After the flapper age where youth must have it's fling movies started to point a judgmental finger at the frivolousness of the youth of the day and "Wild Company" may have been one of the first. It was from the soon to be struggling Fox studio who in the early talkies had built up a roster of bright, young up and coming stars - Frank Albertson, Richard Keene and Sharon Lynn, all featured in this movie about the wayward age!!
Aah, the young moderns - do times really change? Frazzled Henry Grayson (H.B. Warner) not only has to contend with an annoying bow tie but a reckless son Larry. Surprisingly he is the indulgent parent, his wife (Claire MacDowall) thinks he is too easy on discipline and that Larry needs guidance. Henry is too busy giving speeches at his meetings about how the young should obey the law (and with Warner's eloquence you don't doubt that he will follow it through). At about the same time Henry is extolling Larry's virtues, Larry is making whoopee at a notorious nightclub - the Skyrocket and making the acquaintance of snappy song bird Sally (Sharon Lynn, whose rendition of "That's What I Like About You" is the movie highlight)!! But Sally's "big thrill" is Joe Harding (Kenneth Thompson) a racketeer who, unlike Sally who is miffed that Larry has spoiled her routine, wants her to get friendly with the influential son of the crusading mayor!! He has big plans for Larry that include being a fall guy for a robbery that is in the planning stages!!
It's also clear why Frank Albertson (as Larry) didn't become a star. As a peppy juvenile (a bit easier to take than Arthur Lake) he was fine but carrying an entire movie, he just couldn't do it. It's only when H.B. Warner and Kenneth Thompson have their moments that the film comes up to par. By the end Larry is charged with murder (Bela Lugosi has the small but pivotal role of a club manager who walks into the robbery), with stern judge (George Fawcett) giving an impassioned speech where he lays the blame for the wild kids squarely at the feet of the lacksadasical parents!!
Apart from Albertson and Lynn, there was Frank Keene (another Fox hopeful), Mildred van Dorn (whose biggest role had been in the earlier "Son of the Gods") and as his sister, Joyce Compton, almost unrecognizable as a brunette but whose career was destined to outlast them all!!
Aah, the young moderns - do times really change? Frazzled Henry Grayson (H.B. Warner) not only has to contend with an annoying bow tie but a reckless son Larry. Surprisingly he is the indulgent parent, his wife (Claire MacDowall) thinks he is too easy on discipline and that Larry needs guidance. Henry is too busy giving speeches at his meetings about how the young should obey the law (and with Warner's eloquence you don't doubt that he will follow it through). At about the same time Henry is extolling Larry's virtues, Larry is making whoopee at a notorious nightclub - the Skyrocket and making the acquaintance of snappy song bird Sally (Sharon Lynn, whose rendition of "That's What I Like About You" is the movie highlight)!! But Sally's "big thrill" is Joe Harding (Kenneth Thompson) a racketeer who, unlike Sally who is miffed that Larry has spoiled her routine, wants her to get friendly with the influential son of the crusading mayor!! He has big plans for Larry that include being a fall guy for a robbery that is in the planning stages!!
It's also clear why Frank Albertson (as Larry) didn't become a star. As a peppy juvenile (a bit easier to take than Arthur Lake) he was fine but carrying an entire movie, he just couldn't do it. It's only when H.B. Warner and Kenneth Thompson have their moments that the film comes up to par. By the end Larry is charged with murder (Bela Lugosi has the small but pivotal role of a club manager who walks into the robbery), with stern judge (George Fawcett) giving an impassioned speech where he lays the blame for the wild kids squarely at the feet of the lacksadasical parents!!
Apart from Albertson and Lynn, there was Frank Keene (another Fox hopeful), Mildred van Dorn (whose biggest role had been in the earlier "Son of the Gods") and as his sister, Joyce Compton, almost unrecognizable as a brunette but whose career was destined to outlast them all!!