Somewhat stilted and overlong this is still an enjoyable drama of a young girls awakening to some of the realities of life thanks to Natalie Wood. At this stage she was in a transition period between being the lead girl in a bunch of studio assembly line films and a true leading lady in important pictures. This is one of the first where the sole focus was on her character and she carries it well plus she is at the peak of her beauty. Claire Trevor and Carolyn Jones enhance the film with their individual and distinctive personalities. Gene Kelly however is miscast and abrasive and that hurts the pictures overall impact.

The very beautiful Oscar nominated song A Very Precious Love highlights this great film about a young lady finding love as a summer counselor at a camp.Natalie Wood portrays Marjorie Morgenstern in this classic flick. Gene Kelly is the older guy of her dreams while Martin Milner is memorable as the young man she will find her place with. It is shocking that Bette Davis's favorite director, Irving Rapper, allowed Gene Kelly to be in the title role of Noel Airman (Ehrman). Kelly was more like an air-head in the role. With the exception of a drunken and condemnation scenes of the backers for his play, Kelly showed no attachment to Noel whatsoever. Kelly even sings the Oscar nominated song, A Very Precious Love in a horrible way. No wonder the song lost the Oscar.There is definitely Jewish stereotyping in this one. Can you imagine Claire Trevor as Rose Morgenstern? Yet, she pulls it off with a grace rarely scene. She really plays it well as the typical Jewish mother. Ed Wynn again proves that he was greatly under-estimated as a dramatic actor. Everett Sloane is wonderful as the father. Both he and Trevor are able to project the Jewish parental look and feelings of the post-war Jewish generation in America.With George Tobias and Martin Balsam in supporting roles, the film is well represented by a Jewish presence. See it for yourself. You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy it. This is definitely one for the young at heart. Hollywood kept making the same mistakes and no one caught it. The scenes of sabbaths at an Orthodox temple show woman carrying pocketbooks. This is a definite no-no on the sabbath. Notice that they were trying to show an orthodox synagogue as the men and women were totally separated in seating arrangements. The same mistake was made in 1952's "The Jazz Singer" with Danny Thomas and Peggy Lee.

I used to see this movie on television in the "old" days but since it hasn't been on for a long time, and since I'm a Natalie Wood fan, I recently bought the VHS. I was not disappointed! There are so many good actors in it! What kills me the most about this movie (I have read the book, but we're discussing the movie now) is that Noel keeps telling Marjorie about how he might never want to marry her, AS IF she's the one saying she wants to get married - yet we never hear this come out of her mouth! She would have been just as "unconventional" as he was if he'd said something about becoming partners in some kind of acting situation, or songwriting, or singing. I mean, he was in his 30s, she was only 18. So let's see, he loved her so much that he didn't want to collaborate with her? What DID HE want her to do, just wash his clothes? Anyway, I still loved this movie. And every time Ed Wynn came on screen, I said "He's so SWEET!" I remember when Windsor/Detroit movie host extraordinaire Bill Kennedy (Moonchildren! Natalie born 7/17 and Bill 6/27) would show this movie, he would explain it all to us... he was the one we were watching when we found out Natalie was gone. Bless 'em all for the good old days.

This is just one of those glossy '50s tearjerkers, with glamorous people, pretty Technicolor, and fab costumes. The best thing about it is Gene Kelly, who is absolutely handsome, charming, and sexy as a slimy rogue who leads the sweet, innocent Natalie Wood down a treacherous emotional path. The two stars have tremendous chemistry, in spite of the large age difference between them. Kelly proves that he is (was?) a marvelous dramatic actor, a side seldom seen in his career outside of this movie. He should have done more of it. Wood is more of a raw, unpolished talent at this point in her career, but her vulnerability and ability to bring real tears to a scene makes her performance tremendously affecting. She's also radiant and beautiful, showing off her Audrey Hepburn-like ingenuous charisma. This is not a perfect movie, but you will be engrossed and emotionally moved by it. Fine performances also by the supporting cast, including Martin Milner, Ed Wynn, Carolyn Jones, and just about everyone else. A fine popcorn romance.