By Lee Pfeiffer
You're a Big Boy Now, the 1966 coming of age sex comedy, has finally received a DVD release through the Warner Archive. The film is primarily significant because it marked the elevation of young Francis Ford Coppola from B horror movies and skin flicks to slick big studio fare. The film traces the experiences of a young nerd, Bernard (Peter Kastner) as he tries desperately to lose his virginity. It seems the sexual revolution is occurring all around him but he's stuck in the role of Establishment reactionary. This is do in no small part to his overbearing parents. Mom (Geraldine Page) is a monstrously bossy, overbearing type who seems to want to instill an Oedipus complex in young Bernard. Dad (Rip Torn) is a revered department head at the New York City Library who rules the roost with the type of disciplinary tactics that would have offender Himmler. Every time Bernard thinks about rebeling against his uptight parents, he is shamed into conformance. He must also suffer the frustration of seeing his friend and co-worker (Tony Bill) blatantly bed every woman who comes into his orbit.
Bernard gradually seeks more independence and gets permission to live on his own is a makeshift apartment with an overbearing landlady (Julie Harris) whose fear of sex leads her to snitch on Bernard every time he might be close to getting a date. His real object of desire is Barbara (Elizabeth Hartman), a sexy, if anorexic, anti-Establishment type who surprisingly reveals herself to be open to Bernard's advances. This sets in motion a madcap scenario revolving around the sexual frustrations and inadequacies of all the main characters.
The movie was probably considered to be edgy and daring in its day, but it's haphazardly plotted and the characters are so bizarre that the viewer would be excused for believing they are watching people in an alternate universe. The cast tries gamely, but Ford encourages them to over-act and the result is a comedy without a single genuine laugh. It's zany but never much fun. However, there are some elements of interest including Karen Black in her first major role, benefiting from the fact that she plays one of the few believable characters in the film. What I enjoyed most about the movie is Coppola's use of New York City locations, which turns the film into a virtual time-table of life in Gotham in 1966. Cinema Retro readers with deft ablilities to freeze frame the DVD will enjoy seeing original theater marquees and posters for such films as Khartoum, The Lost Command, Born Free and Cast a Giant Shadow. There are also a number of catchy songs by John Sebastian, performed by The Lovin' Spoonful, including the hit Darling, Be Home Soon.
There is scant evidence here that Coppola would emerge a few years later as one of the great American film directors- but if this misguided comedy helped shape The Godfather films and Apocalypse Now, then hats off to the studio executives who recognized the future auteur's talents.
Click here to order from the Warner Archive.