Mother Is a Freshman (1949)

Truly Dreadful Film

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

After being "The Farmer's Daughter" and "The Bishop's Wife", there was no place for Loretta Young to go but down, and that she does, as a lowly freshman at Pierce College, just so daughter Barbara Lawrence (the dewey faced young actress of "All About Eve" fame) can continue her education because of a scholarship the college offers ironically to Young's surname. Of course, there's a romantic mix-up with mother and daughter as they both love the same professor (Van Johnson).Young's transformation from matronly widow to buxom freshman is the highlight of this generic sitcom, a silly comedy with nary a laugh. Lawrence is a bit infantile and testy in spots as the well-meaning but immature co-ed with too many stars in her eyes to see the truth right in front of her. In a confrontation sequence with Young, she acts just like the later day Shirley Temple. Rudy Vallee is wasted in a rejected suitor role (Ralph Bellamy must have wisely turned it down) and it is really a stretch of the imagination that him and Johnson were fellow students together.

It's funny how times have changed. Back in 1949, people didn't think twice about the idea of a college professor dating one of their students--whereas nowadays that would get a professor fired at most colleges. So, when you see the film understand that times have indeed changed.A mother (Loretta Young) and daughter (Betty Lynn--that's 'Thelma Lou' from "The Andy Griffith Show") have been living beyond their means on the late husband's trust fund. They now find themselves broke and in need of money. In a desperate move to get funds needed to keep the daughter in college, the mother decides to accept a scholarship--a scholarship that provides enough for both of them until they get their next trust fund check. At first, Young feels pretty awkward on campus but soon she settles into things. But, when the English professor who Lynn is infatuated with (Van Johnson) begins to show a lot of interest in Young, things are a bit awkward to say the least! See how all this plays out in this nice little comedy.My feeling about this film is that it's a very slight movie--nothing that will change the world or make you go out of your way to see it. However, like a nice old hat or pair of gloves, it's a nice fit--and very comfortable. The actors are all very good, the film moves along at a nice pace and it's just a lot of fun. They don't make films like this anymore---and that's a shame.

"Mother Is A Freshman" is a slice of college life from a bygone era. The school itself looks like the kind of traditional schools that were around for generations. The cute story finds Mama going to school under a scholarship that only she can share with her daughter. Loretta Young was never more appealing than in this genteel comedy. Van Johnson plays the Professor that that both Mama and daughter (Betty Lynn) are unknowingly competing for. Rudy Vallee is along for the ride as a stuffy friend of Loretta's. The whole production is underscored by some nice, nostalgic music and wrapped up in pretty Technicolor. You could do a lot worse than to see this charming comedy.

We have some good themes here with the topics of maturity, going back to school later in life, and mother-daughter falling for the same guy.Loretta Young stars as Abby Fortitude Abbot. Believe me, she had to have plenty of fortitude to star in this rather silly film. Rudy Vallee briefly appears in this film as her lawyer and rival to Prof. Michaels, Van Johnson. Let's face it, the always wonderful Van Johnson is somewhat lost here in the role of the English literature professor.These college pictures always make sure to go around the concentration of academics. College life is essentially one big cheer, rushes and dances. Even the old dean here is a little too friendly.Johnson and Young fall in love in record time, especially with a film less than 1 1/2 hours in length.Let's go back to the drawing board of our Alma Mater.