Marjorie Morningstar

Plot synopsis:
Marjorie Morgenstern is a student at Hunter College and the girlfriend of an eligible young man, Sandy Lamm, who attends her family's synagogue. Her parents are happy with her choice of mate, and her mother Rose Morgenstern (Claire Trevor) tells her father, Arnold (Everett Sloane), that she hopes the two kids marry.
Marjorie breaks up with the boy, though, and goes to the Adirondacks that summer to be a camp counselor. One night, Marjorie and friend Marsha Zelenko (Carolyn Jones) sneak to a Borscht Belt resort for adults called South Wind. There she is caught by resort owner Maxwell Greech (George Tobias), but social director Noel Airman (Gene Kelly) vouches for Marjorie as a guest and offers her a job, beginning a relationship with Airman and a friendship with aspiring playwright Wally Wronkin (Martin Milner), who writes Airman's stage act. The latter has a romantic interest in Marjorie, but she's tempted by the older, cynical Airman, who meets the disapproval of her parents. Airman, whose original name was the more Jewish Ehrman, renames Marjorie as well from Morgenstern to Morningstar.
Marjorie's sweet Uncle Samson (Ed Wynn) comes to the resort to keep an eye on her. But when he dies of a heart attack while entertaining guests, Marjorie goes back to the city. There she dates a doctor named Harris, with whom she quickly breaks up when Airman returns to find her. He declares that love has convinced him to become respectable. Marjorie tells her mother, who insists her daughter bring him to a Passover meal. "Not Passover, mother. He’s not very religious. He doesn’t believe in those things," Marjorie says. Rose answers, "He doesn’t believe in those things... you’re going to get married. How are you going to raise your children?"
In the midst of the Passover meal, he leaves and Marjorie follows him. She is concerned he's bored, but he says, "I wasn’t bored. I was disturbed, deeply. I couldn’t help thinking of all the things I’ve missed in life. Family, your kind of family. Faith, tradition. All the things I’ve been ridiculing all the time. That’s why I couldn’t take it anymore. I love you very much, Marjorie Morgenstern."
Airman gets a job at an advertising firm and seems to do well. But one week he doesn't show up to work and refuses to take Marjorie's calls. She goes to his apartment and finds him drunk with a strange woman, Imogene Norman. He has decided he cannot stand the professional lifestyle and wants to be an artist. The impetus to change careers is the success of Wally Wronkin on Broadway; the playwright has launched a series of hits and Airman is consumed with jealousy. Airman and Marjorie reconcile when girlfriend Marsha's new husband agrees to invest in his play. But it gets panned by critics. "We were crucified," someone explains to Marjorie, and their relationship is unable to survive. He runs away, again; she chases after him, even to Europe. In the end, Wally tells her Noel is back at the resort, where all first met.
Marjorie returns to South Wind, where she watches Noel rehearsing a new summer show. Everything is exactly the same as it was, her first summer there, except for herself. Greech observes that she's done some growing up. We see her board a bus. In the rearview mirror, Wronkin sits in back. He smiles, as he's been waiting for her to get over her summer fling. The suggestion is that they will embark on the relationship Wronkin had been hoping for from the beginning.

Tags: romantic

Review:
I guess I can appreciate the film more than most since I saw a lot of the characters in my youth and afterwards.Everett Sloane and Claire Trevor, formerly of the Bronx, now reside in a doorman building in Manhattan.
In fact Claire Trevor has the best performance in the film.The Morgensterns have two children, daughter Marjorie and son Seth.
With best friend Carolyn Jones, who's very into alternatives, Marjorie takes a job as a counselor in a summer camp.
Now Marjorie's smitten and wants a show business career.Though Natalie Wood plays Marjorie and the title role, the most complex part is Gene Kelly as Noel Airman.
He also doesn't realize that show business is a business and there are a lot of people out there as talented as he without his issues.In fact the key scene in the film is when Claire Trevor on meeting him, sizes him up correctly in five minutes.
Kelly sizes Trevor up as well that she's a bit of a snob, but at least she has her's.This film brought Natalie Wood real star status.
A perfect Jewish princess, in the nicest sense of the term.Ed Wynn who never was able to translate his vaudeville and radio success to Hollywood until late in life also shines here as Everett Sloane's Uncle Samson.
The best thing about it is Gene Kelly, who is absolutely handsome, charming, and sexy as a slimy rogue who leads the sweet, innocent Natalie Wood down a treacherous emotional path.
This is one of those movies to see over and over for certain memorable scenes, the hauntingly beautiful piece, A VERY SPECIAL LOVE, and for the novelty of watching Gene Kelly in a strictly dramatic role.
