing minutes. Also, Cliff Edwards sings a couple of okay tunes.

SO THIS IS COLLEGE is a great early talkie-musical

[CHARLIE-89 · 7 February 1999]

SO THIS IS COLLEGE is one of those movies that has such an antique look to it you can't help but to stop and see what it is when you're flipping through the TV channels. It is a pretty good musical. The cast works well. Max Davidson is a great Jewish character actor. I recall seeing him in some of the early Laurel and Hardy silents. This film from 1929 gives an interesting look at college life in the late '20s. It's a lot of fun. It includes a big football game sequence. Robert Montgomery stars, in one of his earliest film roles.

You gotta be a football hero

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 2 June 2017]

In Robert Montgomery's third film for MGM he and Elliott Nugent play a couple of BMOCs on campus and the biggest guys on campus are football players and seniors. The two have a goodnatured rivalry over all things including women they date. But along comes flapper Sally Starr and these two have their mojos in overdrive.

It's as the Bard said it Antony And Cleopatra, Cleo leaves all the men not just satisfied but wanting more. Nugent and Montgomery are both hot to trot for her and it threatens all with them including their team work on the gridiron.

Lots of music, 20s style in So This Is College mostly provided by Cliff 'Ukelele Ike' Edwards. Starr also shows her stuff in some 20s style dancing.

The climax is the big game USC versus Stanford and there's quite an ironical postscript for these two yoyos. It's a good introduction for the work of Robert Montgomery who was starting to be noticed they don't want you.

All Talking, All Singing, All Dancing Coeds!

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 4 April 2010]

Unlike many films about college, this one actually names the location - USC, although you never see anybody here crack a book. If you like the early talkies, and in particular if you like Robert Montgomery, I do recommend this one. It is typical of MGM's output in 1929 and 1930 in that if they made a movie that was the least bit comical, then it had to be at least partially musical. This one has some drama in it, but it is mainly a comedy.

Eddie (Elliott Nugent) and Biff (Robert Montgomery) are popular senior football stars playing at USC, moving into their dorm room for the fourth and last time. They're buddies through thick and thin, but then a beautiful coed comes along that neither encourages nor discourages either of them enough to make them believe they are not in the hunt for her affections. At that point, a four-year friendship on campus and on the football field becomes strained. Will the young woman (Sally Starr) choose Eddie? Biff? none of the above? Watch and find out.

This film is notable for being Robert Montgomery's third film role and Cliff Edwards' second. As such, at this point, Elliott Nugent is billed ahead of Montgomery, but that will soon change as Montgomery is a big hit with audiences and begins to compete with William Haines for the kind of leading man roles that normally had gone to Haines. Cliff Edwards doesn't have a huge role here, and frankly he looks way too old to be playing a college student, but he is still fun to watch as always. He is mainly comic relief and musical accompaniment in the musical numbers carrying his trademark ukulele. Also note Polly Moran as the cook at the fraternity house where Biff and Eddie live. She doesn't have many lines, but what she does have goes a long way. I also enjoyed the dance scene as some of the wilder dance numbers echo the exuberance that is the hallmark of the end of the roaring 20's.

Leading lady Sally Starr isn't that well known today, but she was heavily promoted by MGM in the early talkie era as an answer to Clara Bow, and you can't help but see the similarities in everything from her demeanor to her voice that sounds quite a bit like Ms. Bow.

Others have called this film creaky and static, but I really enjoyed it and thought it moved along nicely. There are no halting long-winded scenes, no gestures left over from the silent era - everyone involved seems to "get" acting in the talkie era. The only problem I could see is that occasionally the soundtrack would overpower the speech of the actors and make conversation hard to pick up, but this didn't happen very often. Just don't come to this one looking for a heavy dramatic storyline or even one that makes a lot of sense. It is pure escapism.

