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Movie Info
Bud (Warren Beatty) and his high school sweetheart, Deanie (Natalie Wood), are weighed down by their parents' oppressive expectations, which threaten the future of their relationship. Deanie's mother (Audrey Christie) and Bud's father (Pat Hingle) caution their children against engaging in a sexual relationship, but for opposing reasons: Deanie's mother thinks Bud won't marry a girl with loose morals, while Bud's father is afraid of marriage and pregnancy that would ruin Bud's future at Yale.
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Genre: Drama
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Original Language: English
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Director: Elia Kazan
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Producer: Elia Kazan
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Writer: William Inge
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Release Date (Theaters): original
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Runtime:
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Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
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Production Co: NBI Productions
Cast & Crew
Critic Reviews for Splendor in the Grass
Audience Reviews for Splendor in the Grass
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Such a heartbreaking tale of teenage angst and tragic love. Natalie Wood is stunning and in a story with some real weight to it, performs brilliantly. The film 'introduces' Warren Beatty, who's no slouch himself, and finer looking couple I don't think you'll ever see. The film opens with the two of them making out heavily while parked by a waterfall (the crashing falls a little heavy in their symbolism), and her stopping him, much to his frustration. Once home, her mother cautions her about going too far, and then tells her that not only do good girls save themselves for marriage, but they don't have those urges at all(!) Meanwhile, he goes home to a father who tells him he'll have to marry her if he gets her pregnant, and then rams his vision for the boy's future down this throat, which is Yale followed by a job in his oil business, all without pausing to listen to him. Both go to bed understandably frustrated. Their parents have spoken to them out of love, but not in an open-minded way, and one that's hopelessly outdated. You really feel for Wood in this film. Her looks of love into Beatty's eyes are intensely endearing. Frustrated, he tests his power over her by pushing her to her knees and saying "at my feet, slave", and makes her tell him how much she loves him. She says she would do anything for him, and we believe it, but understand she won't do *that*. It drives Beatty crazy and he wants to marry her, but his father insists that he wait until after college, and encourages him to go after a "different kind of girl" to relieve his frustrations(!) The well-meaning but bad parenting abounds. Ultimately Beatty breaks it off with Wood despite their love for one another, and from there, her spiral begins. Wood has three fantastic scenes that earned her an Academy Award nomination. In the first, her teacher forces her to recite a poem from William Wordsworth; the words clearly relate to her heartbreak: "What though the radiance which was once so bright Be now for ever taken from my sight, Though nothing can bring back the hour Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower, We will grieve not, rather find Strength in what remains behind..." The second has her in the bathtub, where her mother's only concern is whether he "spoiled" her, and her emotional reaction, expressing her grief and frustration of it all, "spoiled?? I'm not spoiled, mom! I'm not spoiled, mom! I'm just as fresh and viriginal as the day I was born, mom!" her voice and emotion rising. We really feel the hypocrisy of the double standard - girls are either "bad" or "good" - and the horrible position this puts them in. In the third scene, Wood throws herself at Beatty, saying she's not a nice girl, and he resists, sensing her desperation and knowing they shouldn't do it in her state of mind. He asks her where's her pride, and she erupts, "My pride?! I haven't any pride! I just want to die!" Did I mention heartbreaking? They part, Beatty to a life of dissipation at Yale, Wood to a mental institution in Virginia. They never forget one another, but their time is past. The ending is brilliantly balanced. A couple of years later she sees him for closure; he's married with a child, and she's engaged. She asks him whether he's happy, and he replies, "I guess so. I don't ask myself that question much ... What's the point, ya gotta take what comes." So poignant. One thing I've always found a little odd is how Beatty's bohemian, somewhat wild sister, played very well by Barbara Loden, disappears after some great scenes, the last of which has her drinking too much out of frustration at a New Year's party, 1929. She underscores the double standard and the desire to freely pursue one's destiny, wanting to go to California and study art, and saying she's a "freak in this town". The other small knock I have is that while the film is set in 1928, aside from the old car and some elements of the set, it really feels like 1961, the year it was made, based on the appearances of the characters and the story itself. No matter, though. This is a timeless story of heartache and passion, and yet in the end, maturity in working through breaking up over a love that (unfairly) couldn't be. Kazan directs it well, bringing out great performances and emotion, without being overly melodramatic. He's also daring - what Beatty (and Wood) want is abundantly clear - while at the same time being honest, and real. Definitely recommended.
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Quite an interesting film in its time..the discussion of hormones in the early 60s before everyone else was talking about it. The late great Natalie Wood plays off Warren Beatty and eventually her character trumps him for good measure.
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The definitive bucket of cold water movie about the hormones that swept America. Warren Beatty finds his Stanley Kowalski and Natalie Wood gives one of the essential female performances in American film.
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If there is a heaven, it simply must involve being loved by Natalie Wood. I have only seen <i>Rebel Without a Cause</i>, but after this incredible, emotionally riveting performance, there are certainly more of her films added to my queue. In addition to possessing the physical beauty that we simply don't celebrate anymore, she embodies this character with raw intensity, recognizing the complexities and themes of the story. In this performance, she is "actor as character" and "actor as storyteller" - an oft-overlooked combination. The story, penned by William Inge, is part morality tale, part universal truth. The film reverses the typical dictates about pre-marital sex and suggests that the constant pressures of being "untainted," "pure," "unspoiled," and "a nice girl" cause more moral degradation than they prevent. Additionally, the characters all see women as fitting into two distinct categories: they are either whores or wife material, a condition which is explained starkly by Mrs. Loomis: "A woman doesn't enjoy those things the way a man does. She just lets her husband come near her in order to have children." As a result of such sexual repression and categorical thinking, the film shows the inevitable descent of two good people. But their descent is marked both by the effects of their environment and by the simple fact that adulthood always disappoints the idealism of youth, a theme the title of the film evokes. The film has two <i>very</i> minor flaws. First, I thought the under-handed images of sexuality were over-used; how many times do I have to look at a waterfall? I understand the censorship of the time, but Kazan could have added a train going through a tunnel just for variation's sake. Second, Beatty seems to betray some inexperience here and there, unsure when to play subtlety and when to release. Overall, Natalie Wood makes this film a sheer joy to watch, and as long as men continue to tell women what is valued about their bodies and their sexuality, the themes in this film will remain relevant.
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