central theme — and fortunately Mr. Daves agrees about this — is that young people today are neither "beat" or "lost". I wanted to show an affirmative hero who may be confused because of his youth and sex troubles, but who is still masculine, unaffected and optimistic — able to get ahead on his own two feet. The idea of setting this story in the tobacco industry came last. It seemed sensible to put a vigorous, healthy young man to work in the soil. Delmer Daves differentiated the film from his earlier A Summer Place: There I tried to dramatize the terrible end of communication between parents and children. Here, in this day of mass identification, I show the need for a young man to establish his individual liberty against the world's increasing push towards conformity. It was Claudette Colbert's first film in nine years. "I didn't really intend to make another picture", she admitted at the time. "I took this one because I felt it had a point of view. The mother wants to break the silver cord and lead a normal sex life of her own." "Working with these kids is a little tough sometimes", said Karl Malden of the film's youthful cast. "Still, they're eager and they're learning. And we can always do retakes if something goes wrong." Soundtrack Max Steiner composed the film score. On this film he made use of his belief that "every character should have a theme." The Warner Bros. Records soundtrack (WS-1413) recording used five of the film's main themes in both a short version and a concerto versions. In addition to the "Tobacco Theme", (for tobacco heir Parrish McLean), "Paige's Theme", "Allison's Theme", "Lucy's Theme", and "Ellen's Theme;" the soundtrack included Steiner's song "Someday I'll Meet You Again" (from Passage to Marseille). Max Steiner conducted the Warner Bros. Orchestra. Side 2 of the soundtrack album featured George Greeley as guest pianist, playing three of the film themes, together with two other Steiner film themes, Tara's Theme (from Gone With The Wind) and the Theme from A Summer Place. George Greeley was also featured on several singles issued by Warner Brothers. Reception The film was a success at the box office but received little critical acclaim. A 1965 New York Times article called it "pure camp". In 1967, Donahue described the film as the most satisfying of his movies to date. "I