I have mixed feelings about this film. While I loved the book and know how Hollywood (especially in the past) feels that it must sterilize, candy-coat, and generally water down works of literature, I felt that the movie was almost totally different from the book. That being said, I enjoyed the movie on its own terms. The achingly beautiful Natalie Wood (my first movie star crush!) did a good job with the title role; very believable. Contrary to other reviewers, I liked Gene Kelly's work in this movie. He was a talented dramatic actor (especially in "Inherit the Wind") and seemed to really breathe life into the character of Noel Airman. However, the book was so rich, full, and complex, that a two hour movie could not hope to do it justice. I recently re-watched the movie the day after reading the book. So many episodes in the book were missing! This was due to time constraints, the Hollywood code at the time, and, I believe, some poor choices by either the director, producers, and/or writer. In particular, the whole sequence with Mike Eden on the Queen Mary and his secret work in Europe and Marjorie's searching for Noel in Europe was just....gone. That sequence was one of the most important in showing how Marjorie made her ultimate decision. Oddly, the very end of the movie showed (or at least inferred) that Marjorie ended up with Wally. Again, totally false according to the book. Marjorie needed to move on and NOT end up with either Noel, Mike, or Wally. But enough negatives. The sequences at South Wind were fantastic. I only wished that there were more scenes of the camp, the lake, the social hall, etc. And Ed Wynn was perfect (as usual). The supporting cast all did a fine job, particularly Martin Milner as Wally and Claire Trevor as Mrs. Morningstar. Overall, I give it a 7 for what it did have: Natalie Wood and Gene Kelly, the South Wind sequences, and the fine supporting acting.
32 Reviews
Missing parts, but still showcases Natalie Wood and Gene Kelly
apbookman22 July 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Miss Morgenstern regrets
jotix10026 May 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Herman Wouk's "Marjorie Morningstar", a book published in 1955, became an immediate bestseller. The book about a newly rich Jewish family from the Bronx, now living comfortably on Central Park West, was the kind of novel that was popular at the time. Its appeal was chiefly about the sexual awakening of a young woman who at first rebels against the choices made for her by her ambitious mother, but ultimately ends up married to a prosperous man from Westchester, leaving her dreams and ambitions behind. The movie version changes the ending, as Marjorie had finally come to her senses about her infatuation with Noel Airman and she is seen boarding the bus where a patient Wally Wronkin, the man who really loved her is also riding.
The film version by Everett Freeman took some liberties, perhaps to make it more appealing to a younger movie going public. The end result seems to this humble commentator a cop out when all is said and done. What comes out on the big screen seems false from beginning to end. Perhaps reading the novel would be more satisfying because the original story is left to one's imagination.
Part of the problem with the film was the casting of Gene Kelly, who was 46 at the time, against a radiant and youthful Natalie Wood. Miss Wood, who was starting to appear in films as a young woman. Ms Wood had grown up in the eyes of viewers of films of the late 40s and early fifties where she was seen playing small girls' roles. She appears not as confident for a role that perhaps demanded a more convincing actress. It didn't help either that she and Mr. Kelly show almost no chemistry in their scenes together.
Of course, "Marjorie Morningstar" had its following at the time it came out. Unfortunately, this film hasn't aged well. It feels false at times and at its most dramatic, it feels empty. The supporting cast was good, especially Claire Trevor, Everett Sloane and Ed Wynn, who are seen as the parents and uncle of the young heroine. Martin Milner, Martin Balsam and especially Carolyn Jones make a good impression.
Irving Rapper, who had done better in previous movies, directed without breaking new ground. Perhaps the ultimate culprit lays in the screen treatment the film received.
The film version by Everett Freeman took some liberties, perhaps to make it more appealing to a younger movie going public. The end result seems to this humble commentator a cop out when all is said and done. What comes out on the big screen seems false from beginning to end. Perhaps reading the novel would be more satisfying because the original story is left to one's imagination.
Part of the problem with the film was the casting of Gene Kelly, who was 46 at the time, against a radiant and youthful Natalie Wood. Miss Wood, who was starting to appear in films as a young woman. Ms Wood had grown up in the eyes of viewers of films of the late 40s and early fifties where she was seen playing small girls' roles. She appears not as confident for a role that perhaps demanded a more convincing actress. It didn't help either that she and Mr. Kelly show almost no chemistry in their scenes together.
Of course, "Marjorie Morningstar" had its following at the time it came out. Unfortunately, this film hasn't aged well. It feels false at times and at its most dramatic, it feels empty. The supporting cast was good, especially Claire Trevor, Everett Sloane and Ed Wynn, who are seen as the parents and uncle of the young heroine. Martin Milner, Martin Balsam and especially Carolyn Jones make a good impression.
Irving Rapper, who had done better in previous movies, directed without breaking new ground. Perhaps the ultimate culprit lays in the screen treatment the film received.
An OK flick
sroimoi-184-97149112 February 2017
I have watched Marjorie Morningstar on video a few times and have read others' review of it. As a Jew, I was not bothered by the stereotypes. They rang true because in that day an age, that is how parents viewed marriage for their children. Interesting that the Bar Mitzvah was held in an Orthodox synagogue where there is separate seating men and women though the religious observance of the Morgensterns is questionable. In any case, while the premise of a young woman falling for an older man with great passion is believable, Gene Kelly as Noel Airman to me was not even likable. And it is wonder why they needed to cast a 46-year old man in a role of a 33 year old. Ed Wynn and Carolyn Jones were a delight, while most of the other characters were not particularly noteworthy. The movie ending is far different from the book, and honestly, I think I prefer the movie ending though the book's end was probably more true to life.
Great Soap Opera Wallow
mg111924 January 2003
This is just one of those glossy '50s tearjerkers, with glamorous people, pretty Technicolor, and fab costumes. The best thing about it is Gene Kelly, who is absolutely handsome, charming, and sexy as a slimy rogue who leads the sweet, innocent Natalie Wood down a treacherous emotional path. The two stars have tremendous chemistry, in spite of the large age difference between them. Kelly proves that he is (was?) a marvelous dramatic actor, a side seldom seen in his career outside of this movie. He should have done more of it. Wood is more of a raw, unpolished talent at this point in her career, but her vulnerability and ability to bring real tears to a scene makes her performance tremendously affecting. She's also radiant and beautiful, showing off her Audrey Hepburn-like ingenuous charisma. This is not a perfect movie, but you will be engrossed and emotionally moved by it. Fine performances also by the supporting cast, including Martin Milner, Ed Wynn, Carolyn Jones, and just about everyone else. A fine popcorn romance.
Good Adaptation of A Great Novel
chinaskee14 June 2001
Herman Wouk's classic coming of age novel about a young Jewish girl who wants to be an actress is faithfully brought to the screen by director Irving Rapper.Natalie Wood was,without a doubt one of the most beautiful women to ever grace the silver screen,and although her performance here is not nearly as good as the one audiences would be treated to two years later in "Splendor In The Grass",she's just so goshdarned gorgeous that it doesn't matter.A competent supporting cast,with Ed Wynn,and his bullfighting skit at the Mexican fiesta being one of the highlights.And the Passover Seder,with the little kids fidgeting,and the looks on everyone else's faces letting you know that everyone was ready for the food to be brought out hours ago definitely brought back memories.See the movie,and if you've never read the book,try to find a copy.I think I must have read it about 5 times when I was a kid.
