Splendor in the Grass (1961)
A fragile Kansas girl's unrequited and forbidden love for a handsome young man from the town's most powerful family drives her to heartbreak and madness. (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Elia Kazan
Written By: William Inge
Starring: Pat Hingle, Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty, Phyllis Diller, Gary Lockwood, Zohra Lampert, Barbara Loden, Audrey Christie, Joanna Roos, Fred Stewart
Country: USA
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Splendor in the Grass belongs to 31 collections
1. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (collaborative: moderated by kozan26 - 234 stars)
2. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2008 revision) (collaborative: moderated by Scottathon - 39 stars)
3. New York Times' The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made (collaborative: moderated by theficionado - 32 stars)
4. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2010 revision) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 32 stars)
5. Passed the Bechdel Test (collaborative: moderated by geohawk - 29 stars)
6. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2014 revision) (collaborative: moderated by Jehan - 27 stars)
7. Female protagonist (collaborative: moderated by djross - 25 stars)
8. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2012 revision) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 25 stars)
9. Academy Award - Oscar - ALL Best Picture, Directing, Acting & Screenplay Nominees (collaborative - 22 stars)
10. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2017 revision) (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 22 stars)
11. They Shoot Pictures' Recommended Viewing (collaborative: moderated by Cinephile - 19 stars)
12. Best of criticker: Drama (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 18 stars)
13. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2013 revision) (collaborative: moderated by rant1229 - 16 stars)
14. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2011 revision) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 14 stars)
15. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2020 revision) (public: djross - 14 stars)
16. Oscar: Best Writing (adapted/original) (collaborative: moderated by paulofilmo - 10 stars)
17. The Gentlemen's Guide To Midnight Cinema Podcast (collaborative: moderated by Coheed - 9 stars)
18. David Thomson's 1000 Films (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 7 stars)
19. Best of criticker: Romance (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 6 stars)
20. High School (collaborative: moderated by Dorkovsky - 5 stars)
21. AFI 100 Passions (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 5 stars)
22. Films referenced in Histoire(s) du cinéma (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 5 stars)
23. Filmsite.org - Sex in the Movies, An Illustrated History (collaborative: moderated by afx237vi - 5 stars)
24. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2007 revision) (collaborative: moderated by Scottathon - 4 stars)
25. Tearjerkers (collaborative: moderated by cambel - 3 stars)
26. Films available in HD (supplement) (collaborative: moderated by Jorg - 1 star)
27. kazan (collaborative: moderated by pmpfe)
28. Referenced in Zeroville (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed)
29. Available on Divicast (collaborative: moderated by Dunstan-xxx)
30. aNobii Cineforum (public: earthlydel)
31. Films Watched 2021 (public: knoroz)
Browse the full list of collections
| Date | User | Rating | |
| Jul 21, 2022 | sellis | 76 49th |
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I appreciate how the themes are externalized throughout the characters in the first 2/3rds. Despite the subversion of story expectations, I found that the final third fell flat in its self-importance.
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| Jan 15, 2022 | doyler29 | 70 36th |
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I don't really dislike this film, but I can't really take it very seriously, and boy does it want to be taken seriously. It's really well put together, and despite my joking about the size of the performances, I think everyone does a good job. I always find Wood compelling, even when I think she's giving a bit too much, and it's a really impressive screen debut for Beatty.
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| Aug 21, 2021 |  |
Yiannos | 65 59th |
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Well composed drama was probably quite daring for its time, and its attempts to portray desire in the young and hypocrisy regarding sexual mores are honest and moderately successful. The acting is also good, although Beatty is uneven, but the descent of Wood's character results in a few poorly judged scenes, especially when depicting her deteriorating mental state, and it has obvious third act problems.
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| May 31, 2019 |  |
Darren | 65 37th |
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Hollywood hack/rat does a decent Ray/Sirk pastiche.