Campus Craze

[kitablett-05623 · 6/10 · 4 December 2017]

Not to be taken seriously, this college movie is one of many at the time. Made by MGM, it starts off as a campus musical comedy and then becomes very dramatic towards the end, with the usual football game included where the heroes, of course, win the game. The male leads, Elliott Nugent and Robert Montgomery are very likable, but the love interest,Sally Starr, is quite unlikable as the fickle girl they're both in love with and comes across as a cross between Clara Bow and Janet Gaynor without their charm. Her career throughout the thirties seem to be mostly in short films. Nugent, of course, became a famous director and certainly was no great star in movies, although he has a good singing voice. Also featuring Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards, famous for the voice of Jiminy Cricket in the Disney animated film of "Pinocchio" in 1940,seemed to be a stalwart of MGM musicals at this time and sings a few catchy songs. although he and Nugent, at 33, seen a bit old to play college men.Some good little tunes and musical numbers at the beginning of the movie and I love the way that in those early musicals , the numbers were performed live. It wasn't until about 1935 that Hollywood started to prerecord the musical soundtrack.A young Montgomery makes a good impression here in one of his first roles and certainly did become a major star at this studio. Another early talkie that is quite entertaining, despite the overall view from critics that these early sound films were nearly all terrible. I particularly enjoy them. Interesting to see Max Davidson and Polly Moran in small supporting roles, even though they don't have much to do. Also a small, early role for Joel McCrae as the boy Starr eventually falls for. Also, you can glimpse Ann Dvorak among the college girls and Ward Bond as one of the college football players. To sum up, an enjoyable time killer.

An odd mix

[gbill-74877 · 6/10 · 16 February 2023]

(3 stars)

"Are you afraid of me?" "Yeah, I'm afraid you'll bite me." "Don't be silly, you know I'm a vegetarian."

An odd little film, combining wacky college humor, a love triangle, musical numbers, and footage from the 1928 USC and Stanford football game at the L. A. Memorial Coliseum, then just five years old. It's too long at 98 minutes but it had its moments, and was an interesting window into the spirit of the Roaring Twenties. Released just a couple of weeks after the stock market crash, it felt a little like the end of an era.

On the positive side, the playful banter and teasing between the college kids yields some occasional amusing moments. It was Robert Montgomery's first starring role, and Sally Starr is charismatic as the plucky young woman playing him off of his buddy (Elliott Nugent). Watch also for uncredited appearances from Joel McCrea and Ann Dvorak. The carefree dancing at a party was a lot of fun, including some wild moves from Nugent (at roughly the 32:29 point), and you get little bits like jazz inspired vocal riffs and Starr tooling around in a 1927 Chrysler Series 70 roadster. The football footage goes on a little long, but it's always interesting to see the plays being run way back when, and how primitive the equipment was (those helmets!). If you're not into football, I'm sure the last 10 minutes or so will overstay their welcome.

The film never quite makes it because the two male leads often engage in boorish behavior, hazing the freshmen and going after the same women aggressively. It's all meant to be great fun, e.g. Oh those crazy college kids, and while they never do anything egregiously bad, they're not very likeable either. It's certainly a male point of view and the moral, essentially "bro's before ho's," wasn't all that appealing to me. Also, despite it being pre-Code, it's all very safe and rather bland, with no eyebrow-raising moments. It might be worth a look though.

The Campus Vamp!!

[kidboots · 9/10 · 22 July 2014]

As Fox had featured some of it's new crop of stars in "Words and Music" (Lois Moran, Helen Twelvetrees, even John Wayne!), so MGM decided to do the same by featuring some up and comers in its rah rah college musical "So This Is College". It was the starting point for three young hopefuls - Robert Montgomery more than fulfilled the expectations that MGM placed on him, he even survived being in a rash of early musicals ("Love in the Rough", "Free and Easy" etc). Elliot Nugent was unforgettable (who wasn't?) in "The Last Flight", went on to directing and to continue as a playwright. Even Bruce was played by newcomer Joel McCrea who may have had the longest career of any. The only "newie" who didn't amount to much was Sally Starr. She wanted to and the fan magazines were full of her tips on how to keep her dewy eyed appearance in her quest for stardom. Like early to bed and early to rise and "there's plenty of time for whoopee after I'm a big success" etc, but unfortunately her career was over before it started - maybe she was compared to Clara Bow just once too often, also the fact that her character in this (her debut film) was just not very nice!!

Director Sam Wood had been scouting for new faces to appear in his film (originally called "Happy Days") about the ups and downs of a couple of Trojan football players who trade "girls like we share neckties"!! But Babs Baxter (Starr) "a sugar baby who certainly draws the flies" is different, a flirty little number who succeeds in driving a wedge between the two staunch friends, Biff (Montgomery) and Eddie (Nugent). Nugent may have been billed over Montgomery but Montgomery seemed more at ease among the college shenanigans.

