Splendor in the Grass **** (1961, Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty, Pat Hingle, Audrey Christie, Barbara Loden, Zohra Lampert, Sandy Dennis, Phyllis Diller, Gary Lockwood) – Classic Movie Review 4049

William Inge won the 1962 Oscar for his Best Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for Splendor in the Grass (1961), this original 1961 tale about adolescent sweethearts whose lives are shattered when their parents separate them.

Natalie Wood, earning her second Oscar nomination, gives a storming performance as Wilma Dean ‘Deanie’ Loomis, the fragile girl who descends into depression and madness as her relationship with a boy founders and breaks her heart.

Beatty’s basketball teammates (including Gary Lockwood second from left) are soaping up after athletic activity.

The film is set in the Twenties in a puritanical Kansas small town, where Wood’s character is trying to make a new start. Though Inge’s script is such a gem, and Elia Kazan’s direction ensures real quality, there is also plenty of splendor in the acting.

Kazan decided to take away Wood’s Hollywood glamour, making her dump her usual makeup and costumes, and causing her anxiety. So she was always trying to sneak on a little extra rouge or lipstick when Kazan was not looking.

Warren Beatty, aged 24, makes a strong impression in his film debut as Bud Stamper, the handsome young man from the town’s most powerful family, and, among the fine support, Sandy Dennis (as Kay) and Phyllis Diller (as Texas Guinan) also make their initial movie appearances. Inge also appears as a Protestant clergyman, the Reverend Whitman.

Splendor in the Grass features a score by jazz composer David Amram and Technicolor cinematography by Boris Kaufman. It is filmed in New York City at Filmways Studios, and on location in New York.

Gary Lockwood plays Allen ‘Toots’ Tuttle.

Also in the cast are Pat Hingle as Ace Stamper, Audrey Christie as Mrs Loomis, Barbara Loden as Ginny Stamper, Zohra Lampert as Angelina, Gary Lockwood as Allen ‘Toots’ Tuttle, Fred Stewart as Del Loomis, Joanna Roos as Mrs Stamper, John McGovern as Doc Smiley, Jan Norris as Juanita Howard, Martine Bartlett as Miss Metcalf, Sandy Dennis as Kay, Crystal Field as Hazel, Marla Adams as June, Lynn Loring as Carolyn, Phyllis Diller as Texas Guinan and Sean Garrison as Glenn.

It was re-made as the 1981 TV movie Splendor in the Grass with Melissa Gilbert, Cyril O’Reilly, and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Inge wrote it first as a novel and then as a screenplay, basing it on people he knew growing up in Kansas in the 1920s. He told the story to Kazan and they agreed to make it as a film.

The film’s title is taken from William Wordsworth’s poem Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood: ‘Nothing can bring back the hour of splendour in the grass.’

Beatty was lucky enough to have met Inge in 1960 appearing in his play A Loss of Roses on Broadway.

There’s some unexpected interesting homoeroticism when Beatty’s basketball teammates go soaping up in the showers after athletic activity. But Gary Lockwood’s shorts can be seen while taking a shower in the locker-room sequence. So much for realism!

Natalie Wood (1938–1981) was Oscar nominated three times.

Natalie Wood (1938–1981) was Oscar nominated as Best Supporting Actress for Rebel Without a Cause (1955), as Best Actress for Splendor in the Grass (1961) and as Best Actress for Love with the Proper Stranger (1963).

Warren Beatty turned 80 on 30 March 2017. His most recent film is Rules Don’t Apply (2016). He has won one Oscar, but not for acting, as Best Director for Reds (1981).

Gary Lockwood, born on 21 February 1937, is best remembered as Dr Frank Poole from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, as well as George Matthews in Model Shop (1969). In 2020 he appears with Snoop Dogg and Nichelle Nichols in Unbelievable!!!!!, a sci-fi adventure spoof.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4049

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert

Warren Beatty, aged 24, makes a strong impression in his film debut as Bud Stamper.

Gary Lockwood, born on 21 February 1937, is best remembered from Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.