Pre-Code Confidential #3: The Age of Consent (1932)

A series of posts where I take a look at some under the radar pre-code films that truly turn up the crime, sex, scandal, and sensationalism.

Directed by Gregory La Cava and starring Richard Cromwell, Dorothy Wilson, Eric Linden, and Arline Judge, 1932's The Age of Consent, adapted from the 1929 stage play Crossroads, is one of the most daring entries into the Pre-Code canon.

Set on the campus of State College, New York, the students have only one thing on their minds, and it is not schoolwork. This film is all about S-E-X—who is having it, who is not, who wants to, who wants to but won’t, who wants to wait, and who is going at it full throttle.

Duke (Eric Linden), the campus Lothario, declares within the first three minutes of the film that there is nothing more important than “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of women,” setting the tone for the film’s bold exploration of sexual dynamics. Meanwhile, Betty (Dorothy Wilson), a genuinely nice girl with needs, declares that she’s “modern,” not like her grandmother and confesses that she doesn’t want to “sit around and dry up.”

Eric Linden and Arline Judge in a publicity photo for The Age of Consent