As Young As We Are - (1958)

As Young As We Are is another little known and lost movie that I found on Netflix.  The movie stars Pippa Scott as Kim Hutchins, Robert Harland as Hank Moore, and Majel Barrett as Joyce Goodwin.  As Young As We Are was directed by Bernard Girard and released some time in 1958.  This long forgotten movie is another winner.  The acting and storyline are very good.  If you like watching 1950's movies this is for you.  The sexual mores were different back then.  What was scandalous in mid century people rarely blink their eyes at today.

Kim Hutchins and Joyce Goodwin meet at a job fair where they are trying to get hired within the public school system as teachers.  Both women recently earned their teaching certificate.  Kim and Joyce are being rejected for jobs because of their very young age and lack of any experience at all.   Kim and Joyce manage to convince Paul Evans, the principal of Rosario High School to give them a chance.  Mr. Evans really does not want to hire the girls because Rosario High is located in a far off place that is quite desolate and where there is nothing for young adults to do.  He hasn't been able to keep teachers for that very reason.  The previous year seven young teachers walked out on their contract before the school year was over.  Mr. Evan's reluctantly hires Joyce and Kim with the stipulation that they must remain for the entire school year.

Joyce and Kim decide to drive the Rosario together.  On the way the headlights of Joyce's car goes out and they can't go any further.   Two older men driving by stops,  gets out of their car  and begins to harass Joyce and Kim.  It looks like the two men are going to rape them.  Lucky for the girls, a truck is approaching and they yell for help.  The truck driver stops and rescues Kim and Joyce from the two bad guys.  The Trucker driver's name in Hank Moore and he is immediately attracted to Kim, but Hank is a gentleman. 
          

Hank checks out the headlights for the girls and finds that it is a loose wire that caused the problemn.  After Hank fixes the problem Joyce and Kim are again on their way to Rosario.   What the ladies do not know is that waiting in the truck for Hank to return is his girlfriend Nina.

Joyce and Kim arrive at the boarding house where they will be renting rooms.  The owner is strict and not the warmest person.  Her name is Nettie McPherson and she is played by Ellen Corbett, whom you may remember as grandma Walton in the TV series The Waltons.  Kim and Joyce will not be allowed to entertain men in their bedrooms.  Remember, this is 1950's mores.  Actually, these mores stretched into the 1970's.  It was even still scandalous to get pregnant out of wedlock.  I remember well a classmates getting pregnant during my first year of junior high school.  It was the talk of the school and everyone was whispering about it.  The girl had to leave school.  It was really sad because the son of a family friend had raped her and that is how she became pregnant.  Back in those days people whispered about the girl but the boy was not chastised.

Joyce and Kim move forward with their lives and attend teachers orientation at Rosario High School.  The ladies are very excited about their first teaching job and the school year will begin in a couple of weeks.       

Hank Moore was able to track Kim down by looking up the license plate number of Joyce's car.  Hank is really smitten with Kim and while Kim is waiting for school to begin she starts going out with Hank.  There is a strong physical attraction between the couple.  Hank looks to be in his early to mid twenties, but Hank is actually only 17 years old and will begin his last year at Rosario High when school starts.  Hank doesn't tell Kim that he is a high school student because he knows that she would never have gone out with him.  As the couple continue to see one another Hank becomes more obsessed with Kim.

      

    

The first day of school arrives and Hank learns that he is in Kim's class.  When he walks into the classroom is when Kim learns that he is only 17 years old and a high school student.  You can imagine the shock that came over Kim.   To make matters even more tense, Nina is also in the class and is the class monitor.  Hank has been brushing Nina off because he only has eyes (and thoughts) for Kim.   

Later on Kim explains to Hank that she is not going to see him anymore.  The situation is impossible, but Hank refuses to give Kim up and begins to stalk her.  

