Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

blanche-2 Someone said on this board that they liked the film but were uncertain was to the plot for most of the film. Actually, that person is correct, now that I think about it. I read the plot so I knew what it was supposed to be, but actually that plot didn't unfold right away.Margie, played by the beautiful Marian Marsh, lives with her mother and wants nothing more than to get her out of the hot apartment and into someplace cool. It's summer in New York - I've lived there, and for those who have "summer in New York" needs no explanation. Just add, "in 1929" and you have an idea of the suffering of these people.Margie's boyfriend Jimmie is relentlessly cheerful, which aggravates Margie even more. Then the final blow -- her sister Sophie (Anita Page), her sister's unemployed husband, and their baby move in with them. The couple bickers constantly because Sophie's husband can't seem to find a job.Margie ends up modeling a fur for a wealthy man, Mr. Harding (Warren William) in the salon where she works, and really catches his eye. The coat went for $16,000. I looked it up in today's money. Six figures. Well, $16,000 isn't exactly cheap now.Margie notices some of the models in the shop are kept by wealthy men. She actually starts to consider it. Then Sophie's husband hits her, and Sophie wants a divorce. But the lawyer costs $200. Margie tries to get it from her boss, who refuses; Jimmie has it but he won't give it to her so her sister can get a divorce.Finally, she goes to see Mr. Harding, who is in the midst of a wild party. This is the best scene in the film. Boy, were they having fun.This is an okay movie, but supposedly the studio had high hopes for it. When it didn't become a massive hit, it hurt Marsh's career. However, I don't believe she cared all that much about acting. She was in it to help her family, and once she married, she retired.The end of this film is fun but strange. Warren William as usual is marvelous. He could be sly, mean, funny -- he's one reason I love TCM as it gives people an opportunity to see him. He died in 1948 at the age of 53.Marian Marsh is adorable here, with an angelic and doll-like beauty which she showed to good advantage as Trilby in Svengali. When John Barrymore asked her if anyone had commented on her resemblance to his then wife, Delores Costello, she said yes, the butcher who gave her liver for her cat had remarked upon it.Worth seeing for the performances.

Michael_Elliott Under 18 (1931) ** (out of 4) A rather bland Pre-Code from Warner doesn't live up to any of its hype especially when you see the cast, the story and the innuendo in the title. Margie Evans (Marian Marsh) lives in poverty and thinks that marriage is the one way out but when her older sister (Anita Page) gets married and still lives poor, she sees another chance of making good. At her factory she learns that rich men can give women what they want with a few "favors" and Margie meets a possible candidate in the womanizing Raymond Harding (Warren William). The story, the title, the suggestive language and throw in Marsh, Page and William and yet the end result is still rather bland and boring. I was really surprised to see how tame and uninteresting this Pre-code was and it really does seem like the studio was trying to do a Pre-code without all the naughty stuff. When I say naughty there's certainly not going to be anything X-rated but if you're a fan of this genre then you know Warner was the king and could deliver perfect entertainment. Several things struck me about this production and the majority of it goes back to the screenplay. The story is rather tame and for the life of me I couldn't understand some of the twists and turns in the story. I won't give away the ending but what happens to the William's character is just downright silly and it gets even double with yet another twist. The main female character is just as confusing because she sells herself so that her sister can get a divorce and you have to wonder what the point of this was since you could have had the sister being unhappy and going into the arms of William to get a divorce. At just under 80-minutes there's quite a bit of dialogue with some of it being funny but the majority of it just doesn't contain enough spice to make up for everything else going on. Marsh is pretty good here even though the screenplay doesn't offer her too much. Those who have seen the Edward G. Robinson film FIVE STAR FINAL will remember the charming Marsh. William is doing William like no one else could and Page is always entertaining even if she spends most of her screen time just fighting with the husband. The sexuality level is pretty low throughout even though it's hinted at at times. UNDER 18 has all the elements for a good Pre-code but sadly the screenplay gets lost one scene after another and in the end you can't help but see it as a disappointment.

