The First Time

I first saw this movie when it came out in 1969. I was 16 at the time and totally identified with the boys in the movie (emotions, thoughts, etc.) In fact I so liked the movie at the time that I continued to remember it and most of the scenes over the next 30 years. I could not remember the title but remembered the name of Wes Stern and so I kind of watched for it off and on over the years to see if it would appear on TV.

Anyway I watched it for the first time in 30 years this morning on Showtime. What a treat and what a rush of memories. A very sweet coming of age movie indeed. I guess some things never change.

Yes young teens tend to exaggerate about their initial conquests with the opposite sex. Whether you make it all the way...or don't, they are still going to be good memories that you reflect back on as I am sure these three young men would have over the decades passing. Mike is the more aggressive of the three teens who arrive in Buffalo to all lose their virginity. Kenny is the braggart falsely telling his two buddies about his visits to a cathouse and the great time he is having in Buffalo while staying with his grandparents. Tommy is the timid one of the three who reluctantly goes along with his two (2) buddies to pick up a beautiful and somewhat more mature woman named Anna (played by a young, bosomy and beautiful Jacqueline Bisset) and convince her to cross the Canadian border at Niagara Falls and enter into the USA only to stay at the ford Hotel in Buffalo where the three boys intend to lose their virginity to Anna.

The boys flip a coin and so the sequence has been determined. First the aggressor Mike will go into the room and have his way with Anna, then the timid Tommy wins the coin flip to go next which leaves Kenny with little confidence to be third in line to lose his virginity.

No spoiler here, boys will be boys, and Jacqueline is the beautiful Jacqueline that all young teens would be more than happy to have as their first conquest. We can dream can't we?

I give this teen romance coming of age film a hardy 7 out of 10 IMDb rating.

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

I saw this movie late one night and could not believe how god-awful it was. It seemed to be paid for by the Niagra Falls Tourist Board (take a drink every time Tommy mentions the "Maid of the Mist" tour) and played like Wally, the Beav and Eddie Haskell go to a whore house.