The Careless Years is a 1957 film from United Artists

United Artists

United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....

 directed by Arthur Hiller

Arthur Hiller

Arthur Hiller, OC is a Canadian film director. His filmography includes 33 major studio releases, including the 1970 film Love Story...

 and produced by Edward Lewis

Edward Lewis

Edward Lewis may refer to:*Ed Lewis , American jazz trumpeter*Ed Lewis , American wrestler best known as Ed "The Strangler" Lewis*Eddie Lewis...

. The film was the directorial debut for Hiller.

Plot

Two high school seniors from different social groups go on a date. He begins to fall for her when she resists his amorous advances and decides they should get married immediately. Both sets of parents object to the sudden nature of the proposal. He talks her into going to Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 to get married, but they finally decide it is best to wait until they are older.

Main cast

Actor	Role
Dean Stockwell Dean Stockwell Dean Stockwell is an American actor of film and television, with a career spanning over 65 years. As a child actor under contract to MGM he first came to the public's attention in films such as Anchors Aweigh and The Green Years; as a young adult he played a lead role in the 1957 Broadway and...	Jerry Vernon
Natalie Trundy Natalie Trundy Natalie Trundy is an American actress, and the widow of movie producer Arthur P. Jacobs.She made a sizeable contribution to the Planet of the Apes movie series during the 1970s. She appeared as the telepathic mutant Albina in the first sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, as Dr...	Emily 'Miley' Meredith
John Larch John Larch John Larch was an American film and television actor.After his lead role in the radio serial Captain Starr of Space , John Larch entered films in 1954. He usually appeared in westerns and action films, including Miracle of the White Stallions as General George S. Patton Jr...	Sam Vernon
Barbara Billingsley Barbara Billingsley Barbara Billingsley was an American film, television, voice and stage actress. She gained prominence in the 1950s movie The Careless Years, acting opposite Natalie Trundy, followed by her best–known role, that of June Cleaver on the television series Leave It to Beaver and its sequel Still...	Helen Meredith
John Stevenson John Stephenson (actor) John Stephenson is an American actor and voice actor. He has also been credited as John Stevenson...	Charles Meredith
Virginia Christine Virginia Christine Virginia Christine was an American film and television actress and voice artist. Christine had a long career as a character actress in film and television. She played "Mrs...	Mathilda Vernon

Critical reception

Bosley Crowther

Bosley Crowther

Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...

 of The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

did not care for the movie.