Blue-jeans

Arthur Bartley and Janet Willard are fresh-faced teens in 1950s America. Arthur shoots the breeze with his friend Ernie drinking, smoking, and playing poker. Janet enters their basement hideout. Ernie forges a permission slip for her. Arthur and Janet start a relationship which culminates to a desperate need for an abortion.

There are limitations for its time. There is no way to show the sexual encounter and the word abortion is never mentioned. It's already pushing the envelop to touch upon the subject matter. It is exactly what one expects from a 50's movie dealing with teen sex and abortion. The movie has one major change from the play that speaks to the public sensitivity. As a movie, it is very much a 50's movie. It is old fashion melodrama. The young actors are all capable. The two leads are very young and fresh-faced. It's like a better made PSA movie. That's giving it short shrift. It's better than that. There is real tension in the drama. The most compelling section is Arthur trying to tell his parents. The ending is the safer choice which is as much as can be expected for its time. While the attempt is commendable, it cannot escape the melodramatic style and the moral restrictions.

The movie's very much an artifact of its time, salvaged by unusually sensitive performances from de Wilde and Lynley. The trouble is they look so angelic and innocent, and from such solid middle-class backgrounds, it's hard to picture them "experimenting". But then, I guess that's the point for audiences of the day—yes, it can happen to even those who appear least likely, so be on guard. At the same time, the two look so much alike, cynics might suspect incest.

As a teen from the time, this youth movie strikes me as one of the few made more for teen girls than boys. No speeding cars, beer busts, or other staples of the drive-in crowd (note also how demurely Janet {Lynley} is dressed). Instead, the 90-minutes deals with a subject that can't even be mentioned on screen, viz. abortion. People can be slaughtered in movies, but screenwriters don't dare even mention abortion. Thus, the mores of the time are much in evidence and reinforced by Hollywood's boycott-fearing Production Code

For example, no mention is made of contraceptives, sex education in school, or safe legalized abortion as possible alternatives (note how the abortion escort is made to look like a witch), since one or all of these were illegal in most or all states. Instead, the kids are to be punished by having their futures decided for them, though again the point is minimized in the screenplay (note how Art's {de Wilde} one smile comes at the end, the required happy ending).

I'm not taking sides here, just trying to point out how a complex social issue is narrowed down to a single morally acceptable solution, typical of that strait-jacketed decade. Nonetheless and despite the loaded deck, I suspect the movie deals about as sensitively with the issue as conditions of the time would allow. However, canny viewers can learn a lot from this about the origins of the 1960's youth rebellions.

Based upon a stage play, this drama about teen angst regarding sex and it's consequences comes close at times to resembling a situation comedy, but fortunately the performances of the cast bring out its feeling and drama as well. De Wilde is a tender teen who's just had his lifelong pal, his dog, put to sleep while he was at school. He seems adrift as his parents fuss over his older sister's pending nuptials. He tries to act tough around best friend Berlinger and soon finds himself captivated by lovely neighbor girl Lynley. Lynley has a meek, overly refined father who can't seem to get in touch with his young child. Eventually, De Wilde and Lynley take their relationship to the next level and a mystifying and unwanted pregnancy is the result. They agonize over what to do while the parents seem to exist on another plane, entirely. De Wilde was already a showbiz veteran at 17, having played hundreds of Broadway performances and starring in "Shane". He brings a lot of depth and feeling to his role. Lynley is also fine as the sensitive good girl who bites off more than she can chew. The best performance is that of Berlinger as both friend and conscience of De Wilde. He gives his role a jolt of energy and sincerity that really helps sell the film. As De Wilde's parents, Carey and Hunt give very good performances, balancing humor and concern. Unfortunately, due to the sometimes jokey nature of the script and the film's setting, this occasionally threatens to become "Dennis the Menace Knocks Up Margaret!" Some of the dialogue and situations are corny and cartoonish, robbing the film of a chance to be as realistic as it might have been. However, by the time the kids have learned their lesson, some authentic and touching emotions have come through. It must be noted that Lynley has perhaps the flattest, most oily-looking ponytail of the '50's. It's also hard to picture what De Wilde and Lynley's awkward first encounter must have been like as they both exude such charming innocence in the film. Bernard Herrmann's "Vertigo-on-the-Playground" score is pretty, but also a bit overwhelming for a story with this subject matter and these small town characters. It can be a little preachy and more than a little pat, but it's definitely worth watching and at 89 minutes, doesn't overstay its welcome.

I must admit I TiVOed this movie because of the description of it. I was intrigued on how a movie made back then could tackle the subject of abortion. If you couldn't even say a word about it, how could you base a whole movie on it? First and foremost, MacDonald Carey did a fantastic job as your typical dad from that era (imagine Fred MacMurray dealing with Robbie knocking a girl up on My Three Sons). Seeing as how he was just about the only one in the movie who could act, I realize how underrated he was at the time (and I guess altogether). The women in the movie (mother and sister of the boy in "trouble") are you typical dingbat "ask the husband what YOUR opinion is" people from that era, which makes it all the more entertaining. The highlights for me are the girl in trouble, the boy's best friend, and of course Mac C. The story is great for the time in which it was acted. Definitely entertaining and worth checking out. Not as dark as "Love with the Proper Stranger" if even that could be considered dark. But good luck finding it. I watched the premiere of it of the FMC. Who knows if it'll be on again.

I watched this by chance yesterday. And was quit pleasantly surprised, it's a terrific little film. Far more sophisticated than I would have expected for a film made in 1959 dealing with teenage pregnancy. The two leads, were only about the same age as their characters at the time and looked it, it was quite surprising. Of course nowadays the early consummation of their relationship would have been shown in far more graphic detail, and this film made me realize that those kind of scenes aren't really needed to get the message across. I am not a prude, but I find sometimes the full revelation of a young performer's(normally female)unnecessary and exploitative. This mall film , makes it's point and is quite sensitive in doing so. Contrary to some of the other critics , I did not find myself tempted to laugh at all.