calvinnme Though it only has one star usually associated with Warner Brothers in the early 1930's - Warren William - and even he has a supporting role in relation to the now forgotten Regis Toomey, this film is just bursting with the attitude of precode Warner Brothers.It's subject is very definitely the depression and specifically how fortunes quickly changed for families when the male head of the household died. The beginning of the film is full of hope as the movie opens on the wedding day of Sophie (Anita Page), oldest daughter in the Evans family. However, three still-shots later - Dad's grave stone reading 1872-1928, a room for rent sign, and a pawn broker's store sign, and the audience is standing in the middle of a crowded tenement neighborhood in New York City in 1931. Youngest daughter Margie is working as a seamstress, living in a complete dump with her mother, and her boyfriend is making annoying happy talk about how their next big break is just around the corner. What is just around the corner is that sister Sophie, her husband Alf (Norman Foster), and their baby are moving into Margie and Mom's cramped quarters because they have just lost everything. Worse, Alf doesn't think that getting a regular job is a priority.The daring subject that is insinuated here but never mentioned specifically is abortion. After Alf hits Sophie when she objects to him taking what little money they have and betting on himself in a billiards tournament, she reveals to Margie that she wants a divorce from loafer Alf, and furthermore she's pregnant again. Margie talks about taking her to someone the other girls have talked about, and you do see her talking to a lawyer next, but you've got to wonder what else happened since that baby is never mentioned again.Unfortunately the girls are shocked to find out from the lawyer that a divorce costs 200 dollars, which they don't have. Margie has two places she can go for the money - her boyfriend, who has 800 dollars saved to start his own business but is dead-set against divorce under any circumstances, much more so against financing one. She could also go to playboy millionaire Raymond Harding (Warren William) who took a liking to Margie when he saw her stand in as a model at the fashionable dress shop where she works. He would certainly give her the money, but what will she have to do in return? This film is headed to a dark depression precode outcome when several credible good things happen and one rather outlandish thing happens that results in a rather preposterous happy ending. It's sad to think that Marian Marsh's career never really went anywhere. I've found her a delight in the three films in which I've seen her - Svengali, Beauty and the Boss, and this one. I'd recommend it to anybody who likes the precodes.

Alix1929 This song was popular in the depression, so it's not a big surprise that one of the characters in this movie whistles it on the way to work. By the end of this movie, "happy days ARE here again," but for most of the picture you sure wouldn't think so! Directed by the capable Archie Mayo, this movie offers a chance for viewers today to see a wonderful contrast between the have and have nots of the 1930's.Young Margie (played by Marian Marsh) who must be "under eighteen," works to help support her family now that her father has died. The family now consists of her older sister Sophie (Anita Page), her husband Alf, and their little baby. Margie is a seamstress in a NYC shop that makes and sells fashionable gowns. Margie's nobody's dummy--she sees the beautiful models attracting rich sugar daddies and dreams of the life she could have...if only! Her poor-but-honest-and-hard-working boyfriend, Jimmy (Regis Toomey) offers her stability and respectability , which she accepts until Sophie shows her a side of married life that is undesirable. One day at work, she meets ladies man Howard Raymond (Warren William), gets the opportunity to model a beautiful fur coat for him, and he charms her. A swiss cheese sandwich, an invitation to his penthouse, and a desperate need for money lead to trouble for Margie.This pre-Code is rich in 1930's flavor. Raymond's penthouse apartment is an Art Deco delight, while the apartment where Margie's family lives is the exact opposite. Warren William is an absolute standout as the seducer of young women, a role he played many times, but no time better than in this movie! When young Margie shows up at his penthouse, he is outside on the roof, swimming in his pool. He invites her to stay and swim with the comment, "Take off your clothes and stay awhile." I was lucky to accidentally catch this movie on TCM. It doesn't show very often, but would be certainly worth your time, if it appears in the line up again.