Splendor in the Grass (1961)
October 28th, 2007
Directed by Elia Kazan (A Streetcar Named Desire, East of Eden, On the Waterfront, many more). Starring Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty.
This was Beatty’s first role. Most of the time I don’t really get Beatty - I find him a little smirky, a little oily - but here you can see his James Dean-like appeal as a young man. He’s good, and so is Wood.
The movie is a crazy, glorious, overheated excursion into 50’s notions of morality and mental health. It has Wood’s character going insane from sexual repression. Literally insane!
This movie is an important milestone, both for modern cinema and for popular psychology. It has to be seen to be believed. Don’t miss it.
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