Big Boy - Jetzt wirst du ein Mann

One of the few times when the late Elizabeth Hartman gets to play as somebody other than a frail, mousy girl. Since her Oscar Nominated performance in "A Patch of Blue," Hollywood always seemed to want her to play vulnerable, handicapped women, or vulnerable women of some sort. This time, she plays a bitchy, egotistical, man-hating actress/go-go dancer, who wins the heart of a young library clerk, played by Peter Kastner. The kind of character, who could probably be the inspiration for a riot grrrl band.

Besides that, I'm a Native New Yorker, so I've got a natural attraction for movies filmed in New York City, and the rest of the tri-state area. Biff Rules!

When you see this movie in theater in '66 at age 18, you are probably going to be a YABBN cultist for life. I saw it originally because I was a Lovin' Spoonful fan (who wasn't in '66?) but was blown away by the whole thing and have seen it probably 6 or 7 times over the years. Thinking about it today in particular at the passing of the great Rip Torn, who is awesome in this along with his brilliant wife Geraldine Page. Probably will seem dated to most younger people now, but it is both a time capsule and an immortal vision of coming-of-age.

What we have here is an early F.F.C. effort (he also wrote most of the screenplay).You can see the genius that is later to come.

Here's a confused, virginal young man, constantly picked on by his over-bearing parents, trying to find his way in the world of New York City. Bernard is his name and just watch what he does with initials he spots.

The gal that wants him he doesn't want, and the gal that he wants doesn't want him. Got it straight? No wonder this is turning into a "cult" film.

The acting is first rate in a lot of places. Geraldine Page is always great and Rip Torn can handle most roles. Julie Harris was "perfect" as Mrs. Thing (honest, that's her name). Speaking of names, the part played by Lisa Hartman is Barbara Darling, a would-be actress who dances in a go-go club at night.

Watching Bernard weave his way through conniving co-workers and the strange behavior of Miz Darling, is worth the price of admission.

I always wonder who writes these critiques for IMDB, and should I trust them? For that reason,I'd like you all to know that I am a male senior citizen, but this movie made me feel 18 again. You'll find yourself running into similar things that happened to you in your youthful pursuits.

You could do a lot worse taking a chance on a movie.

A coming of age film centering on a young man's longings and fantasies for his dream girl whom he sees in the New York Public Library's main branch. This comedy-drama is so spotty it is often infuriating but still worth seeing. The lead, Peter Kastner, is forgettable, but his father played by Rip Torn, head of incunabula (see the movie and find out what it is!) at the library, is hilarious; the fight scene with Julie Harris is marvelous. The opening scenes show the behind the scenes goings on at the great library and even where all the books are stored, which the public can't see. Karen Black did a fine and affecting job as Kastner's girlfriend. On the negative side is the lovely Elizabeth Hartman coming off her big success in "A Patch of Blue" with Sidney Poitier. She is supposed to be the cool and detached object of longing - but is as vapid and empty as any character could be, and in part this has to be the fault of the direction of Coppola. This is a significant problem with the film. Hartman was very tragically an apparent suicide in 1987. The movie does have enough in it warrant a viewing.

I wrote the novel upon which this film was based, I worked on the various scripts with Francis, and I was present throughout the filming in New York. An amazing experience. Coppola had been working for a year with MGM writing scripts for them (he had got this job as a result of winning a nationwide literary competition) and had scripted Is Paris Burning? and Patton Lust For Glory, both of which Gore Vidal was supposed to be writing but Coppola travelled to Paris to help get scripts out of him. He had also written the screenplay of This Property Is Condemned, based on a Tennessee Williams short story, and (apart from the magnificent helicopter shot which starts the film) thought very little of it.

For full details of the filming of this first real Coppola movie see my memoirs Dropping Names which is available from my website www.davidbenedictus.com Oh and by the way clips of Dementia 13 which Coppola filmed in a couple of weeks in Ireland (he mentioned to me some nudie films which he may or may not have directed but Dementia 13 is probably his first acknowledged work) are used several times throughout You're A Big Boy Now (I imagine he didn't have to pay copyright on them!) and they look powerful to me.

A sad memory is that Elizabeth Hartman who plays the sexy man-hater with great precision and style was to have a serious nervous breakdown after the end of her marriage and threw herself out of a window to her death. She was some actress and you may have seen her in The group and A Patch Of Blue (opposite Sydney Poitier)