This film from the fifties predates the coming sexual revolution. Just about every character has pretensions of morality. They are do-good nosey parkers whose greatest joy is to find flaws in others. Certain things are automatic triggers for their scorn-like divorce, promiscuity, or wearing white after Labor Day.
When the Jorgenson family comes to Pine Island, Maine for the summer, the entrenched residents greet them with prejudice because the father, Ken (Richard Egan), used to be a lowly worker on the island. He also used to be involved with the mother of the family who owns the inn where they are staying.
The melodrama of the story---emphasized by an overly-dramatic score---has the characters using the words "good" and "bad" with frequency, as in "I've been a good girl" and "are you a bad boy?" Everyone fears being bad, which means acting contrary to contemporary morals, but they can't help themselves; human nature drives some to thwart approved behavioral standards.
The film is a "story of stolen moments", where lovers struggle to maintain appearances and to fight their own impulses. Every romantic gesture is countered by feelings of guilt or condemnation, so the passion in the film is undermined.
Despite the overdone score, the movie's theme---which is the theme of the young lovers---works well. It has a carefree feeling that, unfortunately, belies the judgmental drama that permeates every scene.
Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue play the young lovers, Molly and Johnny, and the actors symbolize an idyllic young couple. (Dee also appeared in "Gidget" the same year, as a chaste young lady who pines for James Darren.) Their struggle against society does contain some basic truths about what people had to deal with in that era.
When the Jorgenson family comes to Pine Island, Maine for the summer, the entrenched residents greet them with prejudice because the father, Ken (Richard Egan), used to be a lowly worker on the island. He also used to be involved with the mother of the family who owns the inn where they are staying.
The melodrama of the story---emphasized by an overly-dramatic score---has the characters using the words "good" and "bad" with frequency, as in "I've been a good girl" and "are you a bad boy?" Everyone fears being bad, which means acting contrary to contemporary morals, but they can't help themselves; human nature drives some to thwart approved behavioral standards.
The film is a "story of stolen moments", where lovers struggle to maintain appearances and to fight their own impulses. Every romantic gesture is countered by feelings of guilt or condemnation, so the passion in the film is undermined.
Despite the overdone score, the movie's theme---which is the theme of the young lovers---works well. It has a carefree feeling that, unfortunately, belies the judgmental drama that permeates every scene.
Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue play the young lovers, Molly and Johnny, and the actors symbolize an idyllic young couple. (Dee also appeared in "Gidget" the same year, as a chaste young lady who pines for James Darren.) Their struggle against society does contain some basic truths about what people had to deal with in that era.