“Mad Youth” (aka Girls of the Underworld) is a war-era exploitation film made on the cheap and designed exclusively to be shown at independently operated movie houses -- houses that were seemingly exempt from various film industry pedigrees. With the production code rules almost entirely bypassed, this somewhat subversive film allows itself to drift into very mature subject matter namely female sex-slavery and male prostitution, which, given the very conservative times, was probably quite risky. Even in the 1930’s and 1940’s independent films, it seems, were taking the lead in exploring some very realistic and thought provoking topics as this film attests.

At 28, lonely divorced mother Lucy Morgan (Betty Compson), has taken to soliciting male prostitutes to be her escort at her weekly bridge tournament/social get-togethers. Her dating demands don’t usually end after the bridge game either, because Lucy, as it turns out, is one of them sexually agressive types. In lieu of a goodnight kiss, Lucy usually demands the men take her home and take her to bed, something that aggravates her daughter, Marian Morgan (Mary Ainslee). However, Marian is far from an angel herself, engaging in impromptu parties when mom is out with her suitors. These parties are quite the shindig, often involving strip poker, alcohol and even some exotic dancing. Well, things come to a head one night when Lucy rings up the escort agency looking for a date, and who should arrive at her door but Count DeHoven (Willy Castello). Count isn’t like the others Lucy has dated and she immediately takes a shine to him, attempting to jump his bones just minutes after their initial meeting. A snag arises though when Count catches a glimpse of Marian sitting on the couch. He's smitten with her but duty calls and he's off on the first of many dates with Lucy.

Brushing off Lucy’s advances becomes a part of the job for the Count who is more interested in Marian and only agrees to escort her on the chance that he'll run into Marian. After a succession of less than interesting get-togethers with her mom, the Count eventually makes his move, asking the daughter out. Repulsion is replaced by amusement, as Marian first shirks him off, suggesting he’s nothing but a gigolo, but later, reluctantly relents. Taking the opportunity to get back at her mother, Marian indulges the slightly older Count’s wishes if only for a night. At first his intentions seem dubious and maybe even sinister, something Marian’s closest friends suspect but, interestingly, as the film advances and their relationship blossoms – shown visually and related in a series of diary notations – the audience, like Marian, begin to relax in the knowledge that maybe, just maybe, the Count actually loves this girl. Marian too is quite smitten, that is until the Count up and leaves her for no apparent reason. All of this is happening under the nose of the mother who assumes that she and the Count are hitting it off. She’s totally oblivious, blinded by her own selfishness.

A minor side-story, hinted at in the early part of the film and shown in snippets, eventually grows larger and develops into the film’s cliff-hanger-like climax. When Marian’s friend, Helen Johnson (Betty Atkinson), moves away to get married to a man she met through a newspaper advertisement, the film takes on a rather sinister turn, delving into topics rarely touched on either on screen, or in social situations, namely the female slave trade, the mafia and underground sex brothels. This is some touchy subject matter that is handled awkwardly. The sense of danger is there and the bad guys look mean but, alas, the film doesn't give that aspect much time to develop, opting instead for some cool sleazy visuals. A b-exploitation pic wouldn’t be complete without a couple of bare-knuckle scraps, and here, they are a beauty, as the Count arrives at the last minute to save the day, duking it out with a couple of seedy looking fedora wearing mobster types. Melville Shyer (1940's "Souls in Pawn") cut his teeth making fast-paced action packed serials and here it shows, as the fight set pieces take on a rather comic tone, especially with the arrival of a good sammartian cabbie. 

It’s hard for me to believe that this film was made when it was. This is a very mature movie, and being risqué is something it does all too well. Without being too earnest, the film approaches the subject matter, which is at times very stark, with a real sense of humour. An early sequence where a woman attempts to distance herself from the riff-raff that is Lucy, droning on about how well-mannered and elegant her daughter is, plays out as slyly ironic. This is because the speech is juxtaposed with images of said woman's daughter, Beth (Lorelei Readoux), losing her hand at strip poker and slowly losing an article of her clothing one piece at a time. Just hilarious. In keeping, there seems to be a certain amount of misogyny at work here. Or, simply, the film is happy to contradict itself. In the case of Lucy, who is all of 28 years old and likes to seek the attention of younger men, she’s portrayed, not as a woman to be celebrated, but rather a selfishness old hag who should be ashamed of herself for chasing younger men. Twice in the film she’s lectured about such things. “Young men don’t want you, you’re too old,” she's told. In the end, as if accepting defeat, there’s a brief shot of her calling the agency to request a man around the age of “27 or 28”. Huh? This really bothered me. What's wrong with presenting a female as sexually secure in herself? I thought this was very progressive, feminized portrait of a very real female, not ashamed to act in her healthy sexual desires. And why shouldn't she? Instead, the filmmakers elected to put her, and seemingly all women over the age of 25, in their place

As mother and daughter, Mary Ainslee (1952's "He Cooked His Goose") and Betty Compson (1941's "Mr & Mrs. Smith") had some great chemistry and regardless of what they were doing in said scenes, they almost always amounted to the film’s most memorable moments. Their distinct attempts to one-up each other with men and just about everything else, eventually unveils another layer to the personal relationship and I thought it was quite amazing to watch. Their odd multi-faceted rapport is a mixture of contemptibility and genuine sweetness, as evidenced in a scene when Marian realizes just how much dating DeHoven has hurt her mother. Her response to her mother’s internal pain is interesting in that she wants to be there for her but at the same time, she’s angered by her mother’s refusal to accept that the relationship with the Count isn’t going anywhere. Willy Castello (1953's "Man On A Tightrope") as the Count DeHoven is a man’s man. At times I found him to be rather stiff but when called to get physical, he’s all business. Figuring out what makes him tick was interesting too.

The film features some rather strange moments that seem to exist only to pad out the film’s running time, namely a scene where a bunch of people jitterbug and another involving a matador and a couple of bulls. Watching the matador slip up and fall and then get pegged in the groin by the bulls was quite amusing but I can’t really tell why it was in the film. It didn’t do much to advance the story and, after awhile, I found myself forgetting what the heck was going on. Interesting to note, the film’s writer and producer, Willis Kent (1938's "Wages of Sin") opted out of any name recognition for film. I find it kind of strange simply because of all the low-rent exploitation films to come in this time period this was truly one of the best. Eventually “Mad Youth” would be edited into another Kent movie three years later, “Confessions of a Vice Baron”.