Natalie as usual makes this worth catching
jjnxn-130 April 2013
Somewhat stilted and overlong this is still an enjoyable drama of a young girls awakening to some of the realities of life thanks to Natalie Wood. At this stage she was in a transition period between being the lead girl in a bunch of studio assembly line films and a true leading lady in important pictures. This is one of the first where the sole focus was on her character and she carries it well plus she is at the peak of her beauty. Claire Trevor and Carolyn Jones enhance the film with their individual and distinctive personalities. Gene Kelly however is miscast and abrasive and that hurts the pictures overall impact.
Sudsy melodrama is more concerned with looking good than being emotionally sound...
moonspinner5513 November 2011
Novelist Herman Wouk's Jewish heroine, who rose from girlish camp counselor to college graduate to aspiring NYC actress, provides a meaty role for Natalie Wood, whose usual mannerisms (the breathy voice, the twitching mouth) are nicely modulated by director Irving Rapper. Gene Kelly is terrific as the womanizing theater director whom Marjorie becomes hopelessly stuck on, and the Oscar-nominated song "A Very Precious Love" by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster lends pretty uplift to their romantic scenes. Visually, the film has an uneven appearance; though photographed by the estimable Harry Stradling, the clumsy mix of rear-projection, studio sets, and on-location shooting is a bit of an eyesore. In the supporting roles, Marty (Martin) Milner is excellent as an aspiring playwright and Claire Trevor has some strong early scenes as Marjorie's insufferable mother, but Ed Wynn's bit as an uncle is gratuitous, used weakly for both comic relief and pathos. Martin Balsam's role as a doctor is curiously tossed away (perhaps landing on the cutting-room floor), yet Natalie Wood is the major surprise; although one gets the impression her costume changes and hairstyles were first priority here, Wood excels in a handful of dramatic scenes, creating convincing chemistry with Kelly even if (emotionally) the narrative is all over the place. **1/2 from ****
Gone Rancid in the Can
tonstant viewer19 September 2009
I saw this film as a kid in its initial release, and was very moved. I just watched it again tonight, and was very annoyed. There is not a genuine note in this film from beginning to end.
Hollywood had dealt before with cultural assimilation and and the complexities of mixed marriage, but with the introduction of the Production Code in 1934, a lot of the old ethnic clichés became out of bounds. Identifiably Jewish character actors like Benny Rubin suddenly couldn't find work. Ed Wynn, Jack Benny and the Marx Brothers prospered, but without the Jewish jokes.
This film was one of the major entries in a renewed attempt by Hollywood to deal with the old stories. I can't review the book, as I have no plans to seek it out for the purposes of "compare and contrast." But the film is so thoroughly confused about who and what it is about, that it winds up being about nothing.
I believe Herman Wouk was a party to the compromises. The film credits Beachwold Productions, which points directly to Wouk's summer house at the time.
Natalie Wood can do everything she is asked to do, which is a relief - that wasn't always the case. Gene Kelly is a bit stiff and heavy, as he always was in non-musical roles. By casting him, the film gives up on any more subtle characterization of Noel Airman, and turns into the umpteenth remake of "Abie's Irish Rose." I don't buy Kelly as a renegade anything and neither did the original audience. The film becomes just another story of the princess and shaygetz dancing around each other for two long hours, and never rises above dreariness. Even Ed Wynn is dreary.
I suppose someone at Warner Brothers saw the business Universal was doing with Ross Hunter's hyperventilating melodramas, but I hate to say this: Natalie Wood is no Lana Turner. Director Irving Rapper takes part of the blame: he's no Douglas Sirk. Rapper was a weak, compliant, flabby director who needed a strong producer and editor to assemble his takes into something watchable. Unfortunately this film just flails around like a dying fish on a dock. It doesn't begin to succeed on any level.
I hope no one is ever crazy enough to try a remake. This one is really over.
Hollywood had dealt before with cultural assimilation and and the complexities of mixed marriage, but with the introduction of the Production Code in 1934, a lot of the old ethnic clichés became out of bounds. Identifiably Jewish character actors like Benny Rubin suddenly couldn't find work. Ed Wynn, Jack Benny and the Marx Brothers prospered, but without the Jewish jokes.
This film was one of the major entries in a renewed attempt by Hollywood to deal with the old stories. I can't review the book, as I have no plans to seek it out for the purposes of "compare and contrast." But the film is so thoroughly confused about who and what it is about, that it winds up being about nothing.
I believe Herman Wouk was a party to the compromises. The film credits Beachwold Productions, which points directly to Wouk's summer house at the time.
Natalie Wood can do everything she is asked to do, which is a relief - that wasn't always the case. Gene Kelly is a bit stiff and heavy, as he always was in non-musical roles. By casting him, the film gives up on any more subtle characterization of Noel Airman, and turns into the umpteenth remake of "Abie's Irish Rose." I don't buy Kelly as a renegade anything and neither did the original audience. The film becomes just another story of the princess and shaygetz dancing around each other for two long hours, and never rises above dreariness. Even Ed Wynn is dreary.
I suppose someone at Warner Brothers saw the business Universal was doing with Ross Hunter's hyperventilating melodramas, but I hate to say this: Natalie Wood is no Lana Turner. Director Irving Rapper takes part of the blame: he's no Douglas Sirk. Rapper was a weak, compliant, flabby director who needed a strong producer and editor to assemble his takes into something watchable. Unfortunately this film just flails around like a dying fish on a dock. It doesn't begin to succeed on any level.
I hope no one is ever crazy enough to try a remake. This one is really over.
Meet the Morgensterns
bkoganbing15 September 2005
If you grew up in a Jewish home or even a mixed household as I did there were two books in every domicile. One would have been Leon Uris's Exodus and the second was Herman Wouk's Marjorie Morningstar. I guess I can appreciate the film more than most since I saw a lot of the characters in my youth and afterwards.
Everett Sloane and Claire Trevor, formerly of the Bronx, now reside in a doorman building in Manhattan. Everett is a self-made man who's now living the American dream, albeit Jewish style. And Claire, if she's gone a bit high hat, is still a very concerned mother and a pretty shrewd judge of character or the lack thereof. In fact Claire Trevor has the best performance in the film.
The Morgensterns have two children, daughter Marjorie and son Seth. It's Seth's bar mitzvah that the story opens with, but it's Marjorie who the film is about.
Remember this is post World War II America and Claire wants for her daughter a man as successful as the one she married. No great thoughts about alternative avenues for women. But Marjorie is determined to explore alternatives.
With best friend Carolyn Jones, who's very into alternatives, Marjorie takes a job as a counselor in a summer camp. And in a neighboring camp she meets Noel Airman, the camp theater director. Now Marjorie's smitten and wants a show business career.
Though Natalie Wood plays Marjorie and the title role, the most complex part is Gene Kelly as Noel Airman. Kelly as a dancer has just the right theatrical background to understand an underachiever like Noel Airman. He's all surface charm, and even talented. But there are a lot of people in the theater who never become successful at it in monetary terms. The few that do are lucky, they might get the right breaks, but they all work hard at what they love.
