Tonight's Movie: Confessions of a Co-Ed (1931) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

CONFESSIONS OF A CO-ED (1931) is the second movie in a two-film set of Sylvia Sidney pre-Codes recently released by Kino Lorber.

The other film in the set is LADIES OF THE BIG HOUSE (1931), an entertaining "women in jail" film I reviewed several days ago.

CONFESSIONS OF A CO-ED is the weaker of the two films, due in part to an unfortunate ending, but it's still an entertaining 75 minutes. It even has an early film appearance by Bing Crosby and the Rhythm Boys!

This fast-paced movie tells the story of Pat (Sidney), a college freshman who's head over heels for Dan (Phillips Holmes).

They have an "interlude" during a ski vacation, but Dan is kicked out of college for an ethical transgression before Pat can tell him she's expecting a baby.

Pat doesn't hear from Dan again, so thanks to some engineering by Dan's former girlfriend Peggy (Claudia Dell), the desperate Pat marries Hal (Norman Foster), who's always been crazy about her.

Three years later, Dan returns...

CONFESSIONS OF A CO-ED was directed by David Burton and Dudley Murphy, while the movie curiously has no writing credit.

Both the leading men are on the drippy side, not particularly interesting, but just as with LADIES OF THE BIG HOUSE, Sidney is radiant. It's hard to resist her soulful eyes and sweet manner. And dare I say her interactions with her fellow sorority sisters are considerably more interesting than her love life?

The movie does have a mind-blowing ending which made me want to tear my hair out. It somewhat reminded me of the Loretta Young pre-Code SHE HAD TO SAY YES (1933), in terms of leaving me gaping at the screen when "The End" came on. It's insanely silly, in terms of both some truly terrible dialogue and the film's actual outcome.

It's memorable, I'll give it that, and so despite the ending, I'd rate this double-film set as a solid pickup for anyone who loves pre-Codes or Sylvia Sidney.

The cast includes Martha Sleeper, Florence Britton, George Irving, and Eulalie Jensen.

Look for Bruce Cabot and Claire Dodd as extras. Adorable little Dickie Moore plays Patricia's son in the movie's final scenes.

The movie was photographed by Lee Garmes. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray print shows off the movie's visuals in fine style thanks to a new HD master from a 4K scan.  Sound quality is excellent.  This is just about as good as anyone could expect a film from 1931 to look or sound, which is all the more reason to check out this set.

This collection is a Kino Lorber Special Edition with a cardboard slipcase. The movie comes with a commentary track by David Del Valle and Stan Shaffer. Along with the other film, the disc also includes a gallery of five trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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