Going Steady

yes, it is far to be remarkable. good cinematography, poor story. but not so bad . because it is an almost credible portrait of the social rules from a period. and preserves the flavor of its time. because it has few nice scenes. and a speech who change all. and for the status of refuge of a film from 1958 , predictable, simple, nice, remembering apple pie and start of mature life for our grandparents.almost a docudrama.

sure, it is not real credible but it has the familiar mark of sitcoms and that does it not real strange. it is one of many instruments for education for young people and that is so obvious than it is not easy to imagine other purpose of it. so, a didactic film. nice. and, maybe nothing more.

I love this flick! I bought a 16mm print of this picture some years ago, and I project it every year! The black and white 35mm motion pictures made from the late 1930's until the mid 1960's speak for themselves! By the time "Going Steady" was photographed the crew were all season professionals and these men and women made the finest motion pictures ever! (That includes the television shows also shot on 35mm film!) The subject matter of two high school kids getting married in Reno and the girl getting knocked up on the honeymoon night, while her father can't stand the guy, cracks me up! Molly Bee was so attractive in this picture it's hard to take your eyes off of her when she's on camera! The interaction between Alan Reed Jr and Bill Goodwin is hilarious! Goodwin's character Mr. Turner is ready to bust a gut at any moment! Ken Miller was perfect as Woody! Everybody in this cast Rocks! Sadly after the 1970's was over, teenagers graduating from high school, never seem to grow up anymore! It's like we're surrounded by stupid adolescence idiots running around with colored hair and covered with dumb tattoos (the only reason they all got tattoos is because of the even dumber celebrities who have them, and that includes the over paid sports guys, singers, actors, etc.) Back in the 1950's young people were expected to grow up and take the reins of society, today I shutter to think what will happen when the current crop of teenagers in 2020 take over the world! This movie is a comedy if course, but it is also about growing up! Love the opening song that Molly Bee sings over the credits! If they made this movie today in 2020 it would suck! They would show the teenagers having sex, and ruin it! They would all be on their smart phones, they would have computers in every scene. Thank goodness we can escape back in time with a motion picture and be entertained - and forget about how horrible our country is now! The T & B presidential debates last night made me want to vomit! But I didn't 'cause I am running out of Covid-19 masks! Forget these other negative reviews, they are jaded - they wish they could have sex with a beautiful girl like Molly Bee was in this flick.

"Going Steady" is a film that made the daddy in me annoyed and even a bit concerned. This is because the message of the film seems to be that marrying while in high school is pretty romantic and will work out in the end...something that clearly is NOT a good idea at all!

Calvin and Julie are high school sweethearts. One weekend, their school team is playing an away game and the pair go with a couple friends. They are expected to spend the night away from home and they decide to get married and spend this night together...very spur of the moment. Oddly, their ages are never mentioned though it seems like based on the dialog they were underage and the wedding actually not legal. Also odd is that Julie insists that they tell no one about the wedding and her plan is that they live separately and announce their wedding after they graduate in a few months. This is complicated when Julie turns out to be pregnant...and keeping everything a secret isn't possible.

The film heavily romanticizes the relationship between Julie and Calvin. The only one who doesn't just accept it is Julie's father...the only seemingly normal person in the film! Yet, in the end, he ends up admitting he was wrong and the couple was right in marrying in haste. A strange message, that's for sure!

Despite the unusual message which I didn't love, the film was enjoyable and is worth seeing. Just don't expect a deep or substantive story. It's more like an episode of a sitcom than a story about two hasty young lovers.

This occasionally interesting story about a high school couple who get married and pregnant is written, directed and acted like a TV sitcom, with a supporting character who looks like a clean-cut Maynard G. Krebs, a father who does everything but pour steam out of his ears and lots of double takes and loud reactions. In the middle of this the highly professional cinematography of Benjamin Kline is occasionally jarringly beautiful and dramatic, particularly when he moves the camera to preserve composition. The net effect is neither funny, compelling or educational, but is a near-total misfire. Not bad enough to be interesting, not good enough to be watchable, no talent with a past or future except for Mr. Kline and Byron Foulger.

After arduously searching for a copy for years, I'd finally found a copy of this terrific film classic on Ebay, recently. I wasn't disappointed! This is a great movie about a newlywed couple who procrastinate telling their folks that they'd eloped! Julie's father thinks Calvin is a scatterbrain & not mature enough to be a husband to his daughter, so there are a comedy of errors & miscommunication. The Turners consequently learn Julie is preggers & so they decide to try & make the best of things.

Julie's mom is more accepting & eventually Mr. Turner warms to the idea of having Calvin for a son-in-law. The set looks as if it had been shot on the same set as Father Knows Best. The house looks identical to the Andersons! Very homey & warm, which adds to the film's charm.

This film boasts a fine cast who portray their parts well.

Bill Goodwin was one of the most attractive supporting actors of his time, & left us way too early, alas. He stole the show in Going Steady, as the curmudgeonly Dad who endeared himself to us. He was undoubtedly a first-rate talent whose legacy of films will be around for a long time to come to continue to delight his fans.

Molly Bee & Alan Reed Jr. were cast well, too! As were Irene Hervey & Ken Miller.

The videobeat has made the film available finally, in both VHS & DVD formats, so if you like wholesome, 1950's comedy-romance films, get yourself a copy, as I said, it took me ages to finally locate a copy on Ebay. All I could find was a copy in VHS, so I'll also be getting a copy on DVD through the VideoBeat. Too bad the values & clean entertainment portrayed in these films are so rare. Makes us appreciate films like this more. I will treasure my copy of Going Steady & am over the moon to have it among my collection.