Noel won't commit to work. He wants it all, but he doesn't want to work for it. He also doesn't realize that show business is a business and there are a lot of people out there as talented as he without his issues.
In fact the key scene in the film is when Claire Trevor on meeting him, sizes him up correctly in five minutes. Kelly sizes Trevor up as well that she's a bit of a snob, but at least she has her's.
This film brought Natalie Wood real star status. It was her break out role from what was essentially brat pack pictures from the 1950s. She's so beautiful here it's hard to imagine the tragedy that awaited her. A perfect Jewish princess, in the nicest sense of the term.
Ed Wynn who never was able to translate his vaudeville and radio success to Hollywood until late in life also shines here as Everett Sloane's Uncle Samson. He's the happy go lucky contented man, but not terribly successful of the previous generation. He represents as much as the family loves him, what they've escaped from.
In life and more so in Hollywood life, things do have a funny way of resolving themselves. And Marjorie in a way she and we don't expect gets her real heart's desire. But for what and how you have to watch this very nostalgic re-creation of upper middle class Jewish life in New York City.
Everett Sloane and Claire Trevor, formerly of the Bronx, now reside in a doorman building in Manhattan. Everett is a self-made man who's now living the American dream, albeit Jewish style. And Claire, if she's gone a bit high hat, is still a very concerned mother and a pretty shrewd judge of character or the lack thereof. In fact Claire Trevor has the best performance in the film.
The Morgensterns have two children, daughter Marjorie and son Seth. It's Seth's bar mitzvah that the story opens with, but it's Marjorie who the film is about.
Remember this is post World War II America and Claire wants for her daughter a man as successful as the one she married. No great thoughts about alternative avenues for women. But Marjorie is determined to explore alternatives.
With best friend Carolyn Jones, who's very into alternatives, Marjorie takes a job as a counselor in a summer camp. And in a neighboring camp she meets Noel Airman, the camp theater director. Now Marjorie's smitten and wants a show business career.
Though Natalie Wood plays Marjorie and the title role, the most complex part is Gene Kelly as Noel Airman. Kelly as a dancer has just the right theatrical background to understand an underachiever like Noel Airman. He's all surface charm, and even talented. But there are a lot of people in the theater who never become successful at it in monetary terms. The few that do are lucky, they might get the right breaks, but they all work hard at what they love.
Noel won't commit to work. He wants it all, but he doesn't want to work for it. He also doesn't realize that show business is a business and there are a lot of people out there as talented as he without his issues.
In fact the key scene in the film is when Claire Trevor on meeting him, sizes him up correctly in five minutes. Kelly sizes Trevor up as well that she's a bit of a snob, but at least she has her's.
This film brought Natalie Wood real star status. It was her break out role from what was essentially brat pack pictures from the 1950s. She's so beautiful here it's hard to imagine the tragedy that awaited her. A perfect Jewish princess, in the nicest sense of the term.
Ed Wynn who never was able to translate his vaudeville and radio success to Hollywood until late in life also shines here as Everett Sloane's Uncle Samson. He's the happy go lucky contented man, but not terribly successful of the previous generation. He represents as much as the family loves him, what they've escaped from.
In life and more so in Hollywood life, things do have a funny way of resolving themselves. And Marjorie in a way she and we don't expect gets her real heart's desire. But for what and how you have to watch this very nostalgic re-creation of upper middle class Jewish life in New York City.
Dated of course but sweet
moonchildiva-115 August 2005
I used to see this movie on television in the "old" days but since it hasn't been on for a long time, and since I'm a Natalie Wood fan, I recently bought the VHS. I was not disappointed! There are so many good actors in it! What kills me the most about this movie (I have read the book, but we're discussing the movie now) is that Noel keeps telling Marjorie about how he might never want to marry her, AS IF she's the one saying she wants to get married - yet we never hear this come out of her mouth! She would have been just as "unconventional" as he was if he'd said something about becoming partners in some kind of acting situation, or songwriting, or singing. I mean, he was in his 30s, she was only 18. So let's see, he loved her so much that he didn't want to collaborate with her? What DID HE want her to do, just wash his clothes? Anyway, I still loved this movie. And every time Ed Wynn came on screen, I said "He's so SWEET!" I remember when Windsor/Detroit movie host extraordinaire Bill Kennedy (Moonchildren! Natalie born 7/17 and Bill 6/27) would show this movie, he would explain it all to us... he was the one we were watching when we found out Natalie was gone. Bless 'em all for the good old days.
Passed Over
wes-connors16 July 2009
On her summer vacation, restless college beauty Natalie Wood (as Marjorie Morgenstern) gets a job at a New York camp and resort area; there, she falls in love with attractive older man Gene Kelly (as Noel Airman). Her parents do not approve of the theatrical Mr. Kelly, preferring that Ms. Wood marry a more respectable doctor or lawyer. Kelly's younger assistant, playwright Martin Milner (as Wally) pines for Wood, but she only has eyes for Kelly. Wood and Kelly are all too obviously unsuccessful, in the lead roles. Others in the cast, like supportive Carolyn Jones (as Marsha) help keep it from being a total loss. And, the bit players are fun to spot. The story's moral seems to waver uncomfortably between "Don't reach for the stars" and "There's no place like home."
**** Marjorie Morningstar (4/24/58) Irving Rapper ~ Natalie Wood, Gene Kelly, Carolyn Jones
**** Marjorie Morningstar (4/24/58) Irving Rapper ~ Natalie Wood, Gene Kelly, Carolyn Jones
A truly unique film
planktonrules15 January 2013
I have reviewed well over 13,000 films here on IMDb. Because of that, I have noticed that with most films there is a certain sameness and predictability about them. And, in light of this, I was very pleasantly surprised by "Marjorie Morningstar"--a truly unique and lovely film from start to finish.
Natalie Wood plays Marjorie Morganstern--a very impressionable 18 year-old who goes off to work at a summer camp. There she meets an older man (while the character was supposed to be 32, Gene Kelly was 46 at the time) who seems very talented and highly attractive. It's no surprise she falls for him, but all he really wants, at first, is to score with her. For 1958, the film is very blunt about this and even uses the word 'sex'--very, very unusual for its time. However, she wants more. When her parents find out about him, her mother is particularly worried--at 32, Noel (Kelly) should be more than just a summer camp counselor. As far as Marjorie is concerned, however, Noel is a genius--and will one day be a great playwright. It's clearly a case of a young girl seeing a man as she HOPES he'll be versus who he really is. What's next? See the film.
The film has many strong things going for it other than the uniqueness of the plot. For Kelly, it's a wonderful opportunity to get away from his pretty-boy song and dance persona and show some depth. And, for Wood, it's one of her first non-child roles where she is a serious leading lady. Apart from their nice work as well as some strong support from Ed Wynn and Martin Milner, the film has a gorgeous musical score--very haunting and sweet. Overall, this is a lovely film--- with so much more going for it.
UPDATE: I just saw a rerun of an old fifties TV show "Four Star Playhouse" and noticed that "Breakfast in Bed" actually had a lot in common with the film. However, while the film was hard-edged and rather sad, the show was more comedic...and less interesting.
