This silly old-fashioned thing, with actors well into their 20's playing young college students *, is so stupid, stilted, and dated that it's actually pretty enjoyable! A nice musical number and lots of polite inane chitchat in an attempt to give it a 'youthful' vibe.
*Of course the same happens today, but decades ago, EVERYONE in the movies looked 'old', no matter how they dressed or tried to act young.
If you look at the DOBs of all of the actresses, the oldest is 23, and most of them are 21, which IS college aged! They look perfectly fine in their parts. Maybe you should see what people looked like in 1939 before you make such judgments!
shareYeah, whatever their actual ages, they do look pretty old. I find it hard to determine people's ages in older movies. I think it's because the young and old all dressed pretty much the same back then; very formally, all the time.
In my opinion, the most dated thing about the movie is what Alice's father tells her roommate. He talks about Lincoln being a great man. Since, he's trying to encourage her I thought he was going to say she, too, can go on to achieve great things. Instead he says she could have a child that accomplishes great things.
I found it funny, especially since she's in college. Motherhood is, of course, a great thing but it's not the only thing a woman can do. In those days it was a given; a lot of young women went to college but it was mostly to find a husband not launch a career.