SO dated now, and VERY much TOO long!

This is one of those movies that must be watched with the social conventions of the late 50's very much in mind.
The situations portrayed were considered extremely delicate then, but most of them now seem quite mundane.
Extra-marital sex? Frigidity?  Divorce? Sex before marriage? Teenage sex? Teenage pregnancy?

Well if you watch any movies nowadays you'll already know those topics have become more than just a little "ho-hum".
They appear regularly in TV soaps!

Anyway, here it is 1959 and they are BIG issues, specially as this movie tries so hard to NOT make moral judgements, but the message is there just the same.
Troy Donahue is the resident pretty-boy here, again in his signature red sweater and white pants that apparently set off a gay fashion mania in the early 60's.
Dorothy Malone gives probably the best performance. She later made a career out of playing women who were willing to go beyond the moral codes of the time.
Constance Ford gets to chew up the scenery as the frigid and sexually repressed mother of Sandra Dee.
It's a great part and she is of course cast as the villain, but provides the voice of current morality of the time against which everything else rebels.
Her husband Richard Egan is suitably macho and adores his "little girl princess" Sandra Dee.

Now Ms Dee is one of those frothy little actresses that manages to ALWAYS play....well, ....Ms Dee actually.
She so constantly just seems to spend the whole movie pouting those bee-stung lips and pondering whether to be "good", (that's the euphemism they use here too), or go-all-the-way with some boy, ...which she so rarely does.
(I find her extremely irritating, but others may beg to differ.)

The drawn out scenes where Ms Dee and lover boy Troy Donahue, (who's far prettier than herself BTW), discuss and re-discuss, debate and consider, then re-consider whether or not to "do it" seem interminable to the modern viewer now.
I was literally yelling "Oh just get it on will ya!"

An inordinate amount of screen time is devoted to this vacillating , but I assume that this was THE big issue back then.
(I began to think Troy would have had much better luck and far less fuss getting his rocks off down at the local gay bar, ...but homosexuality is probably to one big issue this movie does not try to tackle.)

EVENTUALLY, .....after much yes we will, no we won't, maybe we will, better not, you don't really want to, yes I think I do etc.......guess what? THEY DO IT!!! They are just SO MUCH in LURVE!!!!!

Of course it's not shown on screen, ....just those ubiquitous crashing waves to suggest the unleashed passion that told us all back then that some pretty racy sex was going on somewhere off-screen!

And of course, being the 50's, you know there just has to be ...wait for it! CONSEQUENCES!!!
Despite Troy-boy being at least 27 and going to an all male college he knows nothing of contraception and yes, you guessed it, ...Ms Dee gets up-the-duff!!! OOH-WAH!!!! This is just what happens when good girls go bad, tsk-tsk!

More bedroom moralising from all concerned, but don't worry, they get married in the end and morality is preserved.

Now in this long, long narrative there are more than a few holes.
Dorothy Malone's character wants a divorce from her drunken, no-good useless husband to marry the heroic Richard Egan, ...(they used to be lovers back when he had no money), but the drunk prevents the divorce by saying he will not grant Dorothy custody of Troy!
"Custody"???
Troy Donahue just has to be at least in his mid-twenties, ...certainly old enough to NOT be awarded in custody!
Yet this threat works?
The lack of taking "precautions" seems very much a "plot device" considering the prevalence of condoms back then, ... and the apparent worldliness of Donahue's character.
The dreaded word "abortion" is of course never mentioned here.
This is "made-in America" folks, and I imagine they didn't want the theatre bombed and staff shot dead on the sidewalk by bible-belt vigilantes.

There are NO black people at all, ..which seemed odd to me.
Very much a "whites only" movie.

A house by Frank Lloyd Wright gets screen mention and it's situated right on the ocean, ...and I mean right on the water's edge.
Wonder if it's still there today with oceans rising and the occasional cyclones?

The astute eye will detect the roof is already rusting in several places, but the architect's much vaunted use of glass provides the corny non-judgemental line for Dorothy Malone who says without a trace of self-consciousness:
"We live in a glass house so we are not throwing stones..."
You just know "all will be well" after that corker!
I'd like to re-visit a year or two down the track and see if Ms Dee is still smiling, surrounded by diapers and waiting for Troy to come home from that cute little bar down the road?

