A timeless movie
A true oldie but goodie.
share"Timeless"? A "goodie"? Highly debatable.
share It is significant in kinds of a bizarre "period piece" kind of ways. That and the iconic theme plus two stars who kind of were an end of an era (the studio system) where kids were signed, brought along, and did pictures with scripts like this.
I saw three dusters...inside the dusters were three men, inside the men were three bullets.
Yes, I'd agree with that. Too bad that, after bringing the younger actors along, the studios simply dumped them when their novelty had worn off. Both Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee had very unhappy lives, marked by divorce, bankruptcy, homelessness, substance abuse and the like, and died in their early sixties.
Still, the movie's neither timeless nor a goodie. It's a bit of a shame, because it could have been much better had the kids' characters and dialogue been more realistic. Writer-producer-director Delmer Daves was utterly clueless about teenagers, creating a couple of petulant, idiotic, immature "teens" who emotionally and intellectually come across as ten-year-olds. The basic story's not bad, and the veteran actors salvage their end, but the kids are just awful, and poorly handled in all respects.
I know Sandra Dee had to deal with being a victim of child molestation at the hands of her sicko stepdad, suffered miscarriages, substance abuse, early divorce, etc. But I don't know much about Troy although I did read he had marriage problems and substance abuse issues as well. Was he homeless at one time?
shareYes, at one time he was homeless. I never heard this until after he died in August 2001 -- two weeks before his "mother" from this film, Dorothy MacGuire, passed away -- but in the late 70s he was so broke he had lost everything and was living in New York's Central Park. Substance abuse and career and emotional problems had all taken their toll. But eventually he was able to climb back and made a modest living until his sudden death of a heart attack at 65. Sandra never really did pull herself together before she died in 2005.
If you've seen The Godfather Part II (1974), Troy has a small part in it as Connie's latest boyfriend, in the party scene at the beginning. The name of his character in that film, Merle Johnson, was Troy's real name.
Celebrity or not, it's sad people don't have friends or family to rely on to have a roof over their head. If I need a decent place to stay, I would swallow my pride and ask for help, as long as I wasn't mistreated. Of course I don't know what Troy's situation was. Resources were limited in the 70's regarding social services, I'm guessing.
shareI wonder whether most celebrities would have an easier time getting help from family or friends than would ordinary people. Maybe, unless they had ignored them or treated them badly during their heyday. I don't know Troy's specific circumstances either, but he obviously either had no one to turn to or was too embarrassed to do so. Social services in the 70s were perfectly adequate, especially in a place like NYC, but hardly a nice way to live, and a lot of people didn't like to use them or had fears about living in public housing or shelters, which could be dangerous. Ultimately he did recover himself, though I'm not too familiar with how he turned his life around.
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