Natalie Wood plays Marjorie Morganstern--a very impressionable 18 year-old who goes off to work at a summer camp. There she meets an older man (while the character was supposed to be 32, Gene Kelly was 46 at the time) who seems very talented and highly attractive. It's no surprise she falls for him, but all he really wants, at first, is to score with her. For 1958, the film is very blunt about this and even uses the word 'sex'--very, very unusual for its time. However, she wants more. When her parents find out about him, her mother is particularly worried--at 32, Noel (Kelly) should be more than just a summer camp counselor. As far as Marjorie is concerned, however, Noel is a genius--and will one day be a great playwright. It's clearly a case of a young girl seeing a man as she HOPES he'll be versus who he really is. What's next? See the film.
The film has many strong things going for it other than the uniqueness of the plot. For Kelly, it's a wonderful opportunity to get away from his pretty-boy song and dance persona and show some depth. And, for Wood, it's one of her first non-child roles where she is a serious leading lady. Apart from their nice work as well as some strong support from Ed Wynn and Martin Milner, the film has a gorgeous musical score--very haunting and sweet. Overall, this is a lovely film--- with so much more going for it.
UPDATE: I just saw a rerun of an old fifties TV show "Four Star Playhouse" and noticed that "Breakfast in Bed" actually had a lot in common with the film. However, while the film was hard-edged and rather sad, the show was more comedic...and less interesting.
Don't Root for This Couple
ldeangelis-757081 February 2023
This is one movie where after the boy meets girl then loses her, you want her to stay lost, and get found by someone better!
Natalie Wood gives a good performance as Marjorie Morgenstern, a young Jewish woman in 1950's New York City, who wants something more than the conventional life her parents have planned for her (like a show business career) yet at the same time, part of her longs for a white picket fence and her religious roots are deeper than she thought.
Gene Kelly's Noel Airman is not a likeable person. Like Marjorie, he wants something different out of life, only he disdains whereas she questions. He changed his last name from Ehrman, too Jewish sounding, just like he gives Marjorie the surname "Morningstar". She finds him fascinating, turns down several more worthy suitors in his favor, and envies his seemingly sophisticated nonconformism. However, she soon sees things a bit more clearly. As she matures, he stays the same. She's willing to compromise, he's my-way-or-the-highway. She grows in character, he has none. She has a heart with room for love, his has only room for himself. Not exactly a good mix for a wedding cake. (Perhaps the right ingredient was unknowingly there all along?)
There are familiar TV faces here: George Tobias, Martin Milner, Carolyn Jones, Martin Balsam, Jesse White, and veteran actor Ed Wynn does a great job as Marjorie's beloved Uncle Samson.
An entertaining movie, of a young woman finding out who she is, where she fits in, and what she really wants.
Natalie Wood gives a good performance as Marjorie Morgenstern, a young Jewish woman in 1950's New York City, who wants something more than the conventional life her parents have planned for her (like a show business career) yet at the same time, part of her longs for a white picket fence and her religious roots are deeper than she thought.
Gene Kelly's Noel Airman is not a likeable person. Like Marjorie, he wants something different out of life, only he disdains whereas she questions. He changed his last name from Ehrman, too Jewish sounding, just like he gives Marjorie the surname "Morningstar". She finds him fascinating, turns down several more worthy suitors in his favor, and envies his seemingly sophisticated nonconformism. However, she soon sees things a bit more clearly. As she matures, he stays the same. She's willing to compromise, he's my-way-or-the-highway. She grows in character, he has none. She has a heart with room for love, his has only room for himself. Not exactly a good mix for a wedding cake. (Perhaps the right ingredient was unknowingly there all along?)
There are familiar TV faces here: George Tobias, Martin Milner, Carolyn Jones, Martin Balsam, Jesse White, and veteran actor Ed Wynn does a great job as Marjorie's beloved Uncle Samson.
An entertaining movie, of a young woman finding out who she is, where she fits in, and what she really wants.
The book must be more interesting.
Rod Evan31 January 2003
This must be one of the worst and longest films in Hollywood history (apart from epics). Claire Trevor looks as if she longs to be bad and back in 'Key Largo' and Carolyn Jones takes it on the cuff and probably wishes she was back in 'The Bachelor Party'.
The book MUST be more interesting than this and I can't believe that the Gene Kelly role wasn't a tougher read. As for his acting, he was clearly miscast and there was absolutely no chemistry between him and Nathalie Wood. She herself was not one of the world's greatest actresses so between them the screen isn't exactly set alight. How so many people have liked this film is a total mystery to me, and from the perspective of 2003 the characters in general were all money-grabbing and generally painted a horrible picture of American society. A capitalist nightmare. One to avoid.
The book MUST be more interesting than this and I can't believe that the Gene Kelly role wasn't a tougher read. As for his acting, he was clearly miscast and there was absolutely no chemistry between him and Nathalie Wood. She herself was not one of the world's greatest actresses so between them the screen isn't exactly set alight. How so many people have liked this film is a total mystery to me, and from the perspective of 2003 the characters in general were all money-grabbing and generally painted a horrible picture of American society. A capitalist nightmare. One to avoid.
The Film That Made Natalie
dencar_129 April 2005
Warning: Spoilers
This is one of those movies to see over and over for certain memorable scenes, the hauntingly beautiful piece, A VERY SPECIAL LOVE, and for the novelty of watching Gene Kelly in a strictly dramatic role. But as for the treatment the film gives to the Herman Wouk novel, MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR experiences the usual celluloid plastic surgery and comes out an approximation of the 1950's best seller. For central to Wouk's fiction is the New York Jewish community and its effect on a young woman struggling with her own sexual identity. In short, what we get in the film is Natalie Wood, nascent and alluring, but resembling more a Beverly Hills rich girl than a Jewish American Princess.
MORNINGSTAR is undoubtedly Natalie Wood's maiden flight as a leading lady. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE may have brought her to the public's attention, but MORNINGSTAR was the movie that launched her as a star and sent her career skyrocketing. The obvious parallel between the coming of age of Marjorie in the film and Natalie Wood as a leading lady cannot be ignored.
Noel Airman (Gene Kelly) is a shiftless romantic forever working on his musical PRINCESS JONES. He's more or less a drifter and supports himself in summertime by working as a dramatic director at a Jewish summertime resort in the Adirondacks where young girls are drawn to him like moths. It is there that he meets a very young and impressionable Marjorie. Her obsession with him begins immediately and the more irresponsible Airman behaves, the more deeply she is drawn into him. The Marjorie--Noel relationship is the movie's centerpiece as Marjorie simply refuses to see Airman as a deadbeat and supports his pipe dreams about a Broadway production. She even influences her best friend (Carolyn Jones) to get her boyfriend, well-connected Jesse White, to put financial backing together to produce Airman's play. The production flops, of course, because it's so romantically saccharine and Kelly finally realizes he's going nowhere. Taking to drink, he escapes to Europe and heartbroken Marjorie goes off after him.
Natalie Wood's performance as Marjorie Morningstar is superior and is performed with the same passion characteristic of almost every role she ever tackled. However, Kelly's performance as Noel Airman is, for the most part, superficial. It wasn't his first dramatic role by a long shot, for Kelly was always a fine actor in his own right and showed his talents in many of his musicals such as COVER GIRL and AN American IN Paris, but MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR was his first non-dancing dramatic effort.