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| Feb 24, 2019 | jasoo2 | 50 38th |
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A bland, cautionary tale of what happens if teenagers postpone sexual intercourse until marriage. A young Warren Beatty took the film's message to heart.
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| Nov 10, 2017 |  |
mandy | 8 92nd |
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Convincing and moving performances about young love in an era where mixed messages and hypocrisy abounds.
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| Aug 11, 2017 |  |
KasperL | 70 65th |
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It feels very dated in some respects, but I liked the story arc.
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| Jun 11, 2016 |  |
Icarus | 50 14th |
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So being good, following after society's standards, leads to lesser in life? Sounds like a movie written by a teenager--parents and society bad, the teen's own impulses and desires all good. I guess the whole thing just felt way too broad brush, the central problem overplayed and a bit ho-hum.
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| Apr 20, 2016 |  |
Henrik | 80 80th |
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There's a very sixties feel to this film. The shackles of the studio filmmaking of the 40's and 50's are completely gone. Atmosphere is better handled and more realistic than in most American movies from the period. And Kazan gets great performances out of his actors, especially from Pat Hingle as the eventually tragic tyrant father and Natalie Wood, who's descent from teen love into madness and back to (some form of) sanity is entirely convincing.
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| Mar 11, 2016 |  |
JakeAesthete | 16 14th |
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Wood is oppressed by patriarchy, Beatty is oppressed by his own latent homosexuality (see that gym shower scene), and the entire film is oppressed by it's own overly genteel, prestigious nature when if anything the material really calls for a serious dose of over-the-top Sirkian color and camp to liven up the proceedings (also more of Beatty's flapper sister please). As it stands, the film feels awkwardly caught between two Hollywood eras at odds with each other. It's well-meaning but dull.
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| Mar 01, 2016 |  |
grantioso | 63 24th |
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I love a good romance. This is not a good romance. It's a realistic reflection on the reality of life and failed hopes. But it's not fun. Fiction should be fun, imho.
DRAMAFFLOP : (see my profile for details) Dialogue=3,Rudeness=5,Acting=5,Messages=2,Action=2,Funny=0,Filmography=4,loveable characters=3,orchestration=3,Plot=3. Weighted total = 63.
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| Mar 20, 2015 |  |
PerryStroika | 64 60th |
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Angry, hysterical, adolescent youth picture drenched in hormones and sexual repression. Though marred by some pretty wild tonal shifts and lapses in taste, it's not boring, despite dragging a bit towards the end. And even if you hate everything else, there's still Natalie Wood.
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| Apr 02, 2014 |  |
eCitizen | 70 70th |
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Natalie Wood is convincing as a gorgeous but fragile young woman. Warren Beatty is also young but good. The story is about a beautiful young couple forced apart by the boys overbearing father. She has a complete nervous breakdown over the breakup. I quite enjoyed every moment with Natalie. She goes into a mental hospital and he gets on with his life. I found it more than a little ironic to see how the boys father ultimately turns out. Worth watching and thought provoking.
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| Oct 01, 2013 |  |
iranscam | 55 13th |
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God, I hated watching this. It's one of those "classics" like Gone With the Wind that make you really opposed to old movies when you're a kid. Dull story lacking any action, bland colors, rich white characters in rich white sets devoid of personality, melodramatic acting, wordy dialogue, a general feeling that you're watching a play instead of a film, glacial pacing over a long duration, etc. Also, am I really supposed to believe Wood goes institutionally insane from a high school breakup?
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| Sep 22, 2013 | glm01 | 82 71st |
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82.000
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| Mar 25, 2013 |  |
MedCityFlix (Med City Movie Guy) | 90 83rd |
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Wood's slow descent to madness may be her best work.
