First Love (1977) User Reviews

Nice views of Dey and Reed College, Embarrassing script

[bruce-toms · 5/10 · 30 December 2007]

College guy William Katt falls in love with the "older woman" Susan Dey, who is actually 2 years younger. Katt was 25 and Dey was 23 when this was filmed in 1976. Some nice views of Reed College in 1976.

It's supposed to be his first romance, but for a guy who's saving himself for real love, he has an odd knack for cringe-worthy pillow-talk about whether or not he makes her "come." It's totally inappropriate in such a new relationship. Someone had been reading too much Cosmopolitan! Dey makes a weird pillow-talk speech about a Bactrian camel sticking its tongue out in the snow.

They have an extended love scene which is by far the high point of the film - Dey gets naked. Dey takes Katt to her house in the country, where they make love again. Then she gets a 5-second call from her older married lover, and out of the blue tells Katt she can't see him any more.

After the booty call with the married man, she wants to get back together but Katt says it's over, and you can't blame him - she's pretty, but unfaithful and slightly nuts. He puts her on a train, to where is not known or explained - she's supposed to live in the area after all. Katt goes to a zoo and visits a Bactian camel in the snow.

Sweet and naive

[monkeyface_si · 6/10 · 7 July 2001]

William Katt is very cute as a sweet and naive college student learning about love and sex for the first time. The director does a good job conveying this simplicity as the overall motif for the film. A very appropriate Cat Stevens soundtrack also contributes to the proceedings. Susan Dey is quite good as Katt's older-woman love interest. Then, just when the film has us in its grip, it lets us go in an ending of meaningless platitudes. I still liked it overall, but felt a bit let down with the unimaginitve ending.

70s Personified

[dansview · 6/10 · 28 May 2012]

If you came of age in the 70s from a middle to upper-middle-class white family, or you just like a good dialog-based story with Cat Stevens in the background, you'll enjoy this one. Interestingly, there are no ethnic minorities portrayed in this film.

William Katt personifies the 70s nice guy better than anyone else can. I actually totally believed the scenario. It was his first love, but not hers. He was a freshman, while she was possibly a senior, and she was from a rich, educated background, while his parents owned a hardware store in presumably a small town. He was in awe of her beauty, her age, her sophistication, and even her inaccessibility. You could see it all in his eyes and mannerism, thanks to Katt's earnest effort.

Having another person in your life full time is complex and high maintenance, even under the best conditions. Add youth to the mix, and it's even harder. This movie does a fine job of portraying the three elements of a new relationship: Learning about and dealing with the other person's baggage, planning daily and weekend activities, and sex.

The music by Cat Stevens and Paul Williams hearken you back to a time when music was sensitive and dreamy, and the words meant something.

Had to put myself back in the 70s as a young man

[movieswithgreg · 6/10 · 14 October 2020]

I just caught this late night on TCM. I'd probably seen it 30-40 years earlier, but forgot it. My first thought -- this is like an after-school special for the over-18 set. I could tell it would be soft, and corny and talky, and a type of young romance that mostly appealed only to youth of that era. Then I "remembered" I was in college in that era. So I turned on the 70s Wayback Time Machine and tried to remember how I would watch this if I were 20. That's when I realized that this "fit" for a middle-class college kid of those days, who was still trying to figure out romance in a sexual context. I don't remember, but I bet this was hailed as soft-core porn by Playboy, since -- OMG -- Susan Dey's breasts were displayed, and not too briefly, and not in a non-sexual way. The same Susan Dey we all knew from the Partridge Family. Yowza. But old me looking at young Susan Dey? The thrill is long gone. I'm thinking "why were all of us boys so crazy about her?"

Writing-wise, I bet this was inspired by the wildly successful Love Story, another collegiate troubled romance in soft focus and long teary camera shots. It was only six or seven years earlier, and it was still being talked about in the popular culture when this movie released. This was, after all, the age of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the Joy of Sex, Looking For Mr. Goodbar, and all those other now-quaint social commentaries and racy cultural takes.

This movie's ok. It's not bad. It's tame-lame by modern standards, but hell -- it's over 40 years old. Like me.

Frank but ultimately unsatisfying look at first love

[kevinolzak · 5/10 · 9 October 2015]

