The Young Lovers (1964 film)
| The Young Lovers | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. |
| Produced by | Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. |
| Screenplay by | George Garrett |
| Based on | 1955 novel by Julian Halevy |
| Starring | Peter Fonda Sharon Hugueny Nick Adams Deborah Walley |
| Music by | Sol Kaplan |
| Cinematography | Joseph Biroc Ellsworth Fredericks |
| Edited by | William A. Lyon |
|
Production
company |
Tigertail Productions
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
|
Release dates
|
Copyrighted: June 23, 1964 U.S. premiere: (in Cleveland) October 14, 1964 |
|
Running time
|
110 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Young Lovers is a black-and-white American romantic drama,[1] released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in November 1964.[2] The sole directorial effort of its producer, Samuel Goldwyn, Jr.,[3] it stars Peter Fonda[4] and Sharon Hugueny[5] (in the final of her four feature film appearances), with second leads Nick Adams and Deborah Walley.[6]
Plot
While attending college, Eddie (Peter Fonda) shares an apartment with another student, nicknamed Tarragoo (Nick Adams). Tarragoo's girlfriend Debbie (Deborah Walley) and her friend Pam (Sharon Hugueny), who is studying to be a teacher and lives with her widowed mother (Beatrice Straight), are frequent visitors. Eddie and Pam develop a close relationship; and, during the time her mother is away from home for a few days, Pam allows Eddie to stay the night. Finding herself pregnant, she tells Eddie who reacts with unhappiness, being low on funds and dismayed by the prospect of losing his scholarship. Pam discusses the situation with her mother, considers having an abortion, decides against it and makes plans to leave. Meanwhile, Eddie, with help from professors Schwartz (Malachi Throne) and Reese (Joseph Campanella), improves his educational standing by passing an exam and consults with Tarragoo and Debbie who advise him to take the morally correct path. At the crossroads of integrity, Eddie chooses rectitude and goes to Pam's mother, intent upon telling her so. Learning that Pam has already departed, he aims to follow her, with the conviction that whatever life offers, they will be able to face it together.[7]
Cast
- Peter Fonda as Eddie Slocum
- Sharon Hugueny as Pam Burns
- Nick Adams as Tarragoo
- Deborah Walley as Debbie
- Beatrice Straight as Mrs. Burns
- Malachi Throne as Prof. Schwartz
- Joseph Campanella as Prof. Reese
- Nancy Rennick as Mary Reese
- Kent Smith as Dr. Shoemaker
- Jennifer Billingsley as Karen
Tagline
"There is a moment when the rest of the world ceases to exist."[8]
Evaluation in film guides
The New York Times Guide to Movies on TV (1970 edition, edited by Howard Thompson), starting with the write-up tagline "Uh-huh", provides a one-sentence overview of the plot and describes the film as "[A] tasteful, occasionally interesting and tentative little drama, that seems decorously light years away from today's campus realism but even on its own terms disappointingly beats a retreat from reality". The review also praises Malachi Throne, Joseph Campanella and Beatrice Straight, and ends with "[B]est of all are Nick Adams as Fonda's roommate and Deborah Walley as his peppery, virtuous little quarry." A small photograph from the film depicts the four young leads sharing a drink.[9]
Steven H. Scheuer's Movies on TV (1986–87 edition) gives The Young Lovers 1 star (out of 4), describing it as "pangs of first love, Hollywood-style" and concluding, [A]s usual, the principals act more dopey than romantic". By the 1993–94 edition, the conclusion had been deleted, leaving only the description. Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide (2009 edition) manages a higher rating, 2 stars (out of 4), but not a higher opinion, denigrating it as an "[A]mateurish, meandering drama of college youth involved in romance".
The Motion Picture Guide (1987 edition) goes half a step higher than Maltin, assigning 2½ stars (out of 5) and deciding that "[T]his 'youth in trouble' film is hardly fresh in story content and is lacking in production values". The review also notes that "[T]he direction is choppy, with a somewhat confusing time frame, but the cast proves able to overcome the problems and inherent soap-opera qualities of the script".
References
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (includes photograph with caption "Producer Samuel Goldwyn Jr. coaches actress Sharon Hugueny for her role in "The Young Lovers".)
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (includes photograph with caption "CHIP OFF A STAR—When Peter Fonda, son of star Henry, decided acting was his dish, wild horses couldn't hold him. Here, he's shown with Sharon Hugueny in his fourth film, "The Young Lovers".)
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ Film poster for The Young Lovers (1964)
- ↑ Lobby cards and stills of Peter Fonda and Sharon Hugueny from The Young Lovers
External links
- The Young Lovers at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). The Young Lovers at IMDb
- The Young Lovers at the TCM Movie Database
- The Young Lovers at AllMovie
- The Young Lovers at TV Guide (revised form of this 1987 write-up was originally published in The Motion Picture Guide)