Hank keeps showing up at the boarding house where Kim lives, but Nettie and Joyce will not give him access to Kim.  Kim is getting really stressed out over the situation because now the students in school are whispering about Kim and Hank.  

Kim purchases her own car to get back and forth to school.  In a desperate attempt to make Kim his, Hank kidnaps her in her own car.  After being missing for quite some time and Hank being no where to be found the police are brought into it.  A patrol car spots Kim's car with Kim in it and Hank driving.  A high speed chase begins and Hank tells Kim that if she does not agree to marry him he will kill them both.  Hank has a gun on him.  Kim will not agree and begs Hank to give himself up.  Hank's mental state is now off the charts and he crashes the car.

What happened after that?  You will have to watch the movie and see for yourself.  YOu have been reading my reviews long enough to know that I will not tell you the ending.  :-)

 Pippa Scott

 Majel Barrett

The clothes in this movie was designed by Edith Head.  To me Edith Head was the best clothes designer that Hollywood had until the day she passed away.  Miss Head's designs were very similar to Coco Chanel because of the classic and timeless look of them.  

 Edith Head

Young and Dangeous - (1957)

I found this little known and all but forgotten movie on Netflix.  I did not know what to think of this movie at first.  I almost skipped ot, but then I decided to give it a try.  I was not expecting  much from it, but I was very pleasantly surprised.  I enjoyed this movie a lot!

Young and Dangerous is a teenage coming of age movie.  It stars Lili Gentle as Rosemary Clinton and Mark Damon as Tommy Price.  The movie was directed by William Claxton and released in 1957.  I would say that the budget for this movie was quite low.  Never the less the director and all of the actors made this movie a winner.

Tommy Price is a 19 year old who has no direction in life despite coming from a good family.  He won't go to college or get a job.  Tommy spends his time with two other losers who only think about girls and bedding them down.  One evening at the drive in restaurant where all the youngsters hang out, Tommy's two bone head friends dare him to ask goody two shoes and straight laced Rosemary Clinton for a date.  Tommy believes that he can break down Rosemary and get her into bed.  Tommy accepts the challenge and asks Rosemary out.  Rosemary accepts, but is warned about Tommy by her best friend who is played by a very young, pretty and adorable Connie Stevens. 

Rosemary is 17 years old and already a high school graduate.  Rosemary continues to live with her parents while working full time during the day.  

After Rosemary returns home from the drive in, she tries to tell her mother about her date but she is too busy gossiping on the phone and brushes Rosemary off.  Both of Rosemary's parents are very self absorbed.  I was really turned off by both of them.  Rosemary's father was played by Dabbs Greer who you will remember was Reverend Alden on Little House on the Prairie for almost 10 years.  Rosemary's parents were always going out in the evening to spend time with other couples, leaving Rosemary at home to busy herself.  When Rosemary finally gets a date all of a sudden her parents have so much to say about her life.
 
Tommy is not exactly the most well mannered when he arrives at Rosemary's house to pick her up.  Instead of ringing the doorbell, Tommy blows the horn from his car and expects Rosemary to come running out.  Rosemary's father forbids her to go out to Tommy.  Mr. Clinton tells Rosemary that if Tommy does not ring the bell for her and meet them first she is not going out with him.  I agreed with that 100%.  No man should be blowing the horn for you to come out when he is taking you out on a date.  Additionally, if it is his first time taking you out and you live with your parents he should have the good manners to introduce himself to them.  I don't have any children, but if I did have a daughter and some guy blew the horn for her to come out like that I would be livid.  Tommy does finally get out of the car and rings the bell, but he barely says anything to Rosemary's father and practically brushed him off.  It was not a good impression at all.

After Tommy picks Rosemary up and they leave for their date, instead of taking her to a party, Tommy drives to a remote spot and begins making out with her.  Rosemary doesn't mind until Tommy starts to take things too far.  Rosemary resists, but Tommy begins to get forceful.  Rosemary stands her ground and keeps saying no to Tommy.  Tommy finally gets very upset and decides to call off the date and take her back home.  Rosemary really likes Tommy and doesn't want to go back home.  She just wants to spend some time with Tommy without him groping her and expecting it to end in sex.  Good for you Rosemary!

