As someone who only knew James MacArthur from Hawaii 5-0 this movie was a revelation. He really does have a James Dean air about him.
Is it me or is the scene with him and a shirtless friend mowing the lawn quite sexually charged??
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I didn't see the James Dean air. I did see the boyish charm that served him well for his entire career.
I, too, read a great deal into the look the boys gave each other when they were wrestling in the lawn clippings. However they couldn't have taken it any farther even if they'd wanted to: This was 1957 and this was the US with movie content rigidly dictated by the MPAA (or its predecessor, the Hays Office) — the self-appointed keepers of American morality, at least on film.
BTW: I just saw "The Young Stranger" again the other night. I was struck by the resemblance between the very young (19-year-old) MacArthur and Russell Tovey from "History Boys" and "Being Human". Granted, Mr Tovey's face is narrower, more triangular, but they do look like they could be related. The broad, intelligent forehead, the eyes and ears.
If you're interested is some of Mr MacArthur's other youthful roles, I recommend
• "The Swiss Family Robinson" (1960) and
• "Spencer's Mountain" (1962)
but you do have Mr MacArthur's entire filmography in IMDb.
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my favorite movie with MacArthur is the Disney movie of Conrad Richter's novel, The Light in the Forest (1958). certainly worth seeing and the book is also an excellent read.
"We deal in lead, friend."
"The Light in the Forest"
Thank you! I'd forgotten about that one. (It's been more years than I care to admit to since I'd seen it.) Yet another excellent performance.
Another "grown-up" role I just recalled was an episode of "The Love Boat" that aired in 1982. He played a concert pianist, forced into retirement by a bad case of arthritis in his hands. Some jerk with more wealth than sensitivity is offering to donate a huge pile of money to his favorite charity if he'll give a concert on the ship. I remember MacArthur wincing at the jerk's overly firm handshake when he agrees to do the concert. I remember the ship's doctor offering to give him something for his hands — and him declining because it would affect his touch.
I'm not really surprised at the depth and breadth of his work, given that his mother was Helen Hayes, "First Lady of the American Theatre". I AM surprised at the lack of recognition by the acting community.
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it's not you. i agree with your observation of the lawn mower scene. there appears to be more to this 'best friend' relationship which hasn't been fully flushed out and is only implied.
Hal's character in TYS doesn't contain a female love interest. we assume girls are not on Hal's radar at 16 and prefers to go to movies with his best friend. how accurate is this assumption?
we see Hal surrounded by four or five women momentarily outside of school when he sits to join their circle when one of them jokingly calls him 'killer' and he quickly leaves them. i guess he is not ready for women?
"We deal in lead, friend."
Youtube now has a preview clips from the movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc9dVcZ9rr0
Is anyone able to post the lawnmower scene?
Well, as I said to Cal_Mac's original comment: "This was the US in 1957 with movie content rigidly overseen by the MPAA — or its predecessor, the Hays Office — the self-appointed keepers of American morality, at least on film."
I don't believe they could have expanded on that scene if they'd wanted to. (Among other things, 1957 was still a bad time to be gay in the US.)
The look they exchanged, and the absence of any female except Hal's mother, was as far as they could go back then.
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I'm not sure what the desire is to see homoeroticism in a scene where two kids are just horsing around. There was no such "look" between the two boys, and nothing in the context of the story, technical or otherwise, supports them having a sexual attraction for each other.
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