I used to love this movie as a kid. I'm watching now on TCM, and I'm hating every minute of it. It's hard to turn away from it in the same way that a car wreck is so compelling. I guess one good thing I can say is that at least my taste in films has changed since I was 10 yr old.
shareI was 13 when I saw this. I thought it was pretty hokey even then. Whenever I see a star of Niven's caliber appear in something this trite, I remember what Michael Caine would say when called out about some of his stinkers..."Well, 'The Swarm' bought my mother's lovey country home" or words to that effect. Sometimes, a role is just a paycheck.
That just goes to show you. You go someplace and there you are.
I can beat that - I was 10 and even then thought it was implausible, hokey, and cornball. And sexist!
But I do like so-bad-they're-enjoyable movies (see Showgirls).
The Playn Jayn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbl5kpWYnUI
OMG, I am so with you. I saw this with a friend and my sister in a theater when we were around 11, 12. We thought it was the bomb-diggity! Sat through it twice! I saw it on cable a couple of years ago and thought, WTF? But, then, we also fell hard for Billy Jack right around the same time back then.
I feel like David Niven must surely have been mortified by the script.
Disagree with you completely. Yes, The Impossible Years is a bit dated, but it's still a fun feel good comedy with a wonderful performance by Niven and an all round good feeling attached to it.
shareWatching it now and loving it more now than when I was 10
shareA lot of movies don't stand up and I don't like this nearly as much as I did when I saw it in 1972 but Niven's performance as the dad on the edge of disaster is still great.
shareZuider_Zee says > A lot of movies don't stand upThis is true. I've noticed I can watch old movies at different times in my life and they seem to hold up. That doesn't mean I like all old movies but usually the ones I do like I always like; I just tend to get more out of them.
Niven's performance as the dad on the edge of disaster is still great.I like David Niven in this movie and in most of the ones I've seen him in. Even in a silly movie like this he brings a certain level of professionalism to the role.
The only redeeming value in this film is watching Cristina F. trying out different bikinis.
I actually saw this in the theater in '68 and thought it stunk then, but...but I missed the leering quality that the producers were playing for us. The movie itself is like a sick voyeur saving all the good parts and ignoring the rest.
Otherwise, the simple sight of David Niven trying to act like a normal, suburban dad is too silly to ever take seriously. So it's one of these train wreck movies that you gape at rather than enjoy.