1977's "First Love" was a frank update of the kind of women's picture that began decades before (Harold Brodsky's original story was actually written in the 50s), but ultimately unsatisfying. William Katt follows his breakout hit "Carrie" by playing virginal college youth Elgin Smith, who instantly, and perhaps foolishly, falls in love at first sight with elegant upper class co-ed Caroline Hedges (Susan Dey), despite the presence of the older gentleman she's with (Robert Loggia), who turns out to be the lawyer business partner of her late father, a tragic suicide. A chance encounter the next day finds Elgin making an impression in clumsy fashion, and soon enough the pair are seeing each other regularly, until Loggia's reappearance with his wife (Virginia Leith) drives a tearful Caroline into Elgin's bed, for better or worse. One could describe the story as bittersweet, but surely that must be the fate of many such relationships, yet there is an underlying falseness driving Susan Dey's character that keeps us from liking her. This was Dey's starring feature debut, though a constant TV presence since THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY, achieving dramatic praise as an abusive mother later that same year in "Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night." In only her second feature film, sexy Beverly D'Angelo truly shines in the better role, as fun loving Shelley, girlfriend of Elgin's humorous neighbor David (John Heard), who's also going out with a deadly serious girl (June Barrett) who nearly catches him in bed with Shelley. Beverly (and Susan too) gets naked in Elgin's bed on her third attempt to score with him, but he subconsciously blurts out Caroline's name, spoiling the mood. Shelley confesses that she believes that she's in love with unserious David, so it's a genuine surprise when the two actually get together to make a go of marriage. It's almost too bad that their story is secondary, but William Katt shows that he could carry a film, especially one lacking a strong trustful ending. A rare appearance for Cleveland-born Virginia Leith, the same actress who achieved cult status in her previous movie "The Brain That Wouldn't Die," but would retire for good by 1980.

Katt.

[Fire-WalkWithMe · 6 July 2003]

I guess I bought this because of William Katt, and because I liked him in other things. The plot sounded great too. Now, put William Katt (who I found beautiful in Carrie) along with the plot of him finding 'love' for the first time, it's a winner! Or not. I didn't not like the movie, I actually did like it! But some things I didn't. The music score was great! The 'theme' song by Cat Stevens, and the song by Paul Williams was great! Sometimes I found Katt annoying though, and sometimes you just don't believe his acting. (i.e. the scene on the bridge when him and Susan are fixing to break up again) Other times he's good. This is just a movie about him growing as a person, and learning. John Heard has a little role in the movie, he doesn't show off his acting skills in this though. Overall, it's a nice movie. 6.5/10.

From The Guy's Point of View

[amatodarryl · 6/10 · 25 April 2024]

This time the guy is looking for perfect love. The guy is the romantic. The guy is the partner easily hurt. Based on a short story "Sentimental Education," "First Love" is seen through the tender eyes of a sensitive man. William Katt is that dewy-eyed guy who spots his first love (Susan Dey) in the college cafeteria. She gives him an initial rejection, acts busy, knowing all the while she would be thrilled to date him. Her sad family history and her pointless side affair will strain their romance. The couple's liaison is richly, humorously written. For such a commercial venture, "First Love" has an soul-stirring density not always present in maudlin love stories.

Good cast in dewy, deadening exercise

[moonspinner55 · 2/10 · 27 April 2007]

William Katt, hot off his star-jock role in "Carrie", failed to build upon his growing momentum with this extremely tepid affair, romancing an emotionally fragile college girl (Susan Dey) whose rocky childhood may keep her from trusting a man. Director Joan Darling, she riding high from the success of TV's "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman", gives us two good-looking kids, a lot of frank sex talk, but not much else. The picture has a scrubbed-clean look--like a sappy weeper straight out of the 1950s--and a scenario undermined by simpering simplicity. Energetic cast including Beverly D'Angelo, Robert Loggia and John Heard can't keep it from lapsing into blandness. * from ****

My "First" experience..

[boland1958 · 8/10 · 28 January 2011]

I give this movie such a high score only for the nostalgic feelings it evokes for me. I saw it with my "first". I felt a kinship with Billy Katt as he stumbled through the the physical aspects of making and being in love the first time. It was a total hoot to hear him ask. "Did I make you come?" after the first time. Who the @#$! asks that?? The movie is beautifully photographed. Susan Dey was a gorgeous, if slightly untalented actress. William Katt did a decent job. I forgot that John Heard was in the movie. He is brilliant as always. So, this is not so much a review as a chance for me to remember my "first", who, by the way, I did not marry! I would recommend this movie for those of us who were in college in 1977.

Refreshing Originality

[ldeangelis-75708 · 7/10 · 26 July 2023]

It was quite a (welcome) surprise to find a love story that's focused on the guy, where the story's centered on him and his feelings, rather than the girl. (In this case, the girl's Susan Dey, who shows she has acting ability beyond her Laurie Partridge days. She's very good in dramatic roles.)

It's also a switch to find a college guy who's more concerned with love and a real relationship, rather than just being horny and getting sex whenever he can. He's tired of the playing around scene, he wants something meaningful, and thinks he's found it, until he discovers he has competition. How's an average college guy from a middle-class background supposed to compete with a wealthy, sophisticated older man, who's been part of her life a long time, despite being married?

Watch and find out!

The playhouse is more exciting than the affair.