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| Jan 30, 2013 | xacviant | 88 87th |
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In 20s southeast Kansas (WHAT UP), high school sweethearts Bud (Warren Beatty) and Deanie (Natalie Wood) are tormented by the repression preached by their parents and society. William Inge's superbly crafted, Oscar-winning script is brought to life by Elia Kazan's evocative direction and by a superior cast: Beatty and Wood are both superb, Wood especially as she portrays Deanie's ultimate breakdown and subsequent recovery. Pat Hingle and Barbara Loden are marvelous as Bud's father and sister.
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| May 01, 2012 |  |
Allan Kardec | 88 21st |
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(ótimo)
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| Apr 10, 2012 |  |
wetwillies | 90 80th |
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A melodramatic masterpiece that nails all these teenaged feelings in a way that seems over-the-top but really isn't that far off the mark. Natalie Wood gives one hell of a performance, while Warren Beatty makes his debut with class. Barbara Loden also has a nice turn as the party animal of the Stamper family. Why is it that Kazan's most critically-acclaimed have disappointed me, while the less-popular films have consistently blown me away?
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| Feb 19, 2012 |  |
wayofthegun | 85 78th |
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Impressive classic about young love and the mental distress it can cause. Really strong performance from Natalie Wood.
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| Feb 06, 2012 | damil | 75 81st |
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I loved how it dealt with issues like sexuality, feminism, depression and parents' pressure on their children. Natalie Wood was fantastic. She gave a truly amazing performance which I was wowed by more than once. It was also interesting seeing Warren Beatty's first film role.
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| Dec 01, 2011 | theyshoot11 | 68 36th |
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#637
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| Nov 29, 2011 |  |
tinelove | 85 75th |
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This was a long but heartbreaking film about young lost love.
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| Oct 25, 2011 |  |
SlantMag | 30 78th |
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"Splendor in the Grass is a prestigious, top-of-the-line, sensitively-handled melodramatic literalization of the axiom "If you touch yourself too much, you'll go crazy."" - Eric Henderson
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| Nov 01, 2010 |  |
PeaceAnarchy | 77 51st |
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Melodramatic to the core, and choppily paced, but still very effective and engaging for a film about young romance. The content has some meat to it, and Wood is very pretty so I liked it but it didn't feel great.
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| Jan 15, 2010 | theyshoot10 | 70 40th |
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601
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| Jul 05, 2009 |  |
MartinTeller | 83 77th |
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A bit corny and a trifle dated, but mostly moving and surprisingly racy melodrama about young love and sexual repression. I had very low expectations for this film, but found it had a very Sirkian quality. Kazan doesn't have Sirk's eye for color or composition, but he handles the drama very well, keeps the pace moving, and tackles some controversial and slightly subversive subject matter. Warren Beatty, in his first film, manages to avoid being pigeonholed as a James Dean knockoff.
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| Apr 10, 2009 |  |
Seryxa | 25 43rd |
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Impressive though curiously unmemorable addition to a nostalgic young sex cycle which was already played out; production and performances are well up to scratch.
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| Dec 19, 2008 | theyshoot08 | 74 48th |
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530
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| Sep 06, 2008 |  |
Stain | 40 23rd |
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Uninteresting characters, not doing very much. I was bored to tears. Presumably those are not the sort of tears which Kazan and company were aiming to get
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| Jun 06, 2008 |  |
CCLZA | 80 77th |
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Inspired moments and excellent acting, especially from Wood, who brings the depth of the character to surface in the best scenes of the film.
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| May 04, 2008 |  |
Piknik | 50 22nd |
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Elia Kazan'in "Splendor in the Grass"inda, kiz arkadasiyla 'birlikte' olamadigi icin hayatlarini mahveden gencler rolunde, gencecik Natalie Wood ve Warren Beatty'i izlemek nostaljik ama sonunda, Beatty'nin canlandirdigi Bud karakterinin takintilarina sinir olmamak mumkun degil. Yazik yazik..
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| Mar 02, 2008 | theyshoot07 | 72 55th |
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# 554
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| Average Percentile 65.65% from 516 Ratings |  |