(Apologies if the excessive capitalisation offends anyone's sensibilities here, ..as you will no doubt realise I'm being a bit tongue-in-cheek, it's done to ensure emphasis is read where I intend it to be.)
SO dated now, and VERY much TOO long! This is one of those movies that must be watched with the social conventions of the late 50's very much in mind. The situations portrayed were considered extremely delicate then, but most of them now seem quite mundane. Extra-marital sex? Frigidity? Divorce? Sex before marriage? Teenage sex? Teenage pregnancy? Well if you watch any movies nowadays you'll already know those topics have become more than just a little "ho-hum". They appear regularly in TV soaps! Anyway, here it is 1959 and they are BIG issues, specially as this movie tries so hard to NOT make moral judgements, but the message is there just the same. Troy Donahue is the resident pretty-boy here, again in his signature red sweater and white pants that apparently set off a gay fashion mania in the early 60's. Dorothy Malone gives probably the best performance. She later made a career out of playing women who were willing to go beyond the moral codes of the time. Constance Ford gets to chew up the scenery as the frigid and sexually repressed mother of Sandra Dee. It's a great part and she is of course cast as the villain, but provides the voice of current morality of the time against which everything else rebels. Her husband Richard Egan is suitably macho and adores his "little girl princess" Sandra Dee. Now Ms Dee is one of those frothy little actresses that manages to ALWAYS play.... well,.... Ms Dee actually. She so constantly just seems to spend the whole movie pouting those bee-stung lips and pondering whether to be "good", (that's the euphemism they use here too), or go-all-the-way with some boy,... which she so rarely does. (I find her extremely irritating, but others may beg to differ. )

The drawn out scenes where Ms Dee and lover boy Troy Donahue, (who's far prettier than herself BTW), discuss and re-discuss, debate and consider, then re-consider whether or not to "do it" seem interminable to the modern viewer now. I was literally yelling "Oh just get it on will ya! "

An inordinate amount of screen time is devoted to this vacillating , but I assume that this was THE big issue back then. (I began to think Troy would have had much better luck and far less fuss getting his rocks off down at the local gay bar,... but homosexuality is probably to one big issue this movie does not try to tackle. )

EVENTUALLY,.... . after much yes we will, no we won't, maybe we will, better not, you don't really want to, yes I think I do etc.... ... guess what? THEY DO IT!!! They are just SO MUCH in LURVE!!!! ! Of course it's not shown on screen,.... just those ubiquitous crashing waves to suggest the unleashed passion that told us all back then that some pretty racy sex was going on somewhere off-screen! And of course, being the 50's, you know there just has to be... wait for it! CONSEQUENCES!!! Despite Troy-boy being at least 27 and going to an all male college he knows nothing of contraception and yes, you guessed it,... Ms Dee gets up-the-duff!!! OOH-WAH!!!! This is just what happens when good girls go bad, tsk-tsk! More bedroom moralising from all concerned, but don't worry, they get married in the end and morality is preserved. Now in this long, long narrative there are more than a few holes. Dorothy Malone's character wants a divorce from her drunken, no-good useless husband to marry the heroic Richard Egan,... (they used to be lovers back when he had no money), but the drunk prevents the divorce by saying he will not grant Dorothy custody of Troy! "Custody"??? Troy Donahue just has to be at least in his mid-twenties,... certainly old enough to NOT be awarded in custody! Yet this threat works? The lack of taking "precautions" seems very much a "plot device" considering the prevalence of condoms back then,... and the apparent worldliness of Donahue's character. The dreaded word "abortion" is of course never mentioned here. This is "made-in America" folks, and I imagine they didn't want the theatre bombed and staff shot dead on the sidewalk by bible-belt vigilantes. There are NO black people at all,.. which seemed odd to me. Very much a "whites only" movie. A house by Frank Lloyd Wright gets screen mention and it's situated right on the ocean,... and I mean right on the water's edge. Wonder if it's still there today with oceans rising and the occasional cyclones? The astute eye will detect the roof is already rusting in several places, but the architect's much vaunted use of glass provides the corny non-judgemental line for Dorothy Malone who says without a trace of self-consciousness:
"We live in a glass house so we are not throwing stones... "
You just know "all will be well" after that corker! I'd like to re-visit a year or two down the track and see if Ms Dee is still smiling, surrounded by diapers and waiting for Troy to come home from that cute little bar down the road? (Apologies if the excessive capitalisation offends anyone's sensibilities here,.. as you will no doubt realise I'm being a bit tongue-in-cheek, it's done to ensure emphasis is read where I intend it to be. )