A Certain Young Man is a 1928 comedy film directed by Hobart Henley

Hobart Henley

Hobart Henley was an American silent film actor, director, and screenwriter....

. The film stars Ramon Novarro

Ramón Novarro

Ramón Novarro was a Mexican leading man actor in Hollywood in the early 20th century. He was the next male "Sex Symbol" after the death of Rudolph Valentino...

, Marceline Day

Marceline Day

Marceline Day was an American motion picture actress whose career began as a child in the 1910s and ended in the 1930s....

, Renée Adorée

Renée Adorée

Renée Adorée was a French actress who had appeared in Hollywood silent movies during the 1920s.-Early life:...

, Carmel Myers

Carmel Myers

Carmel Myers was an American actress who worked chiefly in silent movies.Myers was born in San Francisco, the daughter of an Australian rabbi and Austrian Jewish mother. Her father became well-connected with California's emerging film industry, and introduced her to film pioneer D. W. Griffith,...

 and Bert Roach

Bert Roach

Bert Roach was an American film actor. He appeared in 327 films between 1914 and 1951.He was born in Washington, D.C., and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* Fatty's Magic Pants...

. The film is considered lost.

Production

The film was shot in 1926, but was not released until 1928. Sally O'Neil

Sally O'Neil

Sally O'Neil was an American film actress of the 1920s. She was born as Virginia Louise Noonan, one of 11 children born to a judge in Bayonne, New Jersey. One of her sisters was actress Molly O'Day....

 was originally cast as Phyllis, but was replaced by Marceline Day

Marceline Day

Marceline Day was an American motion picture actress whose career began as a child in the 1910s and ended in the 1930s....

. Joan Crawford

Joan Crawford

Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....

, still an ingenue at the time, was considered for that same role, but she was deemed 'unsuitable.' Cast member Willard Lewis died a few months after filming wrapped, and his name was removed from the credits.

Cast

• Ramon Novarro
  Ramón Novarro
  Ramón Novarro was a Mexican leading man actor in Hollywood in the early 20th century. He was the next male "Sex Symbol" after the death of Rudolph Valentino...
  
   - Lord Gerald Brinsley
• Marceline Day
  Marceline Day
  Marceline Day was an American motion picture actress whose career began as a child in the 1910s and ended in the 1930s....
  
   - Phyllis
• Renée Adorée
  Renée Adorée
  Renée Adorée was a French actress who had appeared in Hollywood silent movies during the 1920s.-Early life:...
  
   - Henriette
• Carmel Myers
  Carmel Myers
  Carmel Myers was an American actress who worked chiefly in silent movies.Myers was born in San Francisco, the daughter of an Australian rabbi and Austrian Jewish mother. Her father became well-connected with California's emerging film industry, and introduced her to film pioneer D. W. Griffith,...
  
   - Mrs. Crutchley
• Bert Roach
  Bert Roach
  Bert Roach was an American film actor. He appeared in 327 films between 1914 and 1951.He was born in Washington, D.C., and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* Fatty's Magic Pants...
  
   - Mr. Crutchley
• Huntley Gordon
  Huntley Gordon
  Huntley Gordon was an actor born in Montreal, Quebec.-Profile:Gordon was educated in both Canada and England. He had various jobs including working in a bank, in a silver mine, contracting, as a commercial traveller, and being a cigarette factory owner before settling on the stage and at one time...
  
   - Mr. Hammond
• Ernest Wood
  Ernest Wood
  Professor Ernest Egerton Wood was a noted yogi, theosophist, Sanskrit scholar, and author of numerous books, including Concentration - An Approach to Meditation and Yoga.-Youth and Education:Wood was educated at the Manchester Municipal College of Technology, where he studied chemistry,...
  
   - Hubert

Release

A Certain Young Man opened to reviews that were lukewarm at best, and was a financial failure at the box office. Some screenings were proceeded by the Technicolor short The Czarina's Secret featuring Sally Rand

Sally Rand

Sally Rand was a burlesque dancer and actress, most noted for her ostrich feather fan dance and balloon bubble dance. She also performed under the name Billie Beck.-Early life and career:...

 and Olga Baclanova

Olga Baclanova

Olga Vladimirovna Baclanova, or Baklanova, was a Russian-born actress, who achieved prominence during the silent film era. She was billed as the Russian Tigress and remains most noted by modern audiences for portraying the leading lady in Tod Browning's unique horror movie Freaks , which features...

. The film's release followed on the heels of A Gentleman of Paris with Adolph Menjou, which was based on the same source material and was considered a better adaptation. Novarro's performance was unfavorably compared with that of Menjou by several critics, including Mordaunt Hall of the New York Times, who found the overall film "only mildly amusing and very shallow," though he found Myers "charming" and work by supporting actors Huntley Gordon and Bert Roach "favorable."

Personally, Novarro hated the film and his performance. In an April, 1931, interview with Modern Screen, he said "In acting, in directing, in everything - I want to be 'definite'. Even when I am later proven wrong - it will at least have been so definite that I myself know it. I am responsible for the worst performance that has ever been given on the screen. It was in A Certain Young Man and it was terrible. I am mortally ashamed of it - yet I'd rather have been bad than just fair."