Most of the others in the cast, with the exception of Carolyn Jones, Marjorie's common-sense best friend, come off as stereotypes. Ed Wynn hovers around Wood as the wise Uncle Sampson sprinkling common sense over Marjorie's romantic dizziness. Claire Trevor and Everette Sloan are Marjorie's uppity, bigoted Jewish parents who will tolerate nothing less than a wealthy husband for their daughter. Marty Balsam is a complete figurine playing Marjorie's wimpy suitor. But the most obtuse character in the film is Wally (Mary Milner), the struggling playwright who's been in love with Marjorie forever. Milner is portrayed as a Marjorie's shoulder to lean on lurking behind the scenes for years. Then in the bat of an eye, he's suddenly transformed into a successful Broadway playwright! The transition is laughable.
In the end, Marjorie matures and finally seees Noel as a self-destructive dreamer. She visits the old summer camp on the Adirondacks for one last time and looks on as Noel draws impressionable young girls into his web all over again. The sequence itself is very effective; however, the movie's very last scene in which Marjorie boards a bus and discovers a smiling Wally behind her in the rear view mirror now ready to step into her life big time is a bit much.
MORNINGSTAR works if you don't want to hold the script up to the light and just enjoy Wood and Kelly in a film. The theme song, A VERY SPECIAL LOVE, casts the appropriate mood over the summer camp atmosphere and, if nothing else, strikes a cord in all of us who ever had a nostalgic vacation romance.
Dennis Caracciolo.
MORNINGSTAR is undoubtedly Natalie Wood's maiden flight as a leading lady. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE may have brought her to the public's attention, but MORNINGSTAR was the movie that launched her as a star and sent her career skyrocketing. The obvious parallel between the coming of age of Marjorie in the film and Natalie Wood as a leading lady cannot be ignored.
Noel Airman (Gene Kelly) is a shiftless romantic forever working on his musical PRINCESS JONES. He's more or less a drifter and supports himself in summertime by working as a dramatic director at a Jewish summertime resort in the Adirondacks where young girls are drawn to him like moths. It is there that he meets a very young and impressionable Marjorie. Her obsession with him begins immediately and the more irresponsible Airman behaves, the more deeply she is drawn into him. The Marjorie--Noel relationship is the movie's centerpiece as Marjorie simply refuses to see Airman as a deadbeat and supports his pipe dreams about a Broadway production. She even influences her best friend (Carolyn Jones) to get her boyfriend, well-connected Jesse White, to put financial backing together to produce Airman's play. The production flops, of course, because it's so romantically saccharine and Kelly finally realizes he's going nowhere. Taking to drink, he escapes to Europe and heartbroken Marjorie goes off after him.
Natalie Wood's performance as Marjorie Morningstar is superior and is performed with the same passion characteristic of almost every role she ever tackled. However, Kelly's performance as Noel Airman is, for the most part, superficial. It wasn't his first dramatic role by a long shot, for Kelly was always a fine actor in his own right and showed his talents in many of his musicals such as COVER GIRL and AN American IN Paris, but MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR was his first non-dancing dramatic effort.
Most of the others in the cast, with the exception of Carolyn Jones, Marjorie's common-sense best friend, come off as stereotypes. Ed Wynn hovers around Wood as the wise Uncle Sampson sprinkling common sense over Marjorie's romantic dizziness. Claire Trevor and Everette Sloan are Marjorie's uppity, bigoted Jewish parents who will tolerate nothing less than a wealthy husband for their daughter. Marty Balsam is a complete figurine playing Marjorie's wimpy suitor. But the most obtuse character in the film is Wally (Mary Milner), the struggling playwright who's been in love with Marjorie forever. Milner is portrayed as a Marjorie's shoulder to lean on lurking behind the scenes for years. Then in the bat of an eye, he's suddenly transformed into a successful Broadway playwright! The transition is laughable.
In the end, Marjorie matures and finally seees Noel as a self-destructive dreamer. She visits the old summer camp on the Adirondacks for one last time and looks on as Noel draws impressionable young girls into his web all over again. The sequence itself is very effective; however, the movie's very last scene in which Marjorie boards a bus and discovers a smiling Wally behind her in the rear view mirror now ready to step into her life big time is a bit much.
MORNINGSTAR works if you don't want to hold the script up to the light and just enjoy Wood and Kelly in a film. The theme song, A VERY SPECIAL LOVE, casts the appropriate mood over the summer camp atmosphere and, if nothing else, strikes a cord in all of us who ever had a nostalgic vacation romance.
Dennis Caracciolo.
Apart from dear old Ed Wynn "Marjorie Morningstar" lacks a single sympathetic character
ianlouisiana21 November 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Marjorie Morningstar has integrity - she turns down a part in a Broadway play because the writer has a crush on her and doesn't require her to audition.Although she desperately wants to be in the theatre she is not willing to adopt the "easy come - easy go" attitude to sexual relationships that seems to be the norm in that milieu.She wants to be a success on her own terms. Whilst working at a Summer Camp she falls under the spell of a Svengali - like theatre director,a big fish in a small pond.Through rose - coloured glasses she sees him as some kind of genius,but he is in fact a man of limited talents,a fact that becomes clear when he enters the big time. Eventually she sees through him and is given a chance to a new life and career with the writer who is still carrying a torch for her. That's Showbiz,I guess. The mid 1950s was about the last time when you could make a movie about a JAP with theatrical aspirations going against her parents' wishes. Al Jolson has a lot to answer for. Miss Natalie Wood is just about up to the task as Marjorie Morganstern,nice but dim,pretty but muddle - headed.Her naivety may well be the main attraction for Noel Ehrman(professional name "Airman")played by Mr Gene Kelly.He is a moderately able song and dance man who writes his own material and has a musical "Princess Jones" in his head if he can just get round to it.Girls gather round him "Like moths around a flame" as Miss Dietrich once memorably sang. One of his assistants,Wally,develops a crush on Marjorie that develops into stalker - like proportions. Marjorie's best friend - the worldly wise Marsha - is played with her customary scene - stealing relish by the great Carolyn Jones who clearly has more personality in her little toe than Marjorie does in her whole body and definitely relegates Miss Wood to second place whenever they are on screen together. Eventually Marsha marries a rich "angel" who provides backing for Airman's musical which flops resoundly sending him over the top. Mr Kelly,to put it kindly,never seems happy in his role until the final scene at the Summer Camp when Marjorie,back on a visit to lay a few ghosts,sees him singing to an adoring audience of acolytes.Happy that he has found something he is good at once more,she gets on a bus to go home and is confronted by her stalker,the writer Wally,who smiles at her.Good Grief. Mr Ed Wynn is rather moving when not trying to be funny as her great uncle who has Mr Kelly sussed out as the great seducer he undoubtedly aspires to be and gives him the Gipsy's Warning,posing as a waiter bringing room service to Kelly's bachelor pad. Half a century or so ago,"Marjorie Morningstar" was a big movie.Now it seems to have shrunk somewhat.The garish colour and the corny plot have contributed to its fall from grace,but,most of all,apart from dear old Ed Wynn,it lacks a single sympathetic character.