Tommy is not used to not getting his way with the girls, and besides he made a bet with his two loser friends.  Tommy tries again to get Rosemary to loosen up and go all the way with him, but again Rosemary resists and they get into a scuffle.  Rosemary's dress gets ripped during the scuffle and she gets out of the car and runs away.  Tommy goes after her and strangely enough tries to comfort her and reassure her.  Men can be so neanderthal.  Rosemary said NO.  As a matter of fact she said NO, multiple times but Tommy kept trying to force himself on her.  If somehow  though you manage to get away then you earn the respect of a man?  That is just really twisted and I remember being in that situation myself a few times in the past.  No means NO and when you say NO it does not mean YES, go ahead and force me into it.  

           
While Tommy is helping Rosemary calm down and get herself together, two cops find them and takes them into the police station.  Rosemary's parents and Tommy's parents are called and they arrive at the station.  Rosemary's father is livid and forbids Tommy to ever come near his daughter again.  Tommy's father defends his son, but in private he is very disappointed in Tommy.  Mr. Price talks to Tommy again about going to college or at least getting a job and stop hanging with losers. 

   
After the entire ordeal, Tommy still wants to see Rosemary.  He appreciates her and no girl before ever stood up to him the way she did.  Rosemary and Tommy continue to see each other, but they have to sneak around because Rosemary's father forbids her to see him.

  
Rosemary and Tommy's relationship is passionate, but a wholesome one.  Tommy falls completely in love with Rosemary and she inspires him to want to be a better person and do something meaningful with his life.  Rosemary is actually quite mature for a 17 year old girl.  She knows what she wants out of life and stays focused on it.  She respects herself and insists that Tommy respect her too.  Tommy proposes to Rosemary and wants to marry her right away.  Rosemary loves Tommy and agrees to marry him, but encourages him to go to college first.  She will continue to work and save up money for both of them to have a good solid nest egg when they get married.  If only all 17 year olds were this level headed. 

Tommy tells his father about his plans to marry Rosemary and go to college first.  Mr. Price is elated and proud of his son.  However, now Rosemary has to tell her parents that she has been seeing Tommy secretly and they plan to marry.  The first time that Rosemary tries to tell her father, he would not even listen and keeps cutting her off.  I wanted to slap Mr. Price silly.  He will not shut up and listen for even a moment.  He just wants to dictate to Rosemary. 

Later that evening Rosemary's parents return home to find her in the house with Tommy.  Tommy got into a fight with some of his losers friends and Rosemary was tending to his wounds.  Mr. Clinton has a fit and won't listen to Rosemary when she tries to explain.

 

The situation gets really intense  and Rosemary runs out of the house upset and crying.
Tommy remains in the house to defend Rosemary, but Mr. Clinton still just wants to yell and shout.  Mrs. Clinton has to come between them.  Tommy loves Rosemary very much and he is determined to explain to both of Rosemary's parents what a wonderful daughter they have.  Just the right words beautifully come out of Tommy's mouth and Rosemary's father finally listens.  After telling Mr. and Mrs Clinton about how special Rosemary is, he pleads with them not to take her away from him.  I was so proud of Tommy and it was a teary moment for me....boo hoo, sniff sniff.  

The movies ends shortly after this intense scene and it was definitely a Hallmark moment.  You will have to watch it for yourself to find out. 

I really loved this movie.  If you are a true romantic you will get a kick out of it.  It is so sweet watching 1950's love stories.  Today's audience would probably not appreciate this and consider it unrealistic, but there are still romances that evolve without the two people getting naked first.  These types of love may be few and far between these days, but it still does exist.  I love movies based on Jane Austens books much more than the ones that take place in present day and the people end up in bed 48 hours after meeting.  I love romance based on a soul to soul connection instead of a purely sexual one.  If you feel the same way you will enjoy this movie a lot.  If you don't feel that way than this movie may be too corny for you. 

