The Careless Years

 

Dean Stockwell and Natalie Trundy

Arthur Hiller's The Careless Years is a dreary and conformist teen romance from 1957. Jerry (Dean Stockwell) and Emily (Natalie Trundy) become sweethearts while attending Santa Monica High School. They come from differing social backgrounds with Jerry's Dad working in a garage. Emily's parents are more upper crust and expect Emily to attend college after graduating from high school. Jerry, frustrated because Emily draws the line at heavy petting, broaches the subject of an elopement. Both of their parents object to this idea and, eventually, Emily knuckles under and agrees to go away to college. She pledges to write to Jerry, but bourgeoise conformity triumphs over romance at the end of The Careless Years.

Emily's mother is played by Barbara Billingsley who ended up playing another model of traditional feminine conformity as Theodore Cleaver's mother on Leave It to Beaver. Billingsley's character mouths the ethos of the screenwriters, decrying such totems of modernity as psychology and sleeping pills. What is one to make of the scene in which Emily and her mother both try on the same dress at a department sore? Mom tries on the dress second and pronounces that it suits herself better. From the film's viewpoint, I suppose, mother knows best, but I found it creepy. John Larch, another familiar face for those who owned a television in the 20th century. offers a solid performance. Ms. Trundy, not so much. She had a slim film and television career, but appeared in four Planet of the Apes movies because the second of her five husbands was Arthur P. Jacobs, producer of the simian epics.

The main reason to watch the picture is Dean Stockwell's brooding performance. Stockwell was just beginning to emerge out of his child star period. The role, sort of a neutered James Dean, is not a perfect fit. Stockwell never possessed the sexual magnetism of a Dean, but found his niche as a supporting player. However, whatever energy that emerges from this very dull film is almost solely to the restless poetry of Stockwell's work. Something that certainly can not be said of Hiller's efforts, which are lifeless. Even at seventy minutes, the film is turgid with little drama or snap to the proceedings. The Canadian director would stay afloat in Hollywood for almost fifty years, directing more commercial disasters (Penelope, Man of La Mancha, WC Fields and Me) than hits (Love Story, Silver Streak). The good films that bear his credit (The Hospital, The In-Laws) seemed to have succeeded despite him. Tellingly, Hiller did not direct another feature film for six years after The Careless Years failed to make an impact commercially or critically.