Splendor in the Grass (1961)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Elia Kazan

Writer:

William Inge (writer)

Release Date:

10 October 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A LOVE STORY UNLIKE ANY OTHERS !!

Plot:

A fragile Kansas girl's unrequited and forbidden love for a handsome young man from the town's most powerful family drives her to heartbreak and madness.

Plot Keywords:

Kansas | Stock Market Crash | 1920s | High School | Forbidden Love

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Natalie Wood	...	Wilma Dean 'Deanie' Loomis
Warren Beatty	...	Bud Stamper
Pat Hingle	...	Ace Stamper
Audrey Christie	...	Mrs. Loomis
Barbara Loden	...	Ginny Stamper
Zohra Lampert	...	Angelina
Fred Stewart	...	Del Loomis
Joanna Roos	...	Mrs. Stamper
John McGovern	...	Doc Smiley
Jan Norris	...	Juanita Howard
Martine Bartlett	...	Miss Metcalf
Gary Lockwood	...	Toots
Sandy Dennis	...	Kay
Crystal Field	...	Hazel
Marla Adams	...	June

Also Known As:

Splendour in the Grass (UK)

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #19453) | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

4144 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

NBI Productions

Trivia:

In the bath scene, Natalie Wood's wrist is very briefly revealed. She normally always wore a bulky bracelet or long sleeves to hide the protrusion of a bone in her wrist which she thought to be an ugly anomaly.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In Bud's basketball game, the free throw lane is twelve feet wide. Even at the college level this width did not appear until 1957.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Wilma Dean: Bud...
Bud: Deanie, please...
Wilma Dean: Bud, I'm afraid. Oh, Bud... don't, Bud.
Bud: Deanie...
Wilma Dean: No... we mustn't, Bud... no... no...
[he gets out of the car]
Wilma Dean: Bud, don't be mad.
Bud: I better take you home.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Stranded in Space (#4.5)" (1991)

BITTERSWEET LOVE GONE AWRY!!!

How poignant this movie is....showing us young love between Deanie and Bud. All the time, you just know that the parents are setting them up for disaster. I first saw this film when I was a young woman of 12 in 1967 and it impressed me so much how two people could be in love, but it could never be. I cried and cried, thinking how sad this was. Now, as a grown woman, watching it, I still felt the same. I still cried after watching it the other night. I always loved Natalie Wood and felt that there was a real chemistry between she and Warren Beatty. (I think their real-life affair during this film contributed to the sparks that fly in this movies). Also, the time period added alot symbolically to the film: The care-free Roaring Twenties which eventually led to the harsh reality of the Depression. Brilliant work of Elia Kazan!!!