 Lili Gentle

Mark Damon

  

Noel Coward’s The Astonished Heart

The Astonished Heart was made in 1949 and released to movie houses in March 1950.  I find it very interesting that this movie was a commercial failure because I consider it one of the best classic films I have ever seen.  The Astonished Heart really is a good movie and I recommend it.  This movie is based on a ten cycle play titled Tonight At 8:30, written by Noel Coward.  The 1945 movie Brief Encounter was also adapted from the play Tonight At 8:30.  Brief Encounter, however was a success at the box office, so go figure.

The Astonished Heart stars Noel Coward in one of his rare appearances on screen.  Noel Coward plays the part of Dr. Christian Faber.  The movie also stars Celia Johnson as Barbara Faber, Margaret Leighton as Leanora Vail, Joyce Carey as Susan Birch, and Graham Payne as Tim Verney.  The movie was directed by Terence Fisher.




The Astonished Heart begins near the end of the story and is told in flashbacks.  When the movie starts Barbara is making a phone call to someone named Leanora telling her to come right away because something has happened  to Chris and he is asking for her.  You have no idea who Chris is or why Leanora is upset.  From there the story unfolds has Barbara sits by the window looking out into the rainy night.  




One rainy day while out shopping, Barbara Faber runs into her friend Leanora from her school days.  The two women have not seen each other since graduation seventeen years earlier, but they pick up where their friendship left off as if the many years had not passed.  Barbara invites Leanora to her home where she is introduced to Barbara’s husband Dr. Christian Faber.  Dr, Faber is a noted psychiatrist.  Upon meeting Barbara’s husband Leanora takes an immediate dislike to Christian because he barely acknowledged her before leaving the room.  Leanora is a very beautiful woman who is used to men reacting positively to her.  When Christian barely noticed her Leanora was inwardly bothered by it and it didn’t matter that Christian is Barbara’s husband.  What mattered to Leanora was that Christian is a man and he should have been taken in by her just as any man would.  Leanora decides to get back at Christian by making him fall in love with her. 
 
      
Christian and Barbara have been married for twelve years and he loves his wife.  The couple live an ordinary life but it is a happy one.  Barbara leaves for an extended visit to take care of her and dos not return for some time.  As a result Barbara cannot attend a play she was scheduled to see with Leanora, so Barbara calls Christian and asks him to give the tickets to their friend Tim so they he can take Leanora to see the play.  Tim has already left to go elsewhere though.  Christian cannot find anyone else to take Leanora to the play so he feels obliged to take his wife’s place.  BIG MISTAKE!

   
Christain has such a great time out with Leanora that he takes her out again.  Leanora has completely charmed Christian and she is doing it on purpose to get back at him for brushing her off when they initially met.  At first Christian is having fun with it, but then he ends up falling very deeply in love with Leanora.  Christian cannot stay away from her and looks forward to spending his evenings with her.



Christian is keeps falling more deeply in love with Leanora and cannot be without her.  Every time Christian is with Leanora she is looking even more lovely, casting her spell over him.  I started to wonder when the heck Barbara was coming home.  I understand that Barbara  went off to take care of her mother, but it wasn’t as if it were a life or death illness.  Barbara should have returned home a lot sooner 



Noel Coward was openly gay in real life, but I think he played the part of a man obsessed with a woman very well.  The kissing scenes in this movie are not what we are used to seeing today, but still done very well for that time period.  I read one review where the person did not think Noel Coward was right for this role, but I totally disagree.  I loved Noel Coward as Christian Faber.  If this movie is ever remade I would LOVE to see Richard Armitage cast as Christian and Romola Garai as Leanora.   



