The Young Lovers (1964) User Reviews

Curious, downbeat youth melodrama

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 15 April 2006]

Thin script from Julian Haley's novel about a college senior who struggles to stay with the curriculum after falling in love with an attractive co-ed. Peter Fonda, pre-"Easy Rider", amusingly enters the film on a motorbike, but never manages to find an appropriate acting style and seems distinctly miscast; either he's smiling too much or talking too slowly, his heavy-lidded eyes fixated on the ground. It's a bad match between actor and material, however Nick Adams is very enjoyable as a goof-off who gets drafted. Sharon Hugueny is a rather bland beauty, and all the adult characters are stereotypically rigid and humorless, but the film's cinematography (by Joe Biroc and Ellsworth Fredericks) is beautifully expressive. Overall, a fairly rote youth flick, but one with a curiously downbeat, foreboding tone. ** from ****

Decent college melodrama

[funkyfry · 6/10 · 8 November 2002]

Mixed up college kids try to figure out what to do next in life in this solid attempt to make a dramatic film to appeal to the drive-in crowd. Takes on some serious issues -- abortion, war, marriage... all with a nice cast of the early 60s' best up and comers. Adams and Walley are there at the beginning mostly for laughs, and the film only touches on their situation, which is unfortunate because to me they're the more appealing couple and their situation is more realistic (whereas Fonda and Hugueny's is pure melodrama).

Solid, but unexceptional; a worthy effort.

Condemned To Mediocrity By A Confused Script

[atlasmb · 5/10 · 30 March 2016]

There is a moment in the "The Young Lovers" when Peter Fonda's character--Eddie Slocum--meets the mother of his girlfriend on the stairs after having spent the night with her daughter. It's an anxious moment in which the mother is feeling suspicious and Eddie comes up with an alibi after some quick thinking. It is an honest moment in the film, allowing Fonda to just be the character of a young man, not the stereotypical too-clever wordsmith. It's one of the few scenes in the film when the viewer can see the actor that Fonda might be. I even thought I saw a hint of his father in that moment.

But in most of the film, the young college student characters voice dialogue that is too mature--full of references to Plato, Gaugin and others--or too cute. Five years later, Fonda will star in "Easy Rider"--a role better suited to his style and much more honest.

His girlfriend, Pam, is played by Sharon Hugueny--a striking beauty who would seem to have a future in acting, but circumstances conspired to make her tenure brief.

Nick Adams plays Tarragoo, Eddie's best friend and roommate. Adams appeared in numerous notable films prior to "The Young Lovers" and had already shown his talent, but this film saddles him also with stilted, forced dialogue.

The film has a seminal story to tell about the 1960s, dominated with real anxiety about the ever-present military draft and normal concerns about sexual feelings exacerbated by quickly changing mores. But that story is undercut by the inept script. It fluctuates between silly and serious and soap opera and, as mentioned earlier, gives the young actors lines that are often unintentionally humorous.

For comparison, consider "Love Story" released in 1970. It deals with young love and serious consequences, but is much more believable. Better yet, consider "A Patch of Blue", also released in 1965, a coming of age story with an honest intensity.

Just Six Years Before "Getting Straight"

[aimless-46 · 30 September 2007]

Sometimes the real value of a fictional work (insert film here) lies in the historical clues provided about the sociological attitudes prevalent at the time it was produced. "The Young Lovers" (1964) offers a reasonably accurate glimpse into the life of a typical college student in the early 1960's. It makes for an especially good comparative viewing experience when paired with "Getting Straight" (1970). The plot, the themes, the setting, and the characters in the two films are virtually identical. Yet in the six years between their production the challenges and concerns of the college student changed to a incredible degree.

Imagine being a high school student in the mid to late 1960's with aspirations of attending college after graduation. Your mindset and expectations formed by films like "The Young Lovers" but your reality after matriculation much closer to "Getting Straight".

Both films are told from the point of view of a somewhat unconventional California college student on the verge of graduation. They are coming of age stories in which the hero gradually becomes aware that his luxury of being a rebellious free thinker is rapidly coming to an end. They are being forced to make the hard choice between a conventional-responsible adulthood and continuing their somewhat free- spirited existence. A certain degree of conformity will be required if they are to successfully pass out of the institution. But "The Young Lovers" Eddie Slocum (Peter Fonda) faces a conventional choice about marriage and family. Harry Bailey (Elliott Gould) in "Getting Straight" is spared this (by 1970 marriage was old-fashioned), his decision is a political one about compromising his principals to conform with straight society.

