I Like Your Nerve (1931)

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Good idea lost in the noise

Dreadfully Boring

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Copyright 8 September 1931 by First National Pictures, Inc. New York opening simultaneously at the Warners Strand and the Brooklyn Strand: 12 September 1931. 6,298 feet. 70 minutes.SYNOPSIS: After consulting a fortune teller, Larry (Douglas Fairbanks, junior) journeys to a Central American republic where political corruption is rife. He forces his company on Diane (Loretta Young), but discovers she is about to marry a wealthy suitor to save her father from ruin.COMMENT: Although it tends at times to become dialogue-bound and even degenerates into the occasional shouting match (principally between Henry Kolker and Edmund Breon) or worse, gross caricature (Claud Allister's stage Englishman is the chief offender here with his "I say what, dear old egg!"), "I Like Your Nerve" runs mostly along the breezy lines of an ingratiating romantic comedy. Doug Fairbanks junior does all right by dad in a part that, whilst it lacks senior's acrobatics, packs in plenty of his charming aggressiveness.Loretta Young looks very svelte as the heroine and does her costumer proud.Boris Karloff has been handed some brief bits as Kolker's butler which he plays in his usual solemn accent (no trace of Italian) in a sinisterly sepulchral manner that will no doubt delight his legion of fans. Although lensed on a "B" budget, McGann's direction is surprisingly assured and polished, utilizing lots of varied camera set-ups, interspersed with effective long shots that show off the art director's attractive sets to their full advantage. True, there is evidence of hasty shooting here and there, but, by and large, a commendable job. Ernest Haller's superb photography also deserves a Highly Commended certificate.All in all, I'd rate this as a very pleasing addition to the current crop of cult movies. I wonder why it hasn't made the grade among cineastes? Could it be the simple fact that our tunnel-vision TV and most DVD suppliers pander almost exclusively to the newer movies brigade?

Loose-structured little First National comedy is worth watching for its leads, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Loretta Young, who appeared together several times and were always charming. She's an heiress in a Central American mythical country who's being forced to marry an old coot to pay off a debt, and is sidelined by Doug, an American adventurer whose behavior now looks aggressive and uncharming, but at the time was considered attractive American hi jinx. It's a William Haines sort of character, meddlesome and trickstering, but folks took it for appealing back then. And he certainly makes it as appealing as possible. Boris Karloff turns up spouting butler lines, and some nice Ernest Haller compositions make it look more expensive than it is. A time waster, but an attractive one, with two young stars who know how to look and know what they're doing.

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."

This film features a basic plot line we've all seen many times in many different films and that is this - a more appropriate, more handsome man tries to catch, before it's too late, a woman about to be married to a less appropriate, "wrong" man. In this film, Loretta Young plays the beautiful daughter of the Minister of Finance, and she is set to marry, in four days time, a wealthy, but gruff and rather ugly old man (well - there's really no other way I could put it!) - the reasons for her odd choice of partner are a secret. When she meets grinning, conceited Larry O'Brien (played by Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), he is immediately in love and uses a bunch of tricks and schemes in an attempt to win her for himself. She seems to dislike him (but, of course, in the way of most movies from then to now, she *really* secretly likes him).There is some humor in this, mostly of the Three Stooges / slap-in-the-face variety, plus some funny scenes with Claud Allister as Larry's gay sidekick Archie. Loretta Young really has little to do in this film other than look gorgeous in beautiful gowns and dangling earrings. Boris Karloff also has little to do in this film other than slink in and out of the room as butler. The actor who plays her father acts in a sort of bugged-out eyes style, but I guess it's supposed to be funny. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. tries to be charming, but he comes across to me as not particularly interesting - he's just sort of there. Okay film, but nothing great - a middle-range time filler, mainly for fans of Loretta Young.