Gene Kelly--Is there anything he can't do?
Curly-2716 April 2002
I recently saw this movie after adoring Gene Kelly's musicals since I was a kid. It is quite a departure of what I'm used to seeing him in, but still wonderful. This is pretty standard fare for Natalie Wood, but it is a rare treat to see Gene Kelly in a dramatic role. After reading his biography, it is a sad irony that his character somewhat mirrored what was happening in Gene Kelly's personal life, in that his days of glory were something of the past. This is not the Gene Kelly you know, but if you want to see him in something different, take the phone off the hook, grab a box of Kleenex and sit down with Marjorie Morningstar. It will stay with you.
Hard to digest!
RodrigAndrisan1 July 2020
Natalie Wood and Gene Kelly were and remain two great film actors, two extraordinary talents. In other movies. Here, they both tried as hard as they could to save a movie with a story that didn't suit them very well. Natalie is young and beautiful, Gene is as we know him, but both boring in a movie worth seeing only by those who are loyal fans. One star for each Natalie and Gene, just for their personalities and performances in movies like "Singin 'in the Rain", "An American in Paris", "Brigadoon", him, and "Rebel Without a Cause", "Splendor in the Grass", "West Side Story", her.
Tragic, romantic, nostalgic
HotToastyRag18 September 2022
Whenever I'm in the mood for a good cry, I pop in Marjorie Morningstar. From Max Steiner's and Sammy Fain's themes, to the beautiful dialogue, to the timeless and haunting love story between Natalie Wood and Gene Kelly, this movie just makes me cry. Everything about it (besides Martin Milner, sorry pal) is top-notch, making it one of the best movies (and certainly one of the great romances) of the 1950s.
At its heart, the story is simple. But it's so universal, even six decades later; every woman who watches this movie will relate to it. A young girl falls in love with a more experienced man she idolizes, her family disapproves, but she gives everything to make the romance work and lift him "up where he belongs" - oh, sorry. Wrong song. Speaking of songs, Natalie spends the summer after high school graduation at a kids' camp and falls in love with the resident actor/dancer/songwriter Gene Kelly. Gene is the proverbial big fish in the small pond, and he loves being adored by teenie-boppers who have no more expectations than a summer fling. Natalie, however, wants more from him. . .
Normally, I can't stand Paul Francis Webster's lyrics, but he did write "A Very Precious Love", which miraculously ties in with the movie, referencing colored lanterns and summertime. It's not the greatest song ever written - which does work to its advantage. Since Gene's character in the film was supposed to have written it, it had to be a mediocre song; although I doubt Webster was savvy enough to incorporate that into his composition.
When I watch a movie in which every actor gives his or her career-best performance, I tend to give credit to the director. Irving Rapper must have coached his cast very well. Natalie Wood, Gene Kelly, and Everett Sloane all earned Hot Toasty Rag nominations for their excellent performances. Natalie is so raw, reaching into the heart of every girl who's ever fallen in love and tearing it open. She's sweet and innocent, and yet so trusting and idealistic, it's understandable why Gene can't resist her. Gene is fantastic, showing acting chops no one knew he had. It's as if he really was Noel Airman in real life, and he was relieved to finally open up to the camera. This isn't the same man you saw in Anchor's Aweigh. He doesn't mug to the camera or play to the back row during a performance. In fact, he doesn't even have a dance number in this film, just a couple of minutes of a rehearsal. But, as we discover in this movie, he doesn't have to dance to be sexy. Everything about him is irresistible, even when he's pushing Natalie away and telling her to find another, regular man to make her happy. With one arm he pushes her away, and with the other, he brings her in for a kiss. He's the sort of man you never get out of your system, and his inner demons are so captivating you'll want to help him just as much as Natalie does.
Carolyn Jones plays Natalie's daring friend, and though she's normally either over-the-top or deadpan in her other movies, she strikes a great balance in this role. Martin Balsam has a small part, but I absolutely love him in it. He's a kind man, the kind every girl hopes to meet and marry - unless they've already caught a glimpse of Gene Kelly in his tight pants. Claire Trevor, whom I'm normally not a fan of, comes across exactly as she's supposed to, and Ed Wynn inserts some drama in his normally comedic antics. There's a favorite scene where Ed has a poignant talk with Gene before a dinner date with Natalie. He asks Gene what he wants out of a relationship with his niece, and Gene admits he's not a forever type of guy. To him, a summer feels like a lifetime, so he can't offer anything more than a season's fling. Ed cautions him that his niece is a good girl and expects (and deserves) more, so Gene breaks things off before they get started.
It was a labor of love, but I read the entire Herman Wouk tome of Marjorie Morningstar because I loved the film so much and wanted to read the original version. My hat is off to screenwriter Everett Freeman for his adaptation. His Rag Award was more than earned. The novel is so different! If you love the movie, stay very far away from it. It's so depressing, I can't imagine what the point of Wouk's story was. There was no meaningful ending, no lesson learned, no great love story or anything else worthwhile. A good portion of the text focuses on the Morgenstern family unit: their background, their religion, the father's business and finances, the different places they've lived, and their friendships with other Jewish families. Marjorie is written to be far less likable, and the huge passionate connection she feels to Noel is basically nonexistent. In an ironic twist, he's physically described as looking like Fred Astaire, but in 1958, Fred would have been too old to play the part. If Wouk based Marjorie on a real woman he knew, he must have had a lot of contempt for her. If he completely imagined her, he must have felt all women were fickle and lacked dedication. Years later, I'm still puzzled as to why he wrote it.
I do highly recommend the movie if you haven't already seen it. Tragic, poetic, romantic, and nostalgic, it's just about as good as it gets.
At its heart, the story is simple. But it's so universal, even six decades later; every woman who watches this movie will relate to it. A young girl falls in love with a more experienced man she idolizes, her family disapproves, but she gives everything to make the romance work and lift him "up where he belongs" - oh, sorry. Wrong song. Speaking of songs, Natalie spends the summer after high school graduation at a kids' camp and falls in love with the resident actor/dancer/songwriter Gene Kelly. Gene is the proverbial big fish in the small pond, and he loves being adored by teenie-boppers who have no more expectations than a summer fling. Natalie, however, wants more from him. . .
Normally, I can't stand Paul Francis Webster's lyrics, but he did write "A Very Precious Love", which miraculously ties in with the movie, referencing colored lanterns and summertime. It's not the greatest song ever written - which does work to its advantage. Since Gene's character in the film was supposed to have written it, it had to be a mediocre song; although I doubt Webster was savvy enough to incorporate that into his composition.
