Rating: 
Summary: Welles found her talent "terrifying"
Review: "I was just a little in love with Natalie, since the first time we met. I never stopped loving her. I never will." So said Orson Welles, working with child star Natalie Wood on a Hollywood set in 1945. Daughter of Russian immigrants, the girl with dark eyes and the quaint curtsy melted Welles' heart. In 1957, having co-starred in "Rebel Without a Cause", Natalie Wood lobbied hard for the up-coming lead in Warner Bros' "Marjorie Morningstar". The studio had planned it for her all along. Herman Wouk's 565-page smash hit novel depicts 18-year-old Marjorie; a young girl seeking love and happiness, and relief from a string of amorous beaus. Her worldly friend Marsha(a stand-out performance by unheralded Carolyn Jones) urges her to join a New York upstate summer camp. She does, and once there, her eyes behold Noel Aikman, and well....1958's colorful, fast-moving "Marjorie Morningstar" is a delightful throw-back to the lilting romantic dramas of Hollywood past. Old-time director Irving Rapper argued with young Natalie on the set, but their clash produced a clear, charming, charasmatic portrait of effervescent youth and lustrous beauty. "Marjorie Morningstar" attempts unsuccessfully to condense the epic tome into a 2-hour movie. Early on, the film drags through Jewish family traditions and the slow-moving antics of Uncle Sampson(a lovable portayal by Hollywood icon Ed Wynn). The pace quickens as Morjorie is whisked into a failed relationship with an older, successful doctor. Many key scenes, however, sparkle with the innocent charm that created Natalie Wood. The movie bristles with veteran talents like Ed "Kookie" Byrnes, Gene Kelly, Martin Balsam, and Jesse White. It contains an exceptional music score by Max Steiner, who composed 1933's "King Kong". Natalie Wood's biographer paints an early life of unhappiness and insecurity for the widely talented former "Natasha". Her sorrows here are genuine. "Marjorie Morningstar"s shooting coincided with Wood's engagement and first marriage to Robert Wagner. She's excellent in her romantic scenes. They would marry twice. She had been dating Hollywood's best, including James Dean, Frank Sinatra, Warren Beatty, and Elvis. Sadly, this new Artesan Images DVD shows lots of flaws in the master. The DVD is unrestored. Colors are brilliant, but a nasty jump-cut occurs about 13 minutes ino the film. Several splice cuts emerge in the last reels, and the Warners' logo is sloppily hacked off the leader tail and the film finish. Robbed of life in a mysterious, still un-solved boating accident in 1981, the world lost Natalie Wood much too soon. She was 43. But thanks to the magic of cinema and the power of DVD, her powerful performance here can be seen today and tomorrow. And tomorrow and tomorrow.
Rating:
Summary: Welles found her talent "terrifying"
Review: "I was just a little in love with Natalie, since the first time we met. I never stopped loving her. I never will." So said Orson Welles, working with child star Natalie Wood on a Hollywood set in 1945. Daughter of Russian immigrants, the girl with dark eyes and the quaint curtsy melted Welles' heart. In 1957, having co-starred in "Rebel Without a Cause", Natalie Wood lobbied hard for the up-coming lead in Warner Bros' "Marjorie Morningstar". The studio had planned it for her all along. Herman Wouk's 565-page smash hit novel depicts 18-year-old Marjorie; a young girl seeking love and happiness, and relief from a string of amorous beaus. Her worldly friend Marsha(a stand-out performance by unheralded Carolyn Jones) urges her to join a New York upstate summer camp. She does, and once there, her eyes behold Noel Aikman, and well....1958's colorful, fast-moving "Marjorie Morningstar" is a delightful throw-back to the lilting romantic dramas of Hollywood past. Old-time director Irving Rapper argued with young Natalie on the set, but their clash produced a clear, charming, charasmatic portrait of effervescent youth and lustrous beauty. "Marjorie Morningstar" attempts unsuccessfully to condense the epic tome into a 2-hour movie. Early on, the film drags through Jewish family traditions and the slow-moving antics of Uncle Sampson(a lovable portayal by Hollywood icon Ed Wynn). The pace quickens as Morjorie is whisked into a failed relationship with an older, successful doctor. Many key scenes, however, sparkle with the innocent charm that created Natalie Wood. The movie bristles with veteran talents like Ed "Kookie" Byrnes, Gene Kelly, Martin Balsam, and Jesse White. It contains an exceptional music score by Max Steiner, who composed 1933's "King Kong". Natalie Wood's biographer paints an early life of unhappiness and insecurity for the widely talented former "Natasha". Her sorrows here are genuine. "Marjorie Morningstar"s shooting coincided with Wood's engagement and first marriage to Robert Wagner. She's excellent in her romantic scenes. They would marry twice. She had been dating Hollywood's best, including James Dean, Frank Sinatra, Warren Beatty, and Elvis. Sadly, this new Artesan Images DVD shows lots of flaws in the master. The DVD is unrestored. Colors are brilliant, but a nasty jump-cut occurs about 13 minutes ino the film. Several splice cuts emerge in the last reels, and the Warners' logo is sloppily hacked off the leader tail and the film finish. Robbed of life in a mysterious, still un-solved boating accident in 1981, the world lost Natalie Wood much too soon. She was 43. But thanks to the magic of cinema and the power of DVD, her powerful performance here can be seen today and tomorrow. And tomorrow and tomorrow.
