Print Page - Three Knock Theater 38: Earth Girls are Easy (1988)

As I wrote in "Recent movie seen" I saw LOLITA-1962, last night- I have some comments to make for you: A kind of "History of those kind of films"-
IF "Lolita" 1962 was a scandal for presenting a "love affair" between a 14 year old girl & a mature man in the novel, in the film the scandal was "softened" it was a scandal too... but... cause the girl was "older": Sue Lyon was 16 at the time and she SEEMS to be 16, so the "contrast" between the 2 leads wasn,t so shocking to audiences, but we must remember a PREVIOUS film which WAS A TOTAL SCANDAL: "Baby Doll" 1956, with Carol Baker playing a 17 or 18 young wife, married to Karl Malden, a mature man & even if she is married, she is much desired by Eli Walach, another mature man. All the story & dialogues were written by Tennessee Williams, a "not-soft-writer": the posters of that film were a scandal on themselves: They shows a very young Baker, with one of her fingers in her mouth like a baby, dressed with a short nightgown in a bed made for a baby- A total scandall: even the church condems all catholics which wanted to see it - The critics called it: "trash"- Public rushed to see it - The "code" was allready changing...
BUT.... even AFTER all this, there is a film call "In this our life", 1942, with Bette Davis playing a "bad young girl" who is always seducing her own uncle Charles Coburn, and the uncle... well.... responds to that attitudes in a way WORSE than "direct" if u can understand me his faces & glances are weird, to say the least- We, with David, wrote something about it in "Recently..." some days ago, when I saw that film- I can,t understand HOW the Code in 1942 it was stronger than in 1956 never made a fuss about it- To see Charles Coburn attitudes, dialogues etc. whith her niece is "something to see to believe".-
But the "story" of this films isn,t finish yet:
1957: "Love in the Afternoon"- Audrey Hepburn, Gary Cooper, Maurice Chevallier- A story about a mature play-boy Cooper which is "spy" by a private detective Chevallier and whose young daughter Audrey felt for him-
This film was very much critized because Cooper, in the film, was allready ill of cancer and he seems to be older than his actual age 56- And Audrey, who was 26 seems to be 18 years old- Critics & public made a scandal about it: so much that Cooper becomes very angry. He told the press: " What about falling in love with a younger woman?: everybody does"- But the plot was the real scandal: a young, virgin girl, falling for a play boy much older than she is a "not-very-clean-role"-
Why I point this?: because in "Sabrina" 1954, Audrey was 24 & Bogart 54, and nobody says nothing- And in "Funny Face" 1956, Audrey was 26 and Fred Astaire was 57 ... and nobody cares-
Last things:
- After the premiere of "Lolita", all young girls falling for mature men were called "lolitas", till now-
- After the premiere of "Baby Doll" all short nightgows were call "baby-doll" till now-
- Audrey was never considered a "lolita", because as many critics wrotes: she had too much class for beeing one-

Well, I would love to read your own opinions- The debate is OPEN -

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Information Exchange => Movie Reviews => Topic started by: clockworkcanary on May 12, 2016, 04:30:21 PM