But as for the treatment the film gives to the Herman Wouk novel, MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR experiences the usual celluloid plastic surgery and comes out an approximation of the 1950's best seller.
In short, what we get in the film is Natalie Wood, nascent and alluring, but resembling more a Beverly Hills rich girl than a Jewish American Princess.
The obvious parallel between the coming of age of Marjorie in the film and Natalie Wood as a leading lady cannot be ignored.
Noel Airman (Gene Kelly) is a shiftless romantic forever working on his musical PRINCESS JONES.
He's more or less a drifter and supports himself in summertime by working as a dramatic director at a Jewish summertime resort in the Adirondacks where young girls are drawn to him like moths.
Natalie Wood's performance as Marjorie Morningstar is superior and is performed with the same passion characteristic of almost every role she ever tackled.
It wasn't his first dramatic role by a long shot, for Kelly was always a fine actor in his own right and showed his talents in many of his musicals such as COVER GIRL and AN American IN Paris, but MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR was his first non-dancing dramatic effort.
Claire Trevor and Everette Sloan are Marjorie's uppity, bigoted Jewish parents who will tolerate nothing less than a wealthy husband for their daughter.
But the most obtuse character in the film is Wally (Mary Milner), the struggling playwright who's been in love with Marjorie forever.
She visits the old summer camp on the Adirondacks for one last time and looks on as Noel draws impressionable young girls into his web all over again.
The sequence itself is very effective; however, the movie's very last scene in which Marjorie boards a bus and discovers a smiling Wally behind her in the rear view mirror now ready to step into her life big time is a bit much.MORNINGSTAR works if you don't want to hold the script up to the light and just enjoy Wood and Kelly in a film.
No Other Movie Like It. The movie suffers in two ways when compared to the magical novel about theater and love: (1) by losing the late-Depression setting, when show-business was very different than in the 1950's, and (2) by casting Gene Kelly (who himself felt he was wrong for the part) as the tall, blond Noel Airman (Warner Brothers must have lost its mind not to use its contract star Tab Hunter).
Natalie Wood, not yet a superstar, had to read fourteen times for the role, but all of us who loved the book knew there was no one else for it.
Herman Wouk's classic coming of age novel about a young Jewish girl who wants to be an actress is faithfully brought to the screen by director Irving Rapper.Natalie Wood was,without a doubt one of the most beautiful women to ever grace the silver screen,and although her performance here is not nearly as good as the one audiences would be treated to two years later in "Splendor In The Grass",she's just so goshdarned gorgeous that it doesn't matter.A competent supporting cast,with Ed Wynn,and his bullfighting skit at the Mexican fiesta being one of the highlights.And the Passover Seder,with the little kids fidgeting,and the looks on everyone else's faces letting you know that everyone was ready for the food to be brought out hours ago definitely brought back memories.See the movie,and if you've never read the book,try to find a copy.I think I must have read it about 5 times when I was a kid..
And, in light of this, I was very pleasantly surprised by "Marjorie Morningstar"--a truly unique and lovely film from start to finish.Natalie Wood plays Marjorie Morganstern--a very impressionable 18 year-old who goes off to work at a summer camp.
There she meets an older man (while the character was supposed to be 32, Gene Kelly was 46 at the time) who seems very talented and highly attractive.
Apart from their nice work as well as some strong support from Ed Wynn and Martin Milner, the film has a gorgeous musical score--very haunting and sweet.
I recently saw this movie after adoring Gene Kelly's musicals since I was a kid.
This is pretty standard fare for Natalie Wood, but it is a rare treat to see Gene Kelly in a dramatic role.
After reading his biography, it is a sad irony that his character somewhat mirrored what was happening in Gene Kelly's personal life, in that his days of glory were something of the past.
This is not the Gene Kelly you know, but if you want to see him in something different, take the phone off the hook, grab a box of Kleenex and sit down with Marjorie Morningstar.
When I first saw it it seemed a coming-of-age movie of a very beautiful New York Jewish girl.
Within the last five years I've probably seen it ten times and even made a a trip to Schroon Lake, N.Y. where it was filmed and stood on the beach where Kelly and Wood went swimming.
I doubt if any of the other Hollywood cynics believed a word of it.Second, and this has a lot to do with the haunting song, "A Very Special Love" which Kelly keeps singing.It speaks to me of my youth and my Summer loves with a wistfulness that calls me back to a gentler time.
There is not a genuine note in this film from beginning to end.Hollywood had dealt before with cultural assimilation and and the complexities of mixed marriage, but with the introduction of the Production Code in 1934, a lot of the old ethnic clichés became out of bounds.