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 15 January 2021]

The dried up paint has fallen off of this relic of young adult love, and even though Susan Dey and William Katt seemingly appear to be great casting, the script gives them a really dull story. After ending a fling with sultry Beverly D'Angelo, Katt immediately sets his sights on college classmate Dey who is sarcastic and distant at first, but once he agrees to go to a symphony with her, she's willing to take the relationship to a new level. But she's really in love with an older married man so she keeps putting Katt off yet coming back when she has the need.

This film has absolutely no humor and the two leads no chemistry. Katt is enigmatic and gentle, but Dey seems to be playing games with him, confiding her darkest secrets to at one minute then pushing him away the next. He's not entirely free of D'Angelo either who should have been the lead as she had more screen presence than Dey who seems rather icy as a leading lady. The best scene with them is inside the huge playhouse that Dey shows him but then breaks down due to its significance to the darkness of her past.

So what do you really get out of this? That a young woman chooses to love an older man because of unfinished feelings concerning her father, or that she'll shun someone she really likes yet use him for company and be jealous when she sees him talking to another woman, even if she's with the man she claims to love. This film has a mixed up view of what young love is as these are college aged kids (possibly graduate school age) and even how 20 somethings behave in their struggles with love. It's a weak soap opera that fails to resonate even with the age of the audience it's reaching out to which is too bad because it has the right idea, just not the proper execution.

Swwet and Innocent

[bronxgirlcl · 8/10 · 12 February 2007]

This is a nice movie. Simple and straightforward. It's about first love. Romance and hope for something more. Its a boys first experience with a girl who is a bit more worldly. It has some sexual scenes, but these are done well. It is not insulting nor nasty in any way. It is a non toxic film and I truly enjoyed it. I might be in the minority, but I am a sucker for movies like this I have seen it a number of times and I think I will eventually purchase it on DVD to have. If you enjoy nice films that make you think or cry or make you wax nostalgic, I think you will enjoy this one. A sweet guy meets a girl who is involved with an older gentleman. She is torn between the young guy who has yet to find himself and the older well established man who is seemingly well to do.These two people meet, have the start of what seems to be a beautiful relationship which eventually goes awry. It is touching and bittersweet. I adored the character played by a very young William Katt ( Greatest American hero Elgin is just so enamored of his new lady love (played by Susan Dey of the Partridge family), but she has secrets. I loved the song in the film which I cant remember.

It is the perfect chick flick. A super movie to see on Valentines day or girls movie night and yes it will bore your boyfriend or husband to death, girls, you will love it and don't forget the tissues. I cry at the drop of a hat, but this one broke my heart.

Mixed results

[friedmannc · 5/10 · 14 October 2020]

I was attracted to some fresh, honest scenes with some frank, honest conversation but it alternated with some inane scenes with some inane conversation. William Katt's acting was sometimes appropriate sometimes not and sometimes obviously limited. Susan Dey's performance was consistently strong and professional. The ending was unsurprising except for the quick, undeveloped writing. The directing of some scenes was strangely bad. So it's a strange and unsatisfying mixture. Dey's beautiful nude body was used naturally and was a pleasant bonus.

1st love

[mossgrymk · 5/10 · 7 November 2020]

Maybe if this rather unremarkable film had concentrated on the relationship between John Heard and Beverly D'Angelo, two fine actors, it might have become a bit more remarkable. But Bill Katt and Susan Dey? Wake me when it's over. Solid C.

Disappointed

[ohjoy6 · 1/10 · 5 May 2016]

Just recently watched this movie. Was excited to see it because I've always been a big fan of actors William Katt and Susan Dey, two "good kids" that I grew up with from the days of The Greatest American Hero and The Partridge Family, respectively. So imagine my surprise at the crude language and nude scenes. It was so totally unexpected, I got sick just watching it. Even the actors (especially Katt) seemed stilted in their roles. Needless to say, I was disappointed. The casting was poor, the acting left a lot to be desired and the plot was ho-hum. So if you are looking to watch a sweet romantic movie, move right along, this ain't it.

A big difference from puppy love

[GOWBTW-5STARreviewer · 9/10 · 2 January 2023]

Experiencing love for the first time is always going to be a challenge. You go to college to live it up. Experiencing things for the first time. You have a guy named Elgin(William Katt) who plays soccer, and is a waiter who has only the patience for his academics and sportsmanship. Has a roommate who seems to play the field in the love department. Meets the girl who has sex with and another on the side. The girl on the side is Shelley(Beverly D'Angelo), who would later try to hit up on Elgin.

Elgin, meets a woman named Caroline(Susan Dey) who is older and wealthy, meet up with Elgin, they have a relationship with a trial of challenges that they must face. One is a newbie, and the other is experienced.

Future stars are in this film.

William Katt, years before "The Greatest American Hero". Susan Dey, more open than she was in "The Partridge Family". Beverly D'Angelo, before playing "Mrs. Griswold" in the National Lampoon's Vacation franchises.

A very good movie to watch. But it is not for the young. But the young at heart.

3 out of 5 stars.