Young Man's Fancy

Young Man's Fancy is a 1952 industrial short produced by Jam Handy for the Edison Electric Institute. Essentially, its obscure purpose is to promote how wonderful electric appliances are for the house, even in 1952.

The twist is that this nugget is coated with two shells: a red-herring discussion of time and motion study, and the real draw for the movie, an awkward game of unrequited love lust.

The story begins by introducing us to the spry young Judy Adams and her beret-wearing mother, focusing on chores aided by the wonders of electricity. As they discuss these wonders, Mother brings up a letter from Judy's twin brother Bob. Bob is bringing home one Alexander Phipps, who has "no time for girls." Upon hearing this description of Alexander, Judy writes him off and figures that the man will be a complete bore.

When Alexander arrives, Judy is immediately smitten, and thus begins a...cunning(?) plan to win Alexander's affections. Oh, and promote the wonders of electricity.

This was featured as a short in Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode 610.

Young Man's Fancy contains the following tropes:

  • Accidental Innuendo: Viewed a certain way, this can be an effective premise for a porn film, when considering the dialogue.
  • Big Stupid Doodoo Head: Judy calls her brother "a stinker."
  • Chewing the Scenery: Judy's OTT acting has a slight (and hopefully unintentional) maniacal edge to it.
  • Fail O'Suckyname: Judy has this opinion of the name "Alexander Phipps."
  • Feminine Women Can Cook: Judy and her mom.
  • The Fifties: Embarrassingly so.
  • He-Man Woman Hater: Bob casually includes the fact that Alex is "quite a woman-hater" in the description of him in his letter.
  • Ho Yay: The dialogue in the movie could give one this implication between Bob and Alexander.
    • Alexander is in the bathroom shaving as Bob takes a shower.
  • Product Placement: Ridiculously so.
  • Society Marches On: ...and HOW.
  • Technology Marches On: Shockingly... averted. They go on about things most households still depend on, such as refrigerators, temperature-controlled ovens, dishwashers, washing machines. The thing is that all of the manual household chores, like manually washing clothes, was still the majority in 1952 - all you need to do is watch The Honeymooners with Ralph and Trixie's icebox.
  • Through His Stomach: Judy wins over Alexander by cooking a grand feast.
    • Invoked by Judy's mom. Judy initially dismisses it, telling her mom the old adage is corny because everyone likes good food.
  • Totally Radical: Judy's slanging seems to peeve her mother a slight bit.
  • Unusual Euphemism: Alexander makes Judy "squishy."
    • Alex is also "a real cool Jonah" who isn't like the "trips" she goes to school with.
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