Splendor in the Grass, Glory in the flower

 

In "Because You're the First," the teenage Kassandra and Cameron watch a movie called "Splendor in the Grass." Released in 1961, the film was based on a play by William Inge called "Glory in the Flower," which hit the stage in 1953.  Inge is also famous for "Bus Stop" which was made into a film that starred Marilyn Monroe, and "Picnic" with Kim Novak and William Holden.

 

The stars of the film were Hollywood veteran (at the tender age of 23) Natalie Wood, and a newcomer named Warren Beatty.  The film, set in a small midwestern town in the 1920s, is about the new sexuality as it emerged during that time, much like it emerged again in the 1960s and 1970s, when the characters in "Because You're the First" came of age.



 



The making of the film, and its stars, caused a sensation.  Wood and Beatty had a notorious affair. Gossips said it broke up Wood's first marriage to Robert Wagner, (Wagner says this is untrue; read his biography). It was directed by Elia Kazan, who was the only member of the Hollywood 10 during the McCarthy era that spilled the beans on members of the Hollywood community, thus tarnishing his reputation in Hollywood forever. 

Most people know the sad tragedy of Natalie's Wood drowning which took place 20 years after this film was made.  In the scene below, Wood was required to go underwater in a bathtub.  She was terrified of water, and didn't want to do the scene.  But under Kazan's encouragement and support, Wood did the scene brilliantly.  Her performance in this film is Wood at her best; she was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of this mixed up, love sick young girl.  Speaking of Oscars, Inge, who wrote the original screenplay based on his play, took home to award for best screenplay.

Natalie Wood as Deenie Loomis in the tub scene in "Splendor in the Grass"

 

 



Here is the original trailer for the film

 

The title of both Inge's play and the film comes from the Romantic era poet William Wordsworth's poem "Intimations of Immortality." Wood's character Deenie Loomis interprets the poem in her high school English class after the teacher recites it.

 

 

.



 

Wordsworth wrote the poem in parts, the first in 1802, and the last in 1804.  Modern critics say this is his best poem, referring to it as his "great ode." It is considered one of his greatest works. 

 

 

William Wordsworth, painted by Benjamin Robert

 

 

Hollywood certainly was inspired by his words, and this poem especially.  In Robert Redford's 1992 film "A River Runs Through It," actors Tom Skerrit and Craig Sheffer, as father and son, recite the poem together in a beautiful scene. Ironically, this film is also set in the 1920s, and is about a Montana family grappling with changing times (and doing a lot of fly fishing). 

 

I unfortunately cannot find a video to show you this scene, so if you haven't seen this film, check it out.  Based on the memoirs of writer Norman Maclean, it is one of the most beautiful films ever made, winning an Oscar in 1993 for Best Cinematography.

 

 

Craig Sheffer, Brad Pitt, and Tom Skerrit in "A River Runs Through It"

 

"A River Runs Through It," like "Splendor in the Grass" and "Because You're the First" are about growing up in times of change, and coming to terms with becoming an adult.  I believe this is why the poem works so well as a metaphor in all three, since when we are young, we do feel a sense of immortality that is finite.  We learn we are indeed fallable as we grow up, but we never forget that delicious feeling when we felt invincible, and the world was a more perfect place. Luckily, in books and in film, we can revisit that place within ourselves any time we want.