Two aging playboys are both after the same attractive young woman, but she fends them off by claiming that she plans to remain a virgin until her wedding night. Both men determine to find a ... Read allTwo aging playboys are both after the same attractive young woman, but she fends them off by claiming that she plans to remain a virgin until her wedding night. Both men determine to find a way around her objections.Two aging playboys are both after the same attractive young woman, but she fends them off by claiming that she plans to remain a virgin until her wedding night. Both men determine to find a way around her objections.
- Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 1 win & 6 nominations total
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFirst mainstream Hollywood film to use the word "virgin," after a battle with the official and unofficial censors. Also the first use of "seduce" and "mistress" (as a sexual partner). The movie was banned from theaters in Boston for using these words.
- GoofsAfter Donald (William Holden) goes out to meet Cynthia (Dawn Adams) Patty (Maggie McNamra) clears the meal things away and collapses the table but she never saw how it was put up.
- Quotes
Donald Gresham: Believe it or not, I am a full-fledged architect. Build you anything from a cathedral to a bomb shelter.
Patty O'Neill: How much would a cathedral cost these days? A small one.
- Alternate versionsThe filmed was made in two versions, a US version with Holden, McNamara and Niven in the leads, and a German version, Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach (1953), with Krueger, Matz, and Heesters in the corresponding roles. Krueger and Matz have a brief cameo as tourists in the US version, and Holden and McNamara make the same cameo in the German version.
- ConnectionsAlternate-language version of Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach (1953)
- SoundtracksThe Moon Is Blue
Music by Herschel Burke Gilbert
Lyrics by Sylvia Fine
Presentation by The Sauter Finegan Band (as The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra)
This racy comedy never earned a Production Code certification. It was very controversial in the 1950s for its frankness about sex and its use of taboo words like "virgin", "mistress", and "pregnant". It's nothing outrageous by modern-day standards, but it is noticeably up-front for '50s Hollywood.
The hijinks involves four characters: an architect bachelor (William Holden), a frank young woman (Maggie McNamara), the witty upstairs neighbor (David Niven), and his daughter, the architect's jilted ex (Dawn Addams). Both men find themselves strangely attracted to the girl, who bewilders them with her bluntness and honesty. The night is filled with misunderstandings and screwy surprises. It's a fun film, though stagey.
William Holden and David Niven bring A-list talent to the production, and neither disappoints. It's actually pretty cool to see their different styles on display in the same scene. The ever-smooth Holden, with his rain coat and masculine virility, and the delightfully witty Niven, with his proper grammar and trimmed mustache.
David Niven is by far my favorite thing about this movie. He is hilarious in his role as the ineffectual father of Holden's quasi-psychotic ex-girlfriend. He comes downstairs to Holden's apartment because his daughter has told him that Holden had "done her wrong". Holden defends himself, explaining that she'd spent the night in his bedroom while he slept on the couch. Niven ponders the situation and decides that maybe that *was* how Holden had "wronged" her. ("A very humiliating experience. I probably should beat you up anyway.") His comedic reactions throughout the film are great. Never far from a cocktail and never at a loss for an eloquent witticism, Niven's at the top of his game here.
I saw this rare film on TCM and the print was pretty poor. Aside from the dirty image quality, there were several abrupt cuts (missing frames/footage?) and even inconsistent audio levels. I guess this film wasn't taken very good care of over the decades. Still, the print is certainly watchable and the movie is an interesting piece of Hollywood history. And there are some real laughs, too.
- jimjo1216
- Sep 16, 2010
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $400,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 39 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1