When I watch a movie in which every actor gives his or her career-best performance, I tend to give credit to the director. Irving Rapper must have coached his cast very well. Natalie Wood, Gene Kelly, and Everett Sloane all earned Hot Toasty Rag nominations for their excellent performances. Natalie is so raw, reaching into the heart of every girl who's ever fallen in love and tearing it open. She's sweet and innocent, and yet so trusting and idealistic, it's understandable why Gene can't resist her. Gene is fantastic, showing acting chops no one knew he had. It's as if he really was Noel Airman in real life, and he was relieved to finally open up to the camera. This isn't the same man you saw in Anchor's Aweigh. He doesn't mug to the camera or play to the back row during a performance. In fact, he doesn't even have a dance number in this film, just a couple of minutes of a rehearsal. But, as we discover in this movie, he doesn't have to dance to be sexy. Everything about him is irresistible, even when he's pushing Natalie away and telling her to find another, regular man to make her happy. With one arm he pushes her away, and with the other, he brings her in for a kiss. He's the sort of man you never get out of your system, and his inner demons are so captivating you'll want to help him just as much as Natalie does.
Carolyn Jones plays Natalie's daring friend, and though she's normally either over-the-top or deadpan in her other movies, she strikes a great balance in this role. Martin Balsam has a small part, but I absolutely love him in it. He's a kind man, the kind every girl hopes to meet and marry - unless they've already caught a glimpse of Gene Kelly in his tight pants. Claire Trevor, whom I'm normally not a fan of, comes across exactly as she's supposed to, and Ed Wynn inserts some drama in his normally comedic antics. There's a favorite scene where Ed has a poignant talk with Gene before a dinner date with Natalie. He asks Gene what he wants out of a relationship with his niece, and Gene admits he's not a forever type of guy. To him, a summer feels like a lifetime, so he can't offer anything more than a season's fling. Ed cautions him that his niece is a good girl and expects (and deserves) more, so Gene breaks things off before they get started.
It was a labor of love, but I read the entire Herman Wouk tome of Marjorie Morningstar because I loved the film so much and wanted to read the original version. My hat is off to screenwriter Everett Freeman for his adaptation. His Rag Award was more than earned. The novel is so different! If you love the movie, stay very far away from it. It's so depressing, I can't imagine what the point of Wouk's story was. There was no meaningful ending, no lesson learned, no great love story or anything else worthwhile. A good portion of the text focuses on the Morgenstern family unit: their background, their religion, the father's business and finances, the different places they've lived, and their friendships with other Jewish families. Marjorie is written to be far less likable, and the huge passionate connection she feels to Noel is basically nonexistent. In an ironic twist, he's physically described as looking like Fred Astaire, but in 1958, Fred would have been too old to play the part. If Wouk based Marjorie on a real woman he knew, he must have had a lot of contempt for her. If he completely imagined her, he must have felt all women were fickle and lacked dedication. Years later, I'm still puzzled as to why he wrote it.
I do highly recommend the movie if you haven't already seen it. Tragic, poetic, romantic, and nostalgic, it's just about as good as it gets.
No Other Movie Like It
rbrtptrck30 August 2004
The movie suffers in two ways when compared to the magical novel about theater and love: (1) by losing the late-Depression setting, when show-business was very different than in the 1950's, and (2) by casting Gene Kelly (who himself felt he was wrong for the part) as the tall, blond Noel Airman (Warner Brothers must have lost its mind not to use its contract star Tab Hunter). But those two compunctions aside, there is no other movie like it. Natalie Wood, not yet a superstar, had to read fourteen times for the role, but all of us who loved the book knew there was no one else for it. Natalie's acting ability may have been limited to looking pretty and poignant, but there's not much else that ambitious, innocent Marjorie needs to do. This story is a loving tribute to a nice girl, and a tender acknowledgment of how hard life is for one. So far as I know, no other story captures those years when a pretty young American female has the world to choose from--or how confusing her multitude of choices are. As Marjorie slowly travels through the gauntlet of family and education (and the foggy fantasies of fame that tempt any attractive teen who draws attention and compliments) toward her inevitable, bittersweet fate, a whole world is revealed--the world of The Pretty Girl, a world of school and dates and dancing and romance--with no one really to guide her--because everyone either envies her or wants to take advantage of her. By taking her story seriously, novelist Herman Wouk created a highly individual and yet universal character, and Natalie simply WAS her. The scriptwriter did a marvelous job of condensing a long and elaborate book into an entertaining and moving photo-play--and kept enough of Wouk's dialog from the novel to give flashes of the book's insight and sophistication. All of the actors must have read the book, for they dig into their roles far deeper than the screenplay does. Not a great movie, but until someone makes a better one, it stands alone as Hollywood's most honest and endearing tribute to--The Nice Girl.
Gene Kelly and Natalie Wood make a very intense, believable couple!
MyMovieTVRomance13 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I absolutely LOVED this movie! Usually, these sorts of sudsy melodramas drag with dullness, but I watch anyway, because they have so many good qualities (like sets, wardrobe, scenery, etc), but this one wasn't dull, and it didn't drag! At nearly 2 hours long, it was practically a breeze, cause it kept me invested. I was totally into the story, and I found myself rooting for Gene Kelly and Natalie Wood as a couple- I just adored them together! But, after reading other reviews here, I guess I am alone in my wanting them to stay together...
I know Kelly's character committed an indiscretion, but it's not like they were married at the time, so in my heart, I would want Marjorie to forgive him, because I believed in their love, and I believe true love conquers all. This was an extremely bittersweet, beautifully romantic film that I wish had a different ending, but I still loved it!
I know Kelly's character committed an indiscretion, but it's not like they were married at the time, so in my heart, I would want Marjorie to forgive him, because I believed in their love, and I believe true love conquers all. This was an extremely bittersweet, beautifully romantic film that I wish had a different ending, but I still loved it!
Marjorie Morningstar- A Very Special Picture ****
edwagreen9 October 2006
The very beautiful Oscar nominated song A Very Precious Love highlights this great film about a young lady finding love as a summer counselor at a camp.
Natalie Wood portrays Marjorie Morgenstern in this classic flick. Gene Kelly is the older guy of her dreams while Martin Milner is memorable as the young man she will find her place with. It is shocking that Bette Davis's favorite director, Irving Rapper, allowed Gene Kelly to be in the title role of Noel Airman (Ehrman). Kelly was more like an air-head in the role. With the exception of a drunken and condemnation scenes of the backers for his play, Kelly showed no attachment to Noel whatsoever. Kelly even sings the Oscar nominated song, A Very Precious Love in a horrible way. No wonder the song lost the Oscar.
There is definitely Jewish stereotyping in this one. Can you imagine Claire Trevor as Rose Morgenstern? Yet, she pulls it off with a grace rarely scene. She really plays it well as the typical Jewish mother. Ed Wynn again proves that he was greatly under-estimated as a dramatic actor. Everett Sloane is wonderful as the father. Both he and Trevor are able to project the Jewish parental look and feelings of the post-war Jewish generation in America.
With George Tobias and Martin Balsam in supporting roles, the film is well represented by a Jewish presence. See it for yourself. You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy it. This is definitely one for the young at heart. Hollywood kept making the same mistakes and no one caught it. The scenes of sabbaths at an Orthodox temple show woman carrying pocketbooks. This is a definite no-no on the sabbath. Notice that they were trying to show an orthodox synagogue as the men and women were totally separated in seating arrangements. The same mistake was made in 1952's "The Jazz Singer" with Danny Thomas and Peggy Lee.
