Splendor in the Grass
Directed by Elia Kazan
Written by William Inge
1961/USA
Warner Bros./Newtown Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
[box] Wilma Dean: My pride? My pride? I don’t want my pride![/box]
Elia Kazan makes both doomed young love and small-town Kansas look absolutely beautiful.
Deanie (Natalie Wood) and Bud (Warren Beatty) are high school seniors in the throes of first love. He is the son of the richest man in town, who positively dotes on him. She is of more modest parentage.
When they get within three feet of each other sparks fly and their make-out sessions are hard to stop. Both have been taught that “good girls” wait until marriage. Deanie is under the additional burden of her mother’s belief that “good girls” don’t even have the feelings she gets when she is with Bud.
Bud’s desire is so strong that he decides the only way to fight it is to stop seeing Deanie. This leaves Deanie with a broken heart and eventually drives her right over the edge. With Pat Hingle as Bud’s father and Audrey Christie as Deanie’s mother.
What saves this from being a typical psychological drama of the era is Kazan’s skillful direction, Boris Kaufmann’s great cinematography and the acting. Wood plays her part with great delicacy – it may be her best work. I’m not always a fan of Beatty’s. He’s fine here. Worth seeing.
Splendor in the Grass won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen. Natalie Wood Was nominated for Best Actress.
Trailer
My first impression of this movie was that this was another silly about how important for your mental health it is to get the one you love and I disliked it for it. On second thought there is more here. When I read about all the young girls who hurt themselves because they cannot live up to the ideals they are met with I think of Deanie. She cannot be her parent’s and Bud’s ideal and she dislikes herself for it. That sort of makes sense, no?
Yes, exactly. It’s not so much that she can’t have Bud but that she can’t be herself.
It’s like the director wanted to prove he’s the smartest guy in the room – vastly superior in insight to his audience.
Just revisited “Splendor in the Grass.” Now I’m fascinated with William Inge, his themes, and the sad end of his life by suicide. Clearly, the great Midwestern playwright struggled with repressed sexuality.
Wow, didn’t know that about Inge. You have me curious!