Splendor in the Grass

Splendor in the Grass (1961)

Genres - Drama, Romance  |   Sub-Genres - Americana, Coming-of-Age, Romantic Drama  |   Release Date - Oct 10, 1961 (USA)  |   Run Time - 124 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

1961's premiere "date" movie represented the screen debut of Warren Beatty. Set in the 1920s, William Inge's screenplay concerns the superheated romance between working-class high schooler Natalie Wood and rich kid Beatty. Trying their best to keep their relationship from going "all the way," Beatty and Wood go through a series of unsatisfying interim romances. The troubled Wood attempts suicide and is sent to a mental institution, while Beatty impregnates freewheeling waitress Zohra Lampert. Wood and Beatty still carry a torch for one another, but circumstances preclude their getting together -- and besides, Wood suddenly realizes that she's outgrown the still-floundering Beatty. Scriptwriter William Inge shows up as a minister in Splendor in the Grass, while comedienne Phyllis Diller does a cameo as famed nightclub entertainer Texas Guinan; also, keep an eye out for Sandy Dennis, making her first movie appearance.

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Keywords

break-up [romantic], coming-of-age, craziness, death, debt, fear, frustration, high-school, love, marriage, moral-conflict, platonic, promiscuity, release, repression, romance, small-town, suicide, teenagers