Samuel Raphaelson's play "Accent on Youth" has been filmed several times, no doubt in part because it appeals to the vanity of middle aged male movie stars - the plot concerns an aging Broadway producer who discovers his secretary, young enough to be his daughter, is in love with him, which reinvigorates his career. Did audiences ever like these stories? Really?
Anyway here the old man is played by Clark Gable, not far away from death, but still raffish Clark with a twinkle in his eye. He plays a producer who is drowning in debt (he's a spendthrift), hassled by his drunken playwright (Lee J. Cobb) and ex wife (Lili Palmer) but secretary Carroll Baker gives him material and lines for Cobb to replot and rewrite the play. You know, just like real life.
Baker goes on to act in the play, along with a fellow young actor (Barry Coe) who loves her. The play is a hit and Baker and Gable get together... but does he really love her?
It's a horrible story which is given some bright lines in John Michael Hayes' script (at least I'm crediting them to Hayes - I haven't read Raphaelson's play) and vigorous handling from Walter Lang, a director little remembered today but who has strong credits.
The cast is also (on the whole) extremely good, despite the not-particularly-interesting characters they play - Cobb even makes something interesting of that old throwback, the boozy washed up playwright. Baker is sexy and likeable and I just bought her going for Gable, mainly because she acts with intensity and Gable is still the king.
The big let down in the cast is Barry Coe, a bland actor who I vaguely recognised (I googled him - he was Rodney Harrington in Peyton Place); in his defense his character is particularly poor - an obnoxious self righteous young actor who wants Baker to leave New York and go live in Texas.
The title tune is sung by Ella Fitzgerald and there's some snappy widescreen photography of New York. And it's about Broadway producers and directors and theatre people - if you like those sort of movies and Gable/Baker you'll enjoy it.
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