Ed Wynn, Jack Benny and the Marx Brothers prospered, but without the Jewish jokes.This film was one of the major entries in a renewed attempt by Hollywood to deal with the old stories.
The film credits Beachwold Productions, which points directly to Wouk's summer house at the time.Natalie Wood can do everything she is asked to do, which is a relief - that wasn't always the case.
By casting him, the film gives up on any more subtle characterization of Noel Airman, and turns into the umpteenth remake of "Abie's Irish Rose." I don't buy Kelly as a renegade anything and neither did the original audience.
This film has some of the most bizarre casting in Hollywood history - who could possibly conceive of Gene Kelly playing a Jew?
MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR hasn't held up well as a film or on the printed page - maybe in the 1950s she was the gal every young woman wanted to be or know, but when I finally got through the book a few years ago, I found her to be not only irritating but a tease of the first order - few men or women would have much patience with her superficial personality today.
I have watched Marjorie Morningstar on video a few times and have read others' review of it.
In any case, while the premise of a young woman falling for an older man with great passion is believable, Gene Kelly as Noel Airman to me was not even likable.
Claire Trevor looks as if she longs to be bad and back in 'Key Largo' and Carolyn Jones takes it on the cuff and probably wishes she was back in 'The Bachelor Party'.The book MUST be more interesting than this and I can't believe that the Gene Kelly role wasn't a tougher read.
This film teams an ageing Gene Kelly with the young Natalie Wood, in a tale that begins and ends at summer camp, where nice Jewish girl Marjorie Morningstern falls for the vain Noel Airman, a song and dance man stick in a rut.It is a good film, with a supporting cast which includes Ed Wynn, Carolyn Jones, and Martin Balsam.
The musical theme throughout, A Very Precious Love, grounds it as a first love fairytale, but I think sympathies will still be split between the rather shallow but naive Marjorie and the immature Noel.A true period piece which brings both laughter and tears, this film showcases Natalie Wood's talents just as Inside Daisy Clover did.
Gene Kelly, although good, is too old and a bit miscast - a younger actor might have brought the right nuances of the character, although I doubt they would have done it with such charm..
On her summer vacation, restless college beauty Natalie Wood (as Marjorie Morgenstern) gets a job at a New York camp and resort area; there, she falls in love with attractive older man Gene Kelly (as Noel Airman).
The story's moral seems to waver uncomfortably between "Don't reach for the stars" and "There's no place like home." **** Marjorie Morningstar (4/24/58) Irving Rapper ~ Natalie Wood, Gene Kelly, Carolyn Jones.
The very beautiful Oscar nominated song A Very Precious Love highlights this great film about a young lady finding love as a summer counselor at a camp.Natalie Wood portrays Marjorie Morgenstern in this classic flick.
Gene Kelly is the older guy of her dreams while Martin Milner is memorable as the young man she will find her place with.
It is shocking that Bette Davis's favorite director, Irving Rapper, allowed Gene Kelly to be in the title role of Noel Airman (Ehrman).
Novelist Herman Wouk's Jewish heroine, who rose from girlish camp counselor to college graduate to aspiring NYC actress, provides a meaty role for Natalie Wood, whose usual mannerisms (the breathy voice, the twitching mouth) are nicely modulated by director Irving Rapper.
Gene Kelly is terrific as the womanizing theater director whom Marjorie becomes hopelessly stuck on, and the Oscar-nominated song "A Very Precious Love" by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster lends pretty uplift to their romantic scenes.
In the supporting roles, Marty (Martin) Milner is excellent as an aspiring playwright and Claire Trevor has some strong early scenes as Marjorie's insufferable mother, but Ed Wynn's bit as an uncle is gratuitous, used weakly for both comic relief and pathos.
Martin Balsam's role as a doctor is curiously tossed away (perhaps landing on the cutting-room floor), yet Natalie Wood is the major surprise; although one gets the impression her costume changes and hairstyles were first priority here, Wood excels in a handful of dramatic scenes, creating convincing chemistry with Kelly even if (emotionally) the narrative is all over the place.
I used to see this movie on television in the "old" days but since it hasn't been on for a long time, and since I'm a Natalie Wood fan, I recently bought the VHS.
Herman Wouk's "Marjorie Morningstar", a book published in 1955, became an immediate bestseller.
The movie version changes the ending, as Marjorie had finally come to her senses about her infatuation with Noel Airman and she is seen boarding the bus where a patient Wally Wronkin, the man who really loved her is also riding.The film version by Everett Freeman took some liberties, perhaps to make it more appealing to a younger movie going public.
