Addio giovinezza!

Arnold Kent is off to Turin to study law. He's excited and worried about his prospects, but soon makes friends, among them Ruggero Capodaglio,a pleasant, slightly geeky fellow who has a few dollars to spare. Kent takes a room at a rivate home, and soon begins an affair with Maria Jacobini, the daughter of the house who cleans his rooms. But He's a young fellow, and eventually moves away, leaving signori Jacobini heartbroken.

The copy I looked at had quite a bit of degradation, with bubbling sometimes destroying sections of the print. Nonetheless, what remains is a bittersweet image of young people and the first flowering of deep emotions. It's based on a play by Sandro Camasio and Nino Oxilia. It was remade twice, once near the end of the silent era, then later in 1940.

Kent was born in Florence as Lido Manetti. He scored a contract with Paramount, who changed his name for the American audiences. He was working on THE FOUR FEATHERS (1929) when he was struck by a street car and killed at the age of 29.