Splendor in the Grass (1961)

A first-love sort of Romeo and Juliet story. Bud and Wilma (Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood) are high school sweethearts. His family has come into oil money, but hers is still more working class (although her father has potential money in the stock market). As it stands, however, Bud's dad doesn't consider Wilma a match for his son... at least he doesn't want his son to marry early and kill his chances at going to college.

Women are definitely cast into two categories. Nice girls and whores. Bud's own sister is a "whore" type, which is weird, because Bud's dad wants his son to sow his wild oats with all the whores he can. At the same time, his dad warns him not to let a "nice girl" catch him, or not to "go too far" with a nice girl and then end up being required to do the responsible thing.

Bud is conflicted. He can see what has become of his sister. What any of that has to do with Wilma, I'm not sure. She's the pure girl, 100% in love with Bud. Bud is in love with Wilma, too, but he just can't stand up completely to his father. And in some ways, his dad doesn't seem like he's absolutely a bad guy. At least when he says he will pay for the honeymoon if Bud graduates from college first, you think he means it. And realistically, why shouldn't Bud and Wilma wait until they're a little older?

The problem for any 18-year-old is that 4 years seems like a lifetime, and Bud feels like he might explode if he has to wait that long. When Bud and Wilma are forced apart, the 4-year period does prove to be too long. Bud finds another girl, and Wilma finds another boy. Would she give up her new beau to return to Bud? Maybe. Bud is now as poor as Wilma, but he's also doing what he wanted to do all along: ranching. But he never waited for Wilma. Maybe he listened to her doctor who told him just to stay away from her. Maybe he listened to his dad, who told him one girl was as good as another. Maybe he simply listened to the part of him that was on the verge of exploding.

In the end, this Romeo and Juliet don't end up together, but they end up with different partners, and maybe that works out for them in the end. They regret that they didn't end up together, perhaps, but the timing and circumstances weren't right, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Life goes on.

Rating 3/5 stars

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