Rating: 
Summary: Marjorie Morningstink
Review: As a huge fan of the novel and of Natalie Wood, I had high expectations for the film. Natalie Wood is believable as the plucky young Marjorie; however, the woeful miscasting of Gene Kelly destroys any hopes of making this film even passably enjoyable. Herman Wouks' Noel Airman is in his late twenties, irresistibly sexy and crushingly sardonic. Using the bloated, aging Kelly in this role makes the viewer question Marjorie's intelligence and objectives. The supposedly geeky Wally Wronken is obviously more attractive than Kelly, who plays Noel not as a frustrated ne'er-do-well, but as an embittered man far past his prime. Further miscasting of the pert Carolyn Jones as slovenly Marsha only hastens the downward spiral.
Rating: 
Summary: Well, They Tried!
Review: As a novel, "Marjorie Morningstar" was one of the biggest bestsellers of the 1950's; it was inevitable someone would make a movie of it. I just wish it hadn't been the people who did. Herman Wouk's novel is complex and sprawling, very nearly a Jewish "Gone With the Wind". The movie needed the same miracles of compression managed by the writers of the film version of "GWTW"; what it gets is a bunch of choppy episodes that are barely coherent. The major performances are all off; Natalie Wood goes for the stock line reading every time, and Gene Kelly is miscast and too old as Noel Airman, the Jewish songwriter. Some of the minor performances are okay; Claire Trevor is fine as Wood's mother, and Martin Milner (pre-"Adam-12") is better than you'd expect. Ed Wynn offers a broadly comic turn as Uncle Samson-Aaron, but it ends up as one of those things that should be funny, but isn't really; there's a hammy, over-rehearsed quality to his schtick. The thing to watch this movie for is the production values; the proceedings are highly reminiscent of offerings like "Imitation of Life", "An Affair to Remember", and "The Best of Everything". If that's your genre, you'll do fine. One great thing- Wood's costuming, a compendium of late-1950's fashion. One ludicrous thing- Claire Trevor asks Gene Kelly how old he is. The script requires him to answer, "33." No 46-year-old actor in an obvious toupee should ever be put through that. Watch this one for what it is, and never mind what it would have been had it been better cast and truer to the novel.
Rating:
Summary: Well, They Tried!
Review: As a novel, "Marjorie Morningstar" was one of the biggest bestsellers of the 1950's; it was inevitable someone would make a movie of it. I just wish it hadn't been the people who did. Herman Wouk's novel is complex and sprawling, very nearly a Jewish "Gone With the Wind". The movie needed the same miracles of compression managed by the writers of the film version of "GWTW"; what it gets is a bunch of choppy episodes that are barely coherent. The major performances are all off; Natalie Wood goes for the stock line reading every time, and Gene Kelly is miscast and too old as Noel Airman, the Jewish songwriter. Some of the minor performances are okay; Claire Trevor is fine as Wood's mother, and Martin Milner (pre-"Adam-12") is better than you'd expect. Ed Wynn offers a broadly comic turn as Uncle Samson-Aaron, but it ends up as one of those things that should be funny, but isn't really; there's a hammy, over-rehearsed quality to his schtick. The thing to watch this movie for is the production values; the proceedings are highly reminiscent of offerings like "Imitation of Life", "An Affair to Remember", and "The Best of Everything". If that's your genre, you'll do fine. One great thing- Wood's costuming, a compendium of late-1950's fashion. One ludicrous thing- Claire Trevor asks Gene Kelly how old he is. The script requires him to answer, "33." No 46-year-old actor in an obvious toupee should ever be put through that. Watch this one for what it is, and never mind what it would have been had it been better cast and truer to the novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful movie!