For Eddie, Tarragoo (Nick Adams), Pam (Sharon Hugueny), and Debbie (Deborah Walley) the principle conflict in their lives is sexual frustration. Six years later the "free love" movement presumably allowed college students to focus on more substantive issues. Eddie's on-again off-again relationship with Pam would be recycled with very different results in three late 1960's films; "Goodbye Columbus", "The Graduate" , and "Adam at 6AM".

Despite being "Sam Goldwyn Jr.'s sole directing effort, "The Young Lovers" is a very modest budget black and white film. Although it has some spots of nice cinematography, it has several too obvious in-studio outdoor sequences. They go out on a nice shot of Eddie following Pam down a long outdoor stairway, but the scene loses much of its power because cut into it are shots of Eddie standing in front of a projected campus background.

Watch for the symbolic use of balloons throughout the film (which are even seen in the final shot); they are probably there to represent freedom but their juxtaposition by the film's editor is so forced that the meaning (if any) is never clear.

The pre - "Easy Rider" Fonda gives a decent performance and zips around campus on a beat-up Triumph motorcycle. Hugueny is nothing special but has the correct mousy look they needed for her character. She and Fonda share the film's best scene, a Spanish dance sequence very early in the story during which she lets her hair down (literally) and transforms into a very hot property. Adams is obviously too old for his part but it doesn't hurt the film. Walley is absolutely adorable (super pretty-especially so with her hair up) and acts circles around the other three. Fonda is the only one of the four still living (kind of scary).

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Interesting Look at the 60's

[stan_c · 5/10 · 26 March 2024]

This is a counterculture look college life in the 60's. Not the greatest storyline. Not the greatest themes. Watchable though.

To see Peter Fonda, Sharon Hugueny, Nick Adams and Deborah Walley in a movie together brought back good memories for me. I really like them all.

Beatrice Straight, Joseph Campanella, and Malachi Throne have supporting roles and it's great to see them.

So the cast for me is totally worth a look!

It's sad. Nick, Sharon and Deborah would pass away way too young. It kind of haunts me watching the film.

This is the only film Samuel Goldwyn Jr ever directed making it more interesting.

It involves young people seeking to break away from the morals of the past. To me it highlights the unfairness of it all. If young woman gets pregnant without being married she gets scorn and pain instead of kindness and understanding. If men could get pregnant, abortion world be safe and legal in every state.

The word abortion is never uttered.

Dated but Earnest Drama

[lavatch · 7/10 · 1 July 2018]

Even in its day, "The Young Lovers" was deemed out of step with challenges faced by students on American campuses. The film seeks to be sincere in its approach to such stark matters as out-of-wedlock pregnancies and the wrenching experience of young people becoming adults. The film is worth seeing, if only as a historical artifact.

There were some fine performances, especially Sharon Hugueny in the role of Pam, the young woman who is impregnated by her lover Eddie Slocum (Peter Fonda). There is also Eddie's fun-loving friend Tarragoo (Nick Adams) and the girl-next-door Debbie (Deborah Walley) who must also make tough decisions with yet another unplanned pregnancy.

Pam's character is the only one in the film who truly changes over the course of two hours. By the end, she seems to have matured to the degree that she is willing to take her place in a society that still frowns on births not consecrated by marriage. Hugueny brought warmth and depth of feeling to the role.

There was also some stunning footage of a clean college campus, classrooms with instructors in full command, and a beautiful, peaceful amphitheater where Pam and Eddie went for intimate conversations. It was unfortunate only that the Eddie's history professor did not mention birth control along with his lectures on ancient Rome!

"The Young Lovers" is an interesting glimpse into the mores of the early 1960s that were beginning to give way to a new social order. It is difficult to imagine the likes of Tarragoo, Debbie, Eddie, and Pam today. But we still can empathize with their plight of these young people, as they struggled to come to terms with difficult real-life decisions.

Existential angst in the early 1960s

[csofie · 5/10 · 17 June 2012]