This is just a fun packed movie that begins with lots of college humour and wisecracks like "watch your step you hillbilly you", "ask her if her daughter is free tonight!", "hey honey, I never direct 'em, I lead 'em", "someone took my last sock - ask Jack Dempsey for one", "it seems everything disappears around here except your nerve"!! Then along comes campus cutie Babs Baxter who bowls both boys over with her cuteness and charm but she seems to have eyes only for Biff. Their first date shows how busy she has been making dates with half the collegians (that should alert our heroes to her true nature) - she has to call on her girlfriends (Ann Dvorak is one) to help her out. It all ends in the very jazzy "Campus Capers" that has Sally singing (among the lyrics "I'm the Wampus baby from the Campus") and whooping it up in general with some crazy eccentric dancing in the style of Tom Patricola in "Happy Days". Saucy Babs is determined to wear Biff's pin which she acquires without too much trouble.

All roads lead to the Sophomore Prom and at last Ukelele Ike is given a role (as one of the over age collegians) that gives his talent free reign. From "College Days" sitting atop a piano, to "Sophomore Prom" where he is backed up by the college orchestra. Strangely though, not the film's song hit "I Don't Want Your Kisses" which is sung by everyone else in the cast including a nervous Nugent whose first chorus sounds dubbed (a distinctly operatic tone), the second chorus is obviously his own nasally twang. There is also a running gag about trousers. Biff and Eddie, now angry rivals, send each other's trousers to the cleaners with the upshot being Eddie is the one at the window looking on at all the fun - trouserless!!

The two chums finally come to an understanding about Babs. Biff declares his intentions are serious and Eddie (who is also pretty intense about her) like a true pal, stands aside - but Babs is not used to boys giving her the air and decides to make trouble between the pair by leading Eddie on. Only at the end when both boys hear her sweet talking to Bruce, who just happens to be her fiancée do they team up as pals and help their struggling U.S.C. to win the football pennant - and yes, the exciting game (of which bits of the real 1928 U.S.C./Stanford contest is spliced) takes up the closing reel.

Highly Recommended.

A lovestory between two young men

[richard-1787 · 6/10 · 12 July 2020]

This is very much a pre-code movie. It depicts two male college students who are very much in love with each other, though they don't know that. What does that mean? You mean: do they have sex? No, I don't think so. But they are VERY affectionate physically, especially near the end. They are also physically attracted to co-eds. Sp they're bi-sexual, or whatever you want to call that. I'd say that they are two straight men who have fallen in love with each other. We haven't got a term for that yet.

Other than their relationship, there isn't a lot to this movie. The second half is a very long football game between USC and Stanford that goes on way too long.

If you're interested in the history of college football, you might like the second half of this. If you're interested in how Hollywood portrayed same-sex romance, this might interest you. Otherwise, I didn't find it a very engaging movie.

Polly Want a Cracker?

[drednm · 20 January 2012]

I finally watched SO THIS IS COLLEGE, a 1929 MGM college film with music. I bought it from Warners a while back, but Robert Montgomery is not a fave so I shelved it.

Right off the bat, I was surprised to see Elliott Nugent billed over Montgomery and at 33, a pretty old college senior (Montgomery was 25). Nugent acted in 17 or so films and some TV but is better known as a writer/director. He was son of actor J.C. Nugent. This might be Montgomery's first starring role.

Anyway. In another of those "2 pals who fall for the same girl" plots, Nugent and Montgomery are college football heroes and roomies. They both fall for Babs (Sally Starr, her talkie debut), have lots of parties (it is college after all), and are endlessly singing, listening to, or dancing to "I Don't Want Your Kisses if I Can't Have Your Love." Starr falls for Nugent which sends Montgomery into a petulant sulk. Can the 2 pals make up in time for the "big game"? Real footage of a USC/Stanford game is used along with lots of location shooting on USC campus.

On hand in support are Cliff Edwards (another mid-30s college senior) who sings a snappy "Sophomore Prom," Lee Shumway as the coach, Polly Moran as the cook, and Phyllis Crane as Betty. Among the bit players are Joel McCrea, Ward Bond, Ann Dvorak, Ray Cooke, Richard Carle, Delmer Daves, and of course Grady Sutton.

There's a bizarre subplot about a dry cleaner, his wife, and a pair of pants. Max Davidson and Ann Brody are the couple.

Funniest bit has Polly Moran running back to the kitchen after the "boys" sitting at a U-shaped table pelt her with saltines while they scream, "Polly want a cracker?'