Perhaps reading the novel would be more satisfying because the original story is left to one's imagination.Part of the problem with the film was the casting of Gene Kelly, who was 46 at the time, against a radiant and youthful Natalie Wood.
Miss Wood, who was starting to appear in films as a young woman.
Ms Wood had grown up in the eyes of viewers of films of the late 40s and early fifties where she was seen playing small girls' roles.
It didn't help either that she and Mr. Kelly show almost no chemistry in their scenes together.Of course, "Marjorie Morningstar" had its following at the time it came out.
The supporting cast was good, especially Claire Trevor, Everett Sloane and Ed Wynn, who are seen as the parents and uncle of the young heroine.
Martin Milner, Martin Balsam and especially Carolyn Jones make a good impression.Irving Rapper, who had done better in previous movies, directed without breaking new ground.
Missing parts, but still showcases Natalie Wood and Gene Kelly.
The achingly beautiful Natalie Wood (my first movie star crush!) did a good job with the title role; very believable.
Contrary to other reviewers, I liked Gene Kelly's work in this movie.
He was a talented dramatic actor (especially in "Inherit the Wind") and seemed to really breathe life into the character of Noel Airman.
The supporting cast all did a fine job, particularly Martin Milner as Wally and Claire Trevor as Mrs. Morningstar.
Overall, I give it a 7 for what it did have: Natalie Wood and Gene Kelly, the South Wind sequences, and the fine supporting acting..
Beautiful Marjorie, coming of age in New York City, surrounded by her old-fashioned, traditional Jewish family but enamored of glamor and Broadway.
The horrible ending of the movie, with Wally Wronken "rescuing" Marjorie and being a total doormat, completely destroys the message and meaning of the novel -- that we all have dreams, and we all (as Marsha said), settle for what we can get and try to figure out how to be happy with it, rather than living with bitterness and regret for "what might have been."And the casting....Yuck!
I absolutely adore Gene Kelly, but was a terrible choice for Noel Airman.
Natalie Wood is gorgeous, and was okay as Marjorie - she communicated the love-bordering-on-obsession that we feel at that age.
The tragedies of the other characters - Wally, Uncle Samson, Marjorie's parents -- all go comparatively unaddressed in the movie.It wasn't intended to be a happily-ever-after story, the way the movie ended.
I like both Gene Kelly and Natalie Wood so enjoying this movie was never in doubt.It is a fairly straightforward show business concept.
Gene Kelly, who was in his mid 40s during filming, is 30-something Noel Airman, aspiring song writer who is also working on a production he hopes to become a Broadway hit.
His father is a successful New York businessman but to distance himself from that life Noel changed his last name from Ehrmann to Airman.As this story opens he is working on a minor stage production at a summer camp in upstate New York, the movie in various bits showcases Kelly's singing and dancing, plus of course his acting.
Natalie Wood, about 19 during filming, is just an 18-yr-old Marjorie Morgenstern who gets a summer job at a girls camp across the lake from the camp Noel is working at.
She is flattered.The other key character is played by a young Martin Milner as Wally Wronkin, also at the camp and also an aspiring playwright.
Apart from dear old Ed Wynn "Marjorie Morningstar" lacks a single sympathetic character.
Miss Natalie Wood is just about up to the task as Marjorie Morganstern,nice but dim,pretty but muddle - headed.Her naivety may well be the main attraction for Noel Ehrman(professional name "Airman")played by Mr Gene Kelly.He is a moderately able song and dance man who writes his own material and has a musical "Princess Jones" in his head if he can just get round to it.Girls gather round him "Like moths around a flame" as Miss Dietrich once memorably sang.
Mr Kelly,to put it kindly,never seems happy in his role until the final scene at the Summer Camp when Marjorie,back on a visit to lay a few ghosts,sees him singing to an adoring audience of acolytes.Happy that he has found something he is good at once more,she gets on a bus to go home and is confronted by her stalker,the writer Wally,who smiles at her.Good Grief.
Half a century or so ago,"Marjorie Morningstar" was a big movie.Now it seems to have shrunk somewhat.The garish colour and the corny plot have contributed to its fall from grace,but,most of all,apart from dear old Ed Wynn,it lacks a single sympathetic character..
One of Warner Bros' better 1950s melodramas, "Marjorie Morningstar" stars Natalie Wood as a Marjorie Morgenstern, a young Jew growing up in New York City.
Here she meets Noel Airman (Gene Kelly), a dancer and social director whom she falls instantly in love with.
She then abides by her parents wishes and hooks up with a "safe", "stable" and "successful" young man.The film doesn't pass judgement on either Noel or Marjorie.