Splendor in the Grass

(Elia Kazan, US 1961, 123 min., 35mm)

Eastman Entertains. In small-town Kansas, 1928, lower-middle class Deanie (Natalie Wood) is fatally in love with college-bound scholar Bud (Warren Beatty’s remarkable debut). As their relationship deteriorates, Deanie’s methods of seduction turn extreme and lead her toward a nervous breakdown. Kazan’s complex and compelling psychosexual drama is one of the screen’s quintessential depictions of the malaise and confusion of American youth.