Barbara FINALLY returns home.  When she arrives Christian is not at home which is very unusual.  Barbara checks Christian's appointment diary to see if it can tell her where he is, and this is Barbara’s first clue that something is terribly wrong.  

Christian comes home very late one night after spending the evening with Leanora.  Barbara confronts Christian and he does not deny anything.  What is really strange about Barbara though is that she is acting really calm and collected.  Barbara even tells Christian to go away for a while and take Leanora with him and get it out of his system.  I could not believe it.  Barbara was distressed, of course, but she did not yell, scream or even cry, which is very bizarre.  Christian is very apologetic about what happened, but the fact is he is madly in love with Leanora and he can't help how he feels now.   Christian takes up his wife’s offer to go away with Leanora to see if their relationship would eventually fizzle out.  Barbara also decided to go away for awhile.  I thought to myself, didn’t Barbara already go away and that is how Christian got into this mess?  Barbara’s entire behavior is so weird.  My LEO pride would never allow me to throw a tantrum either if, God forbid, I found out that my husband was in love with another woman.  However,  there is no way I would suggest that he go away with the other woman to get it out of his system. 

 
Christian and Leanora go away together and seem to be having a wonderful time.  Eventually though, Leanora starts seeing another man.  Christian senses something is wrong in their relationship and catches Leanora telling lies.  Leanora admits that she is seeing a male friend of hers.
 
Christian is eaten up with jealousy now.  Leanora has become his entire world and he cannot live without her.  One night Christian and Leanora have it out one final time.  The scene is really pathetic and sad.  You can clearly see that Christian is emotionally falling apart and about to have a nervous breakdown.  Christian desperately wants Leanora to love him but she doesn’t and admits it to Christian.  Christian has to face the fact that his life is now ruined.  He cannot go back to Barbara because his love for Leanora is branded in his heart.  In a complete mental daze, Christian goes out into the night wondering around aimlessly for hours.  What happens next takes you back to where the movie started and you find out what happened to Christian.  You will have to watch the movie yourself if you want to know.  The Astonished Heart is a very tragic film that shows how fragile human emotions can be. 
 

   
Dr. Christian Faber was a very self assured and strong man before Leanora appeared in his life.  It is not nice to play with a person's feelings.  I've known people (men & women) who found themselves in situations like this.  Do not play around with people's emotions and psyche like this because the effects can be tragic as it is in this movie.
   

 Margaret Leighton

Margaret Leighton looks a lot like Ruth Warrick in this movie and I had to look at the credits again to see who was playing Leanora Vail.

 Noel Coward

 
Noel Coward came up with the name for this movie from the following Bible verse. 

“The Lord shall smite thee with madness and blindness and astonishment of heart.”
—Deuteronomy 28:28.

Casanova Brown

I am having a blast streaming movies on Netflix that I never saw before.  I really appreciate the movies of yesteryear.  

Casanova Brown stars Gary Cooper as Casanova Brown, Teresa Wright as Isabel Drury, Frank Morgan as Mr. Ferris, Anit Louise as Madge Ferris, Edmund Breon as Mr. Drury and Patricia Collinge as Mrs. Drury.  Casanova Brown was directed by Sam Wood and released in 1944.  

Gary Cooper was born in 1901, so he was in his forties when he worked on this film.  Teresa Wright was 16 years younger than Gary Cooper and was 25 at the time.  The age difference was quite stark to me.   Teresa looked more like a teenager.  Gary Cooper was 6'3" tall and it certainly shows in this movie.  Mr. Cooper was quite handsome as well.  I can understand why the late actress Patricia Neal under his spell.   
 

Casanova (Cas) Brown is a professor who arrive by train to Rossmore, a small town in Illinois.  Cas is met by his fiance Madge Ferris and is clearly upset when he arrives.  Cas tells Madge never to let him out of her sight again and never mention New York.  Madge seems like a lovely gal, but when Cas asks her father for her hand in marriage he tells him not to marry Madge because she is no good.You will recognize Madge's father as the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz.  