Review: I am surprised at the number of misguided reviewers who have given this movie a less than glowing report. It is sharp, tender and well-acted. One even suggests Natalie Wood lends credence to the ridiculous notion that she had more luck than talent. Anyone who suggests that doesn't know Natalie Wood. She gives a fantastic performance in this movie and the author of the book even said that at the time.Everyone is great and I found the movie very sweet, entertaining and moving.
Rating: 
Summary: one of the most romantic and lusciously filmed movies ever!
Review: I first saw this movie on late night t.v. in the 70's, when I was a pre-teen. This movie made me fall in love with dancing, singing, and Gene Kelly. The lush colors, beautiful locations and elegance of the time make this movie a treat for the eyes. The love story is sweet, but sexy; and you should definitely bring tissue! A great movie to relive the old fashioned days of romance and desire.
Rating:
Summary: One of my Favorite Love Stories
Review: I remember going from girl to young woman, and 'falling in love' with that charming, sophisticated older man who mesmerized you. Marjorie meets Noel at summer camp. She wants to be an actress, and Noel's a not-so-successful playwright, who's yet to make it on Broadway, but is the main draw in the summer stock at this resort. They fall in love, and you know it will be "the forever kind", but Noel is unable to make it in the real world, and he exits stage left. Marjorie searches for Noel in Europe, only to find that he's returned to the summer resort, which seems to be the only place that he feels like he's someone special. I adore this movie, and "A Very Precious Love" is magical. It's one of those classics that grabs my heart.
Rating:
Summary: A fairly good late-late night movie
Review: I used to watch this movie over and over again off a VHS copy that was recorded off of late night TV. I bought the DVD hoping to rekindle my youthful fascination with this movie. I found that my mind had mercifully edited out some of the movie's failings, which the DVD brought rushing back. First, technical stuff. Absolutely no effort was put into the DVD conversion. There are no special features. There were no efforts made to correct some of the visual flaws in the movie (bad edits, discolorations, etc.). So don't buy this expecting anything but your VHS copy unceremoniously burned onto a DVD. Now content. I've never read the book, so I can't speak to the adaptation. However, the script leaves a lot to be desired. While there are large number of good points made about relationships and the nature of people, the script is often awkward, confusing and sometimes completely random. I think my favorite line is Noel's statement sometime after Wally's debut - "I seem to suffer from a fatal lack of central organizing energy." It's an odd spike of psychobabble in the middle of a sea of well-worn 1950s romantic dialogue. It's as if the writer was striving to encapsulate Noel's problem into one sentence. It's an example of just how bad the script can be sometimes. The acting is passable, although both Gene Kelley and Nathalie Wood have been much, much better elsewhere. There are moments that fans of either would rather forget. Noel's dressing down of the show's investors comes across as a child's temper tantrum. Nathalie's ill-advised dance sequence is embarassing to watch. The chemistry between the two of them is mild at best. My English teacher put this movie on a list of movies that one should watch to improve one's cultural literacy. I think that's the perfect recommendation for this movie - since it doesn't say anything about how good it is.
Rating:
Summary: A fairly good late-late night movie
Review: I used to watch this movie over and over again off a VHS copy that was recorded off of late night TV. I bought the DVD hoping to rekindle my youthful fascination with this movie. I found that my mind had mercifully edited out some of the movie's failings, which the DVD brought rushing back. First, technical stuff. Absolutely no effort was put into the DVD conversion. There are no special features. There were no efforts made to correct some of the visual flaws in the movie (bad edits, discolorations, etc.). So don't buy this expecting anything but your VHS copy unceremoniously burned onto a DVD. Now content. I've never read the book, so I can't speak to the adaptation. However, the script leaves a lot to be desired. While there are large number of good points made about relationships and the nature of people, the script is often awkward, confusing and sometimes completely random. I think my favorite line is Noel's statement sometime after Wally's debut - "I seem to suffer from a fatal lack of central organizing energy." It's an odd spike of psychobabble in the middle of a sea of well-worn 1950s romantic dialogue. It's as if the writer was striving to encapsulate Noel's problem into one sentence. It's an example of just how bad the script can be sometimes. The acting is passable, although both Gene Kelley and Nathalie Wood have been much, much better elsewhere. There are moments that fans of either would rather forget. Noel's dressing down of the show's investors comes across as a child's temper tantrum. Nathalie's ill-advised dance sequence is embarassing to watch. The chemistry between the two of them is mild at best. My English teacher put this movie on a list of movies that one should watch to improve one's cultural literacy. I think that's the perfect recommendation for this movie - since it doesn't say anything about how good it is.
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