MovieChat Forums > A Summer Place (1959) Discussion > Age of Consent?

Age of Consent?

posted 10 years ago by jones7418
3 replies | jump to latest

I'm a bit confused about the attempted elopement of Johnny and Molly. When they seek out a Justice of the Peace to marry them, they both pretend to be 21 years old. Of course, the JP can tell they aren't and asks for their birth certs to prove it. What confuses me is, what was the age of consent back then? Today in all states, it runs from 16 to 18 years. I can't find anything on the internet that goes back that far (1959). Did people really have to be 21 back then to get married?

[–] Fleur_de_lis 10 years ago

I doubt it. I interpreted it as a bad lie that he was stuck with, rather than the legal minimum.

And many jurisdictions allow an exception in the case of a pregnancy, so the probably could have gone that route if they'd been aware.

[–] leader-7 10 years ago

Pregnancy was a huge stigma, esp in conservative new England, so no one was going to admit to that. And I believe you had to be 21 w/o parental consent.

[–] leader-7 10 years ago

Correction:18 not 21.