Opening on a glorious shot of a waterfall and a passionate lip-lock between raven-haired beauty Natalie Wood and boyishly handsome Warren Beatty in an old-fashioned car, the ambivalent need to succumb to temptation but wanting to be good - "Don't Bud - no!" Elia Kazan's masterpiece of adolescent longing, self-discovery and suppression is a fabulous experience. The hypocritical society that stifles young Deanie Loomis (Wood), drilling that no nice girl indulges or thinks about natural sexual desires and impulses, while young men are free to pursue their lust, but not with any virtuous girls. Deanie, daughter of a working-class family, is madly in love with Bud Stamper (Beatty, in his debut), the son of the wealthiest clan in town, and star of the school's athletic teams. Their romance is doomed by their parents' interference and control. Bud can't continue the relationship with all the pressure placed on him by his domineering father, Ace (Pat Hingle), not to mention the presence of his nymphomaniac, flapper sister, Ginny (Barbara Loden, who, at this time, was Mrs. Elia Kazan). Deanie's mother (Audrey Christie) constantly shadows her daughter, discouraging her from any impure thoughts or actions. After their breakup, Bud gets his release from the most promiscuous girl in school, and this devastates Deanie, who feels that she has to go bad to regain his love and attention. At a school dance, she copies Ginny's seductive style, and attempts to seduce Bud to get him back. He turns her down, leading Deanie to the reservoir where her nervous breakdown explodes, and she is sent to a sanitarium to recuperate. Bud then has to find himself, while Deanie must heal to regain her sanity and sense of self-worth.
Each of their journeys are poignant, as is the revelation that Ginny, on a self-destructive path, dies in an automobile crash. She obviously desperately wanted her father's unconditional love and attention, which he refused to give her, never ceasing to remind her that she was an embarrassment and a disappointment. Her drunken argument with Bud says it all - "If you weren't my brother, you wouldn't even come near me! You're a nice boy, you're nice, I know what you nice boys are like - you only talk to me in the dark!" Bud's meeting with his future wife, Angelina (Zohra Lampert) and Deanie's relationship with fellow patient Johnny, beautifully presents the inner peace and healing that each of the protagonists have sought. The climax is a wonderfully touching end - a reunion of sorts, to make peace with the past.
"Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower, we will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind." Wood was Oscar-nominated for Best Actress, and she certainly was deserving of that accolade. She and Beatty began an relationship after shooting was completed that was sadly short-lived, kind of a painful echo of their on-screen relationship. Another sad parallel is Deanie's breakdown as she swims in the reservoir, since Wood's tragic demise would be as a result of the element that she feared most - water.
The film also features the debuts of Gary Lockwood, Sandy Dennis and Phyllis Diller, as well as Splendor's playwright author, William Inge, in a cameo as the church reverend.
A beautiful piece of movie-making, deserving of its status as a classic.
Each of their journeys are poignant, as is the revelation that Ginny, on a self-destructive path, dies in an automobile crash. She obviously desperately wanted her father's unconditional love and attention, which he refused to give her, never ceasing to remind her that she was an embarrassment and a disappointment. Her drunken argument with Bud says it all - "If you weren't my brother, you wouldn't even come near me! You're a nice boy, you're nice, I know what you nice boys are like - you only talk to me in the dark!" Bud's meeting with his future wife, Angelina (Zohra Lampert) and Deanie's relationship with fellow patient Johnny, beautifully presents the inner peace and healing that each of the protagonists have sought. The climax is a wonderfully touching end - a reunion of sorts, to make peace with the past.
"Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower, we will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind." Wood was Oscar-nominated for Best Actress, and she certainly was deserving of that accolade. She and Beatty began an relationship after shooting was completed that was sadly short-lived, kind of a painful echo of their on-screen relationship. Another sad parallel is Deanie's breakdown as she swims in the reservoir, since Wood's tragic demise would be as a result of the element that she feared most - water.
The film also features the debuts of Gary Lockwood, Sandy Dennis and Phyllis Diller, as well as Splendor's playwright author, William Inge, in a cameo as the church reverend.
A beautiful piece of movie-making, deserving of its status as a classic.