It’s one-sided love at first sight for Larry O’Brien and Diane Forsythe, who catches Larry’s attention after he sees her ride past in a car with her chauffer.
Larry decides to follow Diane and learns that she is not only related to a finance minister, but also engaged to a wealthy, older man named Clive Latimer.
Completely smitten with Diane, Larry tries to convince her not to go through with the marriage, which he suspects has been arranged for the family’s benefit rather than for love… and he’s willing to dig up the dirt to prove it.
William McGann directs 1931’s I Like Your Nerve, which stars Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Loretta Young in the roles of Larry and Diane. Also appearing in the film is Boris Karloff in a small role as a butler.
I Like Your Nerve is a light-hearted and pretty fluffy film, which makes it either a fun watch or a completely obnoxious one depending on your taste. It’s romantic fare that doesn’t require much investment from the audience in the way of thought — great for one of those days when your brain is taxed and you want an easy watch, so long as you aren’t peeved by films of this type.
It’s difficult to discern whether Larry’s persistence is cute or TOO persistent. The character borders on stalker-y at times. Regardless, Fairbanks, Jr. and Loretta Young have a very nice chemistry that makes most of his forward behavior forgivable and makes the audience root for them as a couple.
Loretta Young on her own is wonderful. She’s an incredible talent whose performances I tend to love in just about any film, and this one is no exception. She’s completely delightful here. The film would probably be enjoyable with any spunky actress in the role of Diane, but Young’s charm and screen presence give the story a magnetism that it wouldn’t have without her.
Young’s charm aside, the journey of her character is a fairly typical one, moving from a forced marriage to a sense of rebellion to a forbidden romance.
I Like Your Nerve is a predictable but cute film that delivers quite a few laughs. If you enjoy fluttery rom-coms, this is worth a watch. The score: 3/5
The Motion Pictures 
Thanks for this post, this sounds like my kind of fun. I won’t lie, Fairbanks Jr. is a plus. I love the new? look of your site by the way :)
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Semi-new: I changed the fonts and added the graphics in the sidebar. :) Thought it would be more fun to look at than the typical “list of categories” widget!
Fairbanks Jr. is always a plus, haha. He and Loretta are both a lot of fun to watch in this!
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Got it. The sidebar must have been a lot of work, but it was worth it, it’s really cool.
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Thank you!
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YW :)
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I love the titles of these 1930s films you review…titles you wouldn’t see attached to the films of today: ‘You Better Watch It, Mister!’, or ‘That’s My Foot You’re Stepping On!’. Ahh, the good old days.
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They have great titles! Silents do sometimes, too. I have one waiting to be watched on the DVR called ‘He Who Gets Slapped.’
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Ha! That’s hilarious! And don’t forget to watch its exciting sequel, ‘He Who Slaps Back’.
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I haven’t seen a lot of classics so I’m really glad I started following your site – this is going to be great for recommendations. :)
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Hope you find some that you like! I cover a lot of forgotten films, so even for people who have seen a lot of older films there’s always something new to discover here, haha. Be sure to check out the “browse by rating” section of the index and my “Favorite Things About…” series for the most highly recommended films!
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