A very well-done and sensitive romance.

The movie might have been rated highly in its era, 1959, nearly 50 years ago ... but its script is REALLY hard to watch through today's concepts. Some movies are "timeless" and can be viewed for decades.. but this isn't one of them. Its entirely dated and only interesting to view to see how things once were filmed.

Your question of "2. How old are Molly & Johnny supposed to be? If they were 16 or 17, then their parents' custody-battle seems rather pointless, if they are only a year or two away from being legal adults and out of parental custody altogether" .....BACK THEN, AGE 21 WAS CONSIDERED THE POINT AT WHICH YOUNG PEOPLE WERE ON THEIR OWN WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE MILITARY DRAFT BECAUSE THE KIDS WHO WERE DRAFTED WERE STILL UNDER THE SUPERVISION & CONTROL OF THE MILITARY.

I struggled through the movie out of curiosity after enjoying the soundtrack all my life.

Your question #3 misunderstood the character of the mother. She was SUPPPOSED to be that way. The character succeeded with you even though you didn't realize it. She was supposed to be cold and unloving.... and her scheming with her own mother in the discussion about the lawyer & how to manipulate events to squeeze alimony out of the husband was an example. Her entire purpose in the film was to brainwash the viewer into thinking that any good mother wouldn't be so intense about her daughter's risk during sexual experimentation... while the liberal father just smiled as the thought of his daughter's "moonlight beach romp"....

In conclusion, the film was an early example of how Hollywood and the "entertainment industry" earn profits by attacking society's norm. While the producer and actors make off with their huge profits, they no doubt corrupted millions into thinking teen pregnancy was "natural" and okay if based upon "love" ... and that in the end a family would always come together. The stupidity of that false message can be seen clearly in today's world..... single mothers everywhere .... with children lacking family training and guidance not only getting into trouble themselves with school & law, but then having their own teenage pregnancy to further destroy not only their own lives but society as our financial resources to deal with the mess grows smaller and smaller and the industry of welfare, food stamps, and WIC groceries runs out of funding.

Molly's mother was portrayed as intense and unlikeable, but the mother of the real world isn't wrong to be protective, worried, and concerned about her kids. Teen pregnancy is a disaster. My sister could tell you. Anybody who says different is a retard.

And for those of you who think that Hollywood & the "entertainment industry" are role models ... take a close look at how stupid they all really are. Drunk driving arrests, drug addictions, tatoos that scar the body whether the ink remains or the ink is removed causing its own scar. Yes, hey have lots of money.... and thats all they have. By the time they hit 50, they nearly all admit huge regrets.