The Restless Years (1958)

Regisseur:

Helmut Käutner

Drehbuchautoren:

Edward Anhalt (writer)
Patricia Joudry (play)

Premierendatum:

Dezember 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Werbezeile:

The story of a town with a dirty mind!

Plot:

Will Henderson is the new boy at the high school. He befriends outcast Melinda Grant, whose illegitimacy marks her and her unstable mother...

Plot Keywords:

Dysfunctional Family | Small Town | Prejudice | Family Secret | Fight

Nutzerkommentare:

Peyton Place meets Carrie

Besetzung

John Saxon	...	Will Henderson
Sandra Dee	...	Melinda Grant
Teresa Wright	...	Elizabeth Grant
James Whitmore	...	Ed Henderson
Luana Patten	...	Polly Fisher
Margaret Lindsay	...	Dorothy Henderson
Virginia Grey	...	Miss Robeson
Jody McCrea	...	Bruce Mitchell
Alan Baxter	...	Alex Fisher
Hayden Rorke	...	Mr. Booth
Dorothy Green	...	Laura Fisher

Alternativ:

Teach Me How to Cry (USA) (working title)
The Wonderful Years (UK)
Zu jung (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]

Länge:

86 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Schwarzweiss

Seitenverhältnis:

2.35 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Altersfreigabe:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 (f)

Firma:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Peyton Place meets Carrie

John Saxon and Sandra Dee in all their 1958 youthful splendor explore teen sexuality and angst in Libertyville, USA.

Teresa Wright plays Dee's downtrodden, seamstress Mother living life as the town's neurotic spinster recluse, having once regrettably abandoned herself to a traveling trumpet player under the town's infamous bandstand, having later given birth to Dee as a result of her shameful tryst.

Hot Rods, hoop skirts, and gymnasium rock and roll abound, replete with alcoholic parents from both sides of the tracks fully represented. Luana Patten is wonderful as the snotty, slutty rich girl so accustomed to getting whatever she wants.

It's as cornball and cliche' as you can get, but good fun for a nostalgic look at small town Americana in the late 50's. You've seen Saxon and Dee much better than this, but it's remains a guilty pleasure to relish, particularly with Ross Hunter at the helm dishing up plenty of his particular style of small town pathos to keep you amused.

Look for Saxon's Pop (James Whitmore) near the end, driving off with the lovely Mrs. with a smile and a beer in his hand! Somehow, Toto, you know this kinda behavior tells us we're not in Kansas anymore.