Anyway, Cas doesn't want to hear anything against Madge and is determined to marry her.  
 

The day before the wedding is the wedding rehearsal.  Before the rehearsal begins Cas receives a letter from a maternity hospital in Chicago.  Madge's father is there when the letter arrives and becomes alarmed.  Cas is cool at first because he thinks the letter is just an advertisement being sent through the mail.  Mr. Ferris opens the letter and it is not a mail advertisement.  It is a letter from the hopsital requesting that Casanova come to the maternity hospital right away to see Dr. Zemerke..  
 

Cas finally begins to realize that he could have fathered a baby.  At this point Cas confesses to Mr. ferris that while he was in New York, he fell in love with a college student named Isabel and married her.  When cas left New York she could have been pregnant.  The only thing that did not make sense is why a maternity hospital in Chicago when Isabel lives in New York. 

The story about Isabel is told in flashbacks.  After Isabel and Cas were married, she took him to introduce to her parents.  Isabel's parents are completely off the wall.  Mrs. Drury believes strongly in astrology and when she looks up Cas's astro sign she tells the happy couple that the marriage will not work according to the astrological charts.  Of course Cas thinks it is the most ludicrous thing he ever heard.  

Mrs Drury is adamant that the astrological charts are never wrong. 

 

Cas gets into an argument with Isabel's parents over the validity of astrology.
 

Unknown to Cas, a cigarette that he thought he blew out is burning a hole in his coat pocket.  In less time that it takes me to write this post, Cas completely burned down the home of Isabel's parents by accident.  

After the house is left in ashes Cas gets into another argument with Isabel's parents.  Cas storms off, but Isabel remains by the side of her parents.  Their marriage was annulled before Cas returned to New York.  

During the wedding rehearsal Cas walks out because he has to know if he has a child that he was never told about.  Cas swears Mr. Ferris to secrecy, at least until he returns from Chicago.

When Cas arrives at the maternity hospital in Chicago, he can't get a straight forward answer from anyone about why he was asked to come there.  Instead Cas is whisked off and put through a complete physical examination.

Dr. Zemerke and Casanova Brown

(Btw, the actress who played Dr. Zemerke was the first wife of Sir Laurence Olivier.)

After the physical cas is finally taken to see Dr. Zemerke and learns that Isabel had a baby and that he is the father of a newborn girl.  Cas is delighted, but then he also finds out that Isabel put the baby up for adoption.  That was the reason he was called to the hospital by Dr. Zemerke.  Cas becomes very upset because there is no way that he is going to part with his baby girl.

Cas asks to speak to Isabel about the baby and it is clear that he still loves his ex-wife.  At this point Madge has already been stood up at the altar.

 

Cas disguised himself as a doctor in order to kidnap the baby.  In a hotel Cas gets the help of a maid and bellhop to help him take care of the baby.  Cas is an overprotective father and insists that everyone wear a mask when around the baby.  The maid and bellhop are determined to help Cas keep the baby's location a secret, however, the bellhop is a bumbling idiot and inadvertently reveals to Isabel and Dr. Zemerke their exact location. 
 

Cas runs off with the baby to get marry the hotel maid.  If he is married then the baby cannot be taken away from him.

Cas and the maid return to the hotel but hide out in another room.  Isabel manages to find them when she hears the baby crying.  

I assume that mommy, daddy and baby girl live happily ever after.

Casanova Brown is billed as a romantic comedy.  I enjoyed watching this movie, but I personally did not find it hysterically funny.  I had belly loads of laughs when I watched Monkey Business, but I did not get that from this movie.  I did enjoy watching it though.  The characters are quite eccentric and I did get a few chuckles out of that. 

As with all movies from this time period I loved the clothes.  The wardrobe is classic and timeless.