Previous reviews have explicated this film; therefore, I will not repeat their efforts. This film is disappointing because its leads are so badly cast. Peter Fonda delivers a performance that is best characterized as amateurish. Unfortunately, his leading lady is not strong enough to carry him. This film only comes alive during the scenes that include Nick Adams. In his early 30's when this film was made, Adams is clearly too old to be a college sophomore as the dialogue suggests he is. Moreover, the age difference between him and the delightful Deborah Walley strains credulity. Yet Hollywood has never found such pairings problematic: men are often cast against women far too young for them. Hollywood has always been a man's world. But I digress. To return to the film: the most interesting, entertaining and strongest scenes in this film are those with Adams and Walley. They display more chemistry and humor than either of the leads. It is clear to me from dialogue contained within the film itself and production stills found elsewhere that the two secondary leads had some of their scenes deleted. That is a shame. Credit for the best parts of this film belong to the supporting players and it would likely have been a better movie if their efforts had not been left on the cutting room floor. In his autobiography, Peter Fonda (understandably) has little to say about The Young Lovers. He mentioned he wanted Katherine Ross for his leading lady but was overruled. He also stated he learned the hard way what happens when you make a movie with too little money and rehearsal time. Clearly he was referring to himself; the pros on the picture (Adams, Walley, Throne, & Campanella) did good work. Unfortunately, Fonda and Hugueny are just dead weight.

Dated movie filled with annoying characters and stupid attitudes

[mlraymond · 2/10 · 28 November 2006]

I was astounded by the insensitivity, narrow mindedness ,and downright cruelty exhibited in this movie by the older generation toward the title couple. SPOILERS AHEAD: When the young woman discovers she's pregnant, she gets a patronizing lecture from a doctor ,who basically tells her that pregnancy is a punishment for premarital sex. I wanted to throw a brick through the television. Her mother is stern and unsympathetic. Of course, the idea of a safe, legal abortion was unthinkable in 1964, so the young woman has to give birth and then live with the shame and stigma of unwed motherhood, according to the older generation a-holes that surround her. I was angered by the wretched, callous attitudes toward unwed mothers that this film displays, without a moment's doubt that these beliefs are the right ones. The girl should be shamed and punished, and her life "ruined", all because she got pregnant out of wedlock. One wonders why the young couple didn't use birth control, but considering that there were still laws on the books not too long ago that forbade the sale of contraceptives to unmarried people, maybe that's just another sign of when the film was made. The other irritating scene, besides the pompous ass doctor's finger-wagging lecture, is where the girl's friend delivers a bitchy lecture about saving herself for marriage, not letting her boyfriend go too far, because when she walks down the aisle wearing that white dress, it's going to mean something. What a benighted movie. I was appalled to think that there were probably viewers in 1964 who were in total agreement with these judgmental, puritanical ideas. I don't often get roused to anger by a movie, but this thing just made my blood boil. Watch it for sociological curiosity if you like, but you'll be in for a miserable two hours "entertainment".

college lovers

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 28 April 2024]

Art student Eddie Slocum (Peter Fonda) meets Pam Burns (Sharon Hugueny) who is studying to be a teacher. They begin a relationship.

This movie tries to tap into the new freedom of 60's college kids. This feels like a movie trying to be edgy but times may be quickly moving past it. The book was published in 1955 after all. It tackles some important issues. He is an artist and tries to be a rebel without a cause. Fonda shows elements which will make him an important figure in the coming decade. On the hand, I wish the girl is a bigger name. I'm not in love with this couple and their melodrama is sometimes interesting. In the end, I don't care that much about them.

Well intentioned, but silly romantic drama

[SamHardy · 24 October 2011]

There are lots of memorable/silly lines in this one. One of the best is: "I didn't come to college to cop-out". How about when the kids get together for a party? One of the guys says: "Hey, let's have a hootenanny"! A girl wisely tells him: "Get Lost".

THE YOUNG LOVERS is loaded with laugh out loud lines like this that betray the writers total lack of knowledge about how college students talked. It appears to have been written by someone trying to be hip but old enough to have remembered the films of the 30s and 40s.

The script is the real problem here. Although the idea is a good one. I just wish it had been executed more competently.

Made and released in 1964 it sells itself as a contemporary drama about a serious issue at the time: Unplanned pregnancy in college. It was a timely subject. Roe V Wade had made abortions legal only the previous year. The movie attempts to make a very good point about it's subject but gets tangled in silly, unbelievable dialog, stereotyped characters and bad casting.

Peter Fonda is totally out of his depth with this one. In fact you could make a case that Fonda was a terrible actor. But strangely it does not seem to have hurt his career. He continued to get other parts in films and still remains a working actor. In later years his laconic acting style would lend itself primarily to roles that fit that character. A good example is EASY RIDER. In the beginning I guess the producers or this film wanted an actor with the same last name as Henry Fonda to bring audiences to see it. Too bad that Peter's inherited qualities did not include his father's skill as an actor.

Five years later, a much better film was made about first loves in college. THE STERILE CUCKOO. Pass up THE YOUNG LOVERS and go see THE STERILE CUCKOO.