Third in a string of four angst-driven Young Love pics written/produced/ directed by Delmar Daves, all starring Troy Donahue in his comet-like glory days. They look pretty soapy now, teenage sexual revolution guilt, trimmed to fit a decaying Hollywood Production Code, yet spicy enough to thrill the 45 rpm singles set. This one skimps on the Pop Zeitgeist shift by giving virginal lead Connie Stevens relatively easy-going parents (Dorothy McGuire/Lloyd Nolan) and falling back on the oldest trope in the book: premarital pregnancy revealed when lover-boy dies before getting back for a hurry-up wedding. The tragic event telegraphed as soon as we hear the guy (a very attractive Grant Williams) is a mountain climber. But then, every story beat is telegraphed in this one, from Dad’s heart condition to a risible truth-revealing accident for Steven's toddler. (Played at the moment of crisis by a stiff, unattractive doll.) You’ll note that Donahue, busy at his horse stable and typing up the Great American Novel, is but tangentially involved. Hold the phone . . he’s the pure one! No wonder this title has lower visibility than others in the series. And the studio probably knew it, finding a spot to plug in Max Steiner’s theme song from the first in the series, A SUMMER PLACE. The real interest here lies in Lucien Ballard’s spectacular lensing. Those big exterior vistas! Vanishing point hallways. Smoke-stack churning ocean liners! Shadowed portrait shots to sculpt Donahue’s pretty, pouting face! Cheeks that could give previous co-star Sandra Dee a run for the money.
DOUBLE-BILL: Check out those Sandra Dee cheeks against Donahue’s leaner face from just two years back in A SUMMER PLACE/’59.
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