I was amazing that the young looking Hayley Mills was supposed to be of a marriagble age in this film, she looked too young for that given its made/set in 1966. So I thought I'd check her IMDB profile to see when she was born and how old she was when she made this great film.
Bugger me if she wasn't born in 1946, making her 20 years old when she filmed this. She looks about 13 or 14.
yeh me too, my brother thought she was about 12! It looks like there's a massive age difference between here and roibin, although theres only a few years in reality.
shareI was buggered too. I spent the entire film trying to guess her age. I settled for a young-looking 16 year old but she could have easily passed for 12. Thus the whole romance with Roibin gave me pedaphelic creeps.
sharewow, I thought she was like 12! I was a little freaked out when that Roibin character tried to get with her...thinking he was like 24 of something. It seemed eerie!
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The fact that she mentioned her age seemed a little "tacked-on", I wonder if it occured to them during filming that they had better establish that she was of at least close-to adult age.
I love Ian MacShane in virtually anything, but they might have cast someone a little younger looking for his role, it would have changed the whole tone of the movie for me.
I think she was 19 when she did this film...
"SG"
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Yes, indeed, Hayley Mills was 19 when the film was shot in May 1965.
shareGypsies traditionally married at 12 to 14. Bridie was obviously much older than that. Hayley was 19, and looked that age. I do not understand why some people are suggesting she looked much younger, or implying that there was something disturbing. If Bridie had been 13 she would have been a suitable age for marrying a Gippo.
shareIt's partly perception and fashions in hair, etc.. I turned 17 in 1965, and they look perfectly OK to me. It doesn't help that Ian MacShane became famous when he was much older, and that Hayley Mills' character's developmental problems make her seem childlike.
shareIt's called...acting.
shareBut that's the point - she doesn't seem to be 'acting' 20 and worse, the directions regarding her hair and make-up make her look 12. The opening scene where she scrambles over a gate are the actions and demeanour of a child.
I assumed the movie was from the 1950s - knowing her year of birth - and was surprised to see the actual date when I looked it up.
I agree 100% with the comments posted on her childlike appearance. Amazing what the make-up department can accomplish. In the same year of this movie (1966) she also made "The Trouble With Angels" in which she plays a worldly student attending a Catholic boarding school. Her difference in appearance from "Gypsy Girl" is like night and day!
Her first film, "Tiger Bay" really shows what she looked like at age 12.
I too thought she couldn't have been more than 14; but the Vicar says girls her age are getting married & having babies, which I thought was very odd! When she claims to be 17, I was shocked b/c she not only looks like a child, she acts so child-like too, even her body language & everything. I too was creeped out by Ian McShane's character at first, but by the time the ending came, I thought the 2 belonged together & was very happy w/ the ending.
"Are you going to your grave with unlived lives in your veins?" ~ The Good Girl
Wow she doesn't look her age (19) in this at all. But it just shows what a splendid actress she is. I am just so glad bridie and roibin got the happy ending. I was close to tears at a few points in this film lol. So the ending was just perfect.
shareShe looked about 14/15 in it, and it doesn't help that 22 year old Ian McShane didn't look a day under 35. We all thought we were watching a pedo preying on a mentally backwards young girl, when in fact we were watching a tender romance between two outcasts of practically the same age. The pedo slant works better and made it feel ahead of its time and edgy, but it transpires to be a relatively normal coming of age tale. I think Hayley probably was supposed to be about 14 in this, but the distributor probably threatened to bury the film if they didn't make her legal, so they slipped her 'age' in at the end. Otherwise why dress and style her so young, and why not establish her age at the beginning?
shareHer age was more or less mentioned at the beginning when the vicar mentions that girls her age were getting married and having babies. As for dress and style - I think they were going for the "innocent" look to establish her state of emotional/mental immaturity. You couldn't have her dolled up to the nines like a teenager at the time, it would go against characterisation.
"Why do you say this to me, when you know I will kill you for it?" ~ General Zod
i thought she was about 15 from her looks. Because 14/15 year olds were still "kids" back in the 60's. She is supposed to be transitioning into woman hood in the movie.
The first time I saw the guy, I thought he was closer to 30 and stalking her! LOL
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