The First Time

This is your basic story of three young men who are trying to get laid and meet an older woman. We've seen it before and this offers nothing new. A young man named Kenny (Wes Stern) writes his friends from Buffalo that he goes to a whorehouse at Niagara Falls and then one day Mike (Ricky Kelman) and Tommy (Wink Roberts) show up and expect to be shown the whorehouse named "Rosies". They make it to Niagara Falls and in a bar they meet Anna (Jacqueline Bisset) who asks them to help her cross the border. They get back to Buffalo and head to their hotel room where they expect sex that Anna is not expecting. The lead actor is Wes Stern whom I remember as Lenny on the show "Rhoda" and the studio's really tried to make him more popular but it never happened. He was such an unmasculine and nerdy guy which made him perfect for the role in this film. Stern was not a bad actor and he actually has some good moments in the film. Bisset also has her moments and she actually seemed to play the same role years later in the comedy "Homework" if you remember that one. Nice location shooting of Niagara Falls that make this a nice film to look at. Not a bad film but awfully predictable and familiar.

I haven't seen this movie but I was an extra in it. I worked for about two weeks on the film but it was rated R and I was only about 10 at the time I am trying to find a copy of it so that i may finally see it after all these years . If you know how I can get a copy please let me know . I think that it would be good for a laugh to look back and see it. I never did know the story line you guys have kind of informed me I only knew that the title was The Beginners Three and then I think changed to The First Time and I didn't know about these other titles. From the reviews it sounds quite mixed but it would be great to see it myself.

Thanks Shirley

I caught this on a late-night cable showing having never heard of let alone seen before. I logged onto IMDb afterward just to see how old Bissett was at the time. She looks great in this movie although she really doesn't say or do a whole much. All in all she's very quiet, very English, very reserved -- and surprisingly at the age of 24 or whatever, still very much the 'older more famous' Bisset we're all familiar with.

The movie itself goes by without much of anything happening, yet you're still compelled to watch. Someone mentioned the simple street scenes and I totally agree, it's actually very interesting to watch Bisset lead the boys around town, to simply see them just walking around in 1969 with no music or dialog.

The 'plot' is basically the 3 boys pick up Bisset who they think is a hooker with the intention of losing their virginity by pulling a sex train on her (so far no one has mentioned the 'yuck' factor, but that's all I could think about). They finally get her back to their hotel room, persuade her into taking her clothes off and getting in bed, and after some discussion in the hall, they each go in and one by one make their move (or non-move) on her, then come out later and lie about it because by then Bisset's actually peacefully asleep from exhaustion. So Stern goes in thinking he getting 'sloppy thirds', yet doesn't cringe at all at the thought that he is about to roll around in his two other friends' DNA surely left all over her. Sorry, not romantic or cute, just gross. But Bisset, now awake and having been just dumped via phone call by some mysterious 'boyfriend', has pity on Stern. She now knows their true motives with her but since Stern is more sincere and less a blow hard than his friends, in a moment of weakness she actually has sex with him, on a dinky mattress with the transom window open so people all over the hotel should have heard them (as HE should have heard his friends supposedly doing it).

Bisset never really gets naked but looks really good in her underwear and she's actually very good in this role. It's an interesting time-capsule of a movie but that's about it.

The funniest unintentional part of the movie was when they finally get on the "Maid of the Mist" at Niagra Falls. It's obviously a studio set and the crew is clearly simply using a rain machine to blow water on the faces of the cast to simulate the mist, and although she's acting 'having fun', you can tell Bisset hates the rain on her face!

Summer means a break from high school for Wes Stern (as Kenny Leeds), Ricky Kelman (as Mike Decker), and Wink Roberts (as Tommy Kingsley). The three young men ride bikes, go swimming, and think about having sex. After his widowed father goes off on a pleasure trip with a sexy secretary, Mr. Stern is sent to live with his grandparents, in Buffalo. Meanwhile, Mr. Kelman and Mr. Roberts are sent to summer camp.

Stern is lonely, and writes to his friends about traveling across the border to Canada (at Niagara Falls), where claims to be a regular customer at a whorehouse he calls "Rosie's". Naturally, Kelman and Roberts want a piece of the action, and surprise Stern with a visit. The lads are eager to sample the prostitutes Stern has bragged about - but, of course, the brothel doesn't exist. After seeing the more asexual Canadian sights, the three pick-up beautiful Jacqueline Bisset (as Anna), and take her to their hotel room…

Just ridiculous. Stern, the leading man, is supposed to be playing a young teenager (he will be returning to high school in the fall). He is obviously too old, but has a goofy quality that helps make the movie's "coming-of-age" theme bearable. Stern's plaintive questions to Ms. Bisset about why girls don't like him is nicely played. Bisset has about one and a half sexy scenes (you'll see a lot more of Niagara Falls). So, why would Bisset's English accent be a problem at the Canadian border?

**** The First Time (6/11/69) James Neilson ~ Wes Stern, Jacqueline Bisset, Ricky Kelman, Wink Roberts

This is a wonderful film, charming, light-hearted, modest, wise, touching and witty. It may be the best film about sex. The whole movie works: acting, directing, music, camera. The critics are wrong. One called it "embarrassingly sentimental". Don't believe them. It's a true classic. You'll like yourself and the human race more after enjoying it. You may shed a tear of gratitude at the end, and a tear of regret that they don't make them like this anymore. Every young person should see it.