Natalie Wood portrays Marjorie Morgenstern in this classic flick. Gene Kelly is the older guy of her dreams while Martin Milner is memorable as the young man she will find her place with. It is shocking that Bette Davis's favorite director, Irving Rapper, allowed Gene Kelly to be in the title role of Noel Airman (Ehrman). Kelly was more like an air-head in the role. With the exception of a drunken and condemnation scenes of the backers for his play, Kelly showed no attachment to Noel whatsoever. Kelly even sings the Oscar nominated song, A Very Precious Love in a horrible way. No wonder the song lost the Oscar.
There is definitely Jewish stereotyping in this one. Can you imagine Claire Trevor as Rose Morgenstern? Yet, she pulls it off with a grace rarely scene. She really plays it well as the typical Jewish mother. Ed Wynn again proves that he was greatly under-estimated as a dramatic actor. Everett Sloane is wonderful as the father. Both he and Trevor are able to project the Jewish parental look and feelings of the post-war Jewish generation in America.
With George Tobias and Martin Balsam in supporting roles, the film is well represented by a Jewish presence. See it for yourself. You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy it. This is definitely one for the young at heart. Hollywood kept making the same mistakes and no one caught it. The scenes of sabbaths at an Orthodox temple show woman carrying pocketbooks. This is a definite no-no on the sabbath. Notice that they were trying to show an orthodox synagogue as the men and women were totally separated in seating arrangements. The same mistake was made in 1952's "The Jazz Singer" with Danny Thomas and Peggy Lee.
A Disappointment
vsdennis20 August 2003
Warning: Spoilers
Marjorie Morningstar was one of the most beautiful, poignant, heart-wrenching novels I've ever read. Beautiful Marjorie, coming of age in New York City, surrounded by her old-fashioned, traditional Jewish family but enamored of glamor and Broadway. The novel explores her vulnerability and sweetness, as well as her thoughtlessness and selfishness as her family's spoiled, favorite child.
Noel Airman is the guy we all fell in love with when we were 20 -- a dreamer, without the ability (as he acknowledges himself in a rare moment of honesty) to finish anything he starts, unless it involves alcohol or seduction.
Spoiler alert -- if you haven't read the novel, it ends entirely differently from the movie, and it is the ending that makes it all strike home -- Marjorie has indeed become a "Shirley," a middle-class wife and mother, living a tedious, mundane life in New Rochelle, just as Noel had predicted. The horrible ending of the movie, with Wally Wronken "rescuing" Marjorie and being a total doormat, completely destroys the message and meaning of the novel -- that we all have dreams, and we all (as Marsha said), settle for what we can get and try to figure out how to be happy with it, rather than living with bitterness and regret for "what might have been."
And the casting....Yuck! I absolutely adore Gene Kelly, but was a terrible choice for Noel Airman. Natalie Wood is gorgeous, and was okay as Marjorie - she communicated the love-bordering-on-obsession that we feel at that age. The tragedies of the other characters - Wally, Uncle Samson, Marjorie's parents -- all go comparatively unaddressed in the movie.
It wasn't intended to be a happily-ever-after story, the way the movie ended. It was intended to be a heart-breaking coming of age story. I'll stick with the book -- and if you love Herman Wouk as I do, try "The Caine Mutiny" if you want to see one of his books translated to the screen as it should have been.
Noel Airman is the guy we all fell in love with when we were 20 -- a dreamer, without the ability (as he acknowledges himself in a rare moment of honesty) to finish anything he starts, unless it involves alcohol or seduction.
Spoiler alert -- if you haven't read the novel, it ends entirely differently from the movie, and it is the ending that makes it all strike home -- Marjorie has indeed become a "Shirley," a middle-class wife and mother, living a tedious, mundane life in New Rochelle, just as Noel had predicted. The horrible ending of the movie, with Wally Wronken "rescuing" Marjorie and being a total doormat, completely destroys the message and meaning of the novel -- that we all have dreams, and we all (as Marsha said), settle for what we can get and try to figure out how to be happy with it, rather than living with bitterness and regret for "what might have been."
And the casting....Yuck! I absolutely adore Gene Kelly, but was a terrible choice for Noel Airman. Natalie Wood is gorgeous, and was okay as Marjorie - she communicated the love-bordering-on-obsession that we feel at that age. The tragedies of the other characters - Wally, Uncle Samson, Marjorie's parents -- all go comparatively unaddressed in the movie.
It wasn't intended to be a happily-ever-after story, the way the movie ended. It was intended to be a heart-breaking coming of age story. I'll stick with the book -- and if you love Herman Wouk as I do, try "The Caine Mutiny" if you want to see one of his books translated to the screen as it should have been.
The failure of the rise of an actress in the shade of an empty idol
clanciai30 November 2022
Natalie Wood gives a memorable performance that you will not be likely to ever forget, seconded by Carolyn Jones as her friend, who also always made more than memorable performances. Gene Kelly's contribution is more debatable. He does not convince as a great lover, a capricious genius, a failure of an artist, as he is too perfect as an ordinary show man. The story is right, he belongs to the provincial show theatre of South Winds in the Catskills, there he was entirely on his own in his own right and could work in total freedom with his summer shows, but he couldn't do anything serious. He admits it himself, in contrast to Marty Milner the playwright, who always finished whatever work he set out to undertake; but no matter how good Gene Kelly's ideas were, he could never carry them wholly through. His character is difficult and almost impossible for any actor to make convincing, and several other actors turned it down, for instance Paul Newman, who might have been able to do it better. No matter how hard he tries, Gene Kelly is incapable of ever making a convincing tragic impression, and this character is tragic. To this comes also the rather superficial conventionalism of Herman Wouk, the author, whose novels all suffer from a certain routine plainness, his characters never offer any psychological depth, tempting to exploration and development, they are two-dimensional, and you always miss all intriguing magic. So the lasting impression of this film will be the performance of Natalie Wood and her grievances for Gene Kelly, who makes a character who ultimately wasn't worth it.
Curiously Affecting
bern633621 October 2004
I find Marjorie Morningstar curiously affecting but I'm not exactly sure why. I must have seen the movie twenty times from its original release in 1958 to 2004. When I first saw it it seemed a coming-of-age movie of a very beautiful New York Jewish girl. It also seemed prissy and prudish. The best thing about the movie was Ed Wynn as Uncle Samson. I felt at the time he gave an Academy Award perfor mance. I still do! When I saw the movie in the 1960s I thought it was the dumbest, squarest most ridiculous movie I'd ever seen. Natalie Wood camping around in clothes her Grand Mother would have been embarrassed to wear. Gene Kelly, [who I used to idolize} looking fat and pale with an obvious rug on. And talk about lack of chemistry! Kelly and Wood acted like they hated each other. Marty Milner was just absurd. Would anyone want to marry this nerd? Within the last five years I've probably seen it ten times and even made a a trip to Schroon Lake, N.Y. where it was filmed and stood on the beach where Kelly and Wood went swimming. I now see the movie in two ways. First, it's about values and once again Ed Wynn seems sensational because he believes in what he is saying. I doubt if any of the other Hollywood cynics believed a word of it.Second, and this has a lot to do with the haunting song, "A Very Special Love" which Kelly keeps singing.It speaks to me of my youth and my Summer loves with a wistfulness that calls me back to a gentler time. I'm sure I'll see this movie again.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
