Information about this very early Hitchcock film

Mary Glynne

Marjorie Hume

Jack Hobbs

Henry Arthur Jones

Eve Unsell

A poor girl refuses to wed a millionaire when he sends her sick sweetheart to Africa.

Hugh Ford

The Call of Youth

The tagline on the lobby card read: &quot;A joyous romance of life&apos;s springtime. Filmed in the beauty and charm of rural England and played by a great British cast, with Malcolm Cherry.&quot; The lobby card remains of this film, but probably no other promotional materials exists, much less the actual footage itself, which was filmed sometime in late 1920, released in the UK in January 1921, and released in the US on 13 March 1921.

The run time is variously listed as 38 minutes, or 40 minutes, but minor discrepancies are common for old silent films like this. The website http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/C/CallOfYouth1920.html says it was released at 1180 or 1189 metres (four reels). Four reels of black-and-white footage, approximately 3540/ 3567 feet.

An article from The Times, dated 29 Nov 1920, available on http://www.hitchcockwiki.com/wiki/ reads: &quot;We believe that Mr. Henry Arthur Jones has written The Call of Youth especially for the screen, and, if so, it is an interesting proof that the dramatist is at last beginning to realize that the screen may have much in store for him if he cares to make full use of the new method of interpretation of his ideas. Very wisely, he has evolved quite a simple story of the girl who really loves a young man but gives her hand to an older suitor in the belief that it will help her parents out of a very difficult financial situation. On the morning of her marriage, however, the girl realizes that the call of youth is too strong, and she visits her prospective husband&apos;s rooms, begs to be released from her promise, and proves once again the truth of the old superstition that it is unlucky to meet your bride on the day of the wedding until she reaches the altar. With extraordinary magnanimity he releases her, takes the blame on himself, and promptly sets out to the other end of the world to bring youth together. He succeeds in his quest; but frankly we think most of the sympathy will be for middle age, particularly when it is so charmingly interpreted as it is by Mr. Malcolm Cherry. His performance is full of sympathetic touches, which show him to be as good an actor on the screen as on the stage and he receives excellent support front Miss Mary Glynne and Mr. Jack Hobbs as the representatives of the younger generation. The Call of Youth should tempt Mr. Henry Arthur Jones to try his hand again, and if it induces other playwrights to follow his example, so much the better.&quot;

Intertitle card design by Alfred Hitchcock, possibly the first film that Alfred Hitchcock ever worked on, in any capacity.

But again, no prints of this film are known to still exist. Despite the fact that several people on IMDb have rated the film, it is now long lost, no copies of the film are known to exist after its initial screenings in 1921. So, either the people who voted on this film are over 100 years old and saw it in a cinema back then, or .....

The tagline on the lobby card read: "A joyous romance of life's springtime. Filmed in the beauty and charm of rural England and played by a great British cast, with Malcolm Cherry." The lobby card remains of this film, but probably no other promotional materials exists, much less the actual footage itself, which was filmed sometime in late 1920, released in the UK in January 1921, and released in the US on 13 March 1921.

The run time is variously listed as 38 minutes, or 40 minutes, but minor discrepancies are common for old silent films like this. The website http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/C/CallOfYouth1920.html says it was released at 1180 or 1189 metres (four reels). Four reels of black-and-white footage, approximately 3540/ 3567 feet.

An article from The Times, dated 29 Nov 1920, available on http://www.hitchcockwiki.com/wiki/ reads: "We believe that Mr. Henry Arthur Jones has written The Call of Youth especially for the screen, and, if so, it is an interesting proof that the dramatist is at last beginning to realize that the screen may have much in store for him if he cares to make full use of the new method of interpretation of his ideas. Very wisely, he has evolved quite a simple story of the girl who really loves a young man but gives her hand to an older suitor in the belief that it will help her parents out of a very difficult financial situation. On the morning of her marriage, however, the girl realizes that the call of youth is too strong, and she visits her prospective husband's rooms, begs to be released from her promise, and proves once again the truth of the old superstition that it is unlucky to meet your bride on the day of the wedding until she reaches the altar. With extraordinary magnanimity he releases her, takes the blame on himself, and promptly sets out to the other end of the world to bring youth together. He succeeds in his quest; but frankly we think most of the sympathy will be for middle age, particularly when it is so charmingly interpreted as it is by Mr. Malcolm Cherry. His performance is full of sympathetic touches, which show him to be as good an actor on the screen as on the stage and he receives excellent support front Miss Mary Glynne and Mr. Jack Hobbs as the representatives of the younger generation. The Call of Youth should tempt Mr. Henry Arthur Jones to try his hand again, and if it induces other playwrights to follow his example, so much the better."

Intertitle card design by Alfred Hitchcock, possibly the first film that Alfred Hitchcock ever worked on, in any capacity.

But again, no prints of this film are known to still exist. Despite the fact that several people on IMDb have rated the film, it is now long lost, no copies of the film are known to exist after its initial screenings in 1921. So, either the people who voted on this film are over 100 years old and saw it in a cinema back then, or .....

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