Too Young to Love

A most unusual film. Set in America but made in Britain because the subject matter concerning underage sex would never have been allowed over 60 years ago. The sets are good, good plot, but let down by the language used especially when dubbed. It is a must see though for the curiosity of the subject matter being explicit for the time.

A great version of the "teenagers out of control" type of film with great performances all round except from Jess Conrad who was very wooden. A film made to scare teenager into behaving as their elders think they should, if I had seen it as a teenager it would have worked on me. Impressively American made looking for a UK made film. Well worth a watch.

Thomas Mitchell is a judge in juvenile court. The case under his consideration is based on 47-year-old Alan Gifford, wearing only an undershirt, in the bedroom of 15-year-old Pauline Hahn, wearing nothing.

It's a difficult case that Mitchell must untangle, involving incoherent parents, slovenly associates, and a girl who is not vicious, but fallen into vicious habits. It considers various issues of the day, of changing society, and does so in a thoughtful and excellent manner.

The performances are likewise good, if occasionally they are written a bit monotonously. My one cavil with it is that the director, Muriel Box, seems to have a tin ear for the details of American speech; the accents and vocabulary are a bit too stereotyped to make one think these are three-dimensional characters. Still, an interesting work.

"Too Young to Love" is a rare example of a British film shot in the UK but ostensibly set in the USA; others from the same period include the original version of "The Haunting" and Chaplin's "A King in New York" (which could not be made in America where Chaplin was persona non grata). (There are far more American films ostensibly set in Britain but actually shot in America).

The film seems to have been influenced by "Anatomy of a Murder", which had come out the previous year. Like that film it is a courtroom drama which challenged established concepts of what was permissible in the cinema. "Anatomy of a Murder" became notorious as the first mainstream Hollywood movie to use the word "contraceptive"; "Too Young to Love" similarly pushed the boundaries, becoming the first British drama to use the word "syphilis", which in 1960 would probably still have been taboo in America.

Whereas "Anatomy of a Murder", as the title suggests, focused on a criminal trial for murder, "Too Young to Love" is centred upon a hearing in a juvenile court. The main character, 15-year-old Elizabeth Collins, is regarded as a delinquent because of her sexual history; she has been caught in a compromising position with a 47-year-old man, has had an abortion after getting pregnant by another adult man, and has become infected with syphilis. Elizabeth is not charged with any offence, but the court must decide whether or not to make an order that she be taken into care. They hear from Elizabeth, her harassed working-class parents who are struggling to cope with financial difficulties as well as their daughter's wild behaviour, her lovers, her idealistic young boyfriend Peter and various teenage friends.

The film's subject-matter was strong meat for 1960, and the British Board of Film Censors considered banning it, but eventually agreed to allow it to be shown on the grounds that it would serve as a Solemn Warning to young girls tempted to behave in the same way as Elizabeth.

The film was based upon an American stage play called "Pickup Girl" which I have never seen, but I understand that it had been a hit both on Broadway and in the West End. The change of title is perhaps rather misleading. The problem is not that Elizabeth is too young to love; nobody would object to a fifteen-year-old girl being in love with a boy, provided that it went no further than the sort of innocent romantic love which Peter is offering Elizabeth. The real problem with Elizabeth is that she does not love anyone- not her family, not the men she sleeps with and, perhaps most importantly, herself. Her emotional and behavioural crises are rooted in the essential lovelessness of her life.

"Anatomy of a Murder" was based upon a novel, but the story transfers well to the screen, aided by the fine direction of Otto Preminger and excellent contributions from actors of the calibre of James Stewart, George C. Scott and Lee Remick. "Too Young to Love", by contrast, betrays all too obviously its origins as a stage play. It is, as "Variety"magazine said of it, "wordy and static", moving too slowly and never holding the attention. The only acting contribution which stands out comes from Thomas Michell as the humane and sympathetic judge. Pauline Hahn always seems too genteel and wholesome to be credible as an out-of-control wild child. The film does not seem to be well-known today, either in Britain or America- mine is only the eighth review which it has received- and I can understand the neglect into which it has fallen. 4/10.

Other than the presence of pop star Jess Conrad in the cast, there's no real way to tell that TOO YOUNG TO LOVE is a British film as it gets the American authenticity spot on. It's an above-average addition to the wave of 'sensation' films that had been going since the 1930s and which enjoyed a resurgence in popularity during the 1950s. The format of TOO YOUNG TO LOVE is a courtroom drama, with a middle aged bloke on trial for having underage sex with a 15 year old girl.

As you can guess from that description, TOO YOUNG TO LOVE must have been incredibly controversial for its time. Dialogue within the production is explicit and the situations alluded to are distinctly adult in tone (for example, when one character is described as having "laid a sailor"). It's also a well made little movie, with strong direction and performances, and one which seeks to get to the meat of its subject matter rather than shying away from anything too unsavoury. I thought it was a real surprise, and it's a film I'd recommend to those interested in exploring the genre as a product ahead of its time.