The Rampant Age (DVD)

While a wild party rages at the Long Island estate of his parents, wealthy scion Sandy Benton slips away to pursue beautiful young Doris Lawrence. Despite being attracted to Sandy, Doris declines to join the reckless festivities Realizing that he runs with a fast crowd, Doris begins frequenting all-night parties and flirting with the eligible bachelors, all with the intent of making Sandy jealous. The strategy is just beginning to yield results when she quarrels with Sandy and impulsively takes off in his airplane - which she doesn't know how to land.

Among the first talking pictures turned out by prolific independent producer Trem Carr (who would form Monogram Pictures the following year), The Rampant Age is one of numerous Roaring Twenties movies given impetus by the success of M-G-M's Our Dancing Daughters (1928), widely considered the apotheosis of the decade's "flapper" films. For several years, a succession of jazz-crazy "Pretty Young Things" with short skirts and hip flasks paraded across the nation's movie screens. By 1931, however, with America fully gripped by the Great Depression, the cycle had played itself out. This Phil Rosen contribution to the sub-genre is surprisingly fluid for an early talkie and boasts sprightly performances by personable players even rabid film buffs might be hard-pressed to identify.

• drama