''Too Young to Kiss'' (also ''All Too Young'') is a 1951 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

from

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

starring

Van Johnson Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II. Johnson was described as the embodiment o ...

and June Allyson. The film, in which the 34-year-old Allyson's Cynthia Potter masquerades as a 14-year-old child prodigy, was

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Robert Z. Leonard Robert Zigler Leonard (October 7, 1889 – August 27, 1968) was an American film director, actor, producer, and screenwriter. Biography He was born in Chicago, Illinois. At one time, he was married to silent star Mae Murray with the two formin ...

. The

monaural Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduc ...

black-and-white film Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a grayscale, range of shades of gray, shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology imp ...

clocks in at 91 minutes long. Despite earning of its budget, ''Too Young to Kiss'' received mixed critical reviews.

Plot

Cynthia Potter is a skilled

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

trying to catch the eye of

concert promoter Tour promoters (also known as concert promoters or talent buyers) are the individuals or companies responsible for organizing a live concert tour or special event performance. The tour promoter makes an offer of engagement to a particular artist, ...

Eric Wainwright. Wainwright, however, is currently only looking for young talent. To meet his criteria, Potter (in her 20s), masquerades as her own fictional younger sister, a 14-year-old "Molly" Potter. Wainwright is captivated by Molly's skills, and as the two work together, Wainwright develops a paternal affectation towards the young performer, while Potter cultivates an incompatible romantic attraction to the promoter.

Credits

Cast

* June Allyson as Cynthia Potter
*

as Eric Wainwright *

Gig Young Gig Young (born Byron Elsworth Barr; November 4, 1913 – October 19, 1978) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in ''Come Fill the Cup'' (1952) and '' Teacher's Pet'' ...

as John Tirsen * Paula Corday as Denise Dorcet *

Kathryn Givney Kathryn Givney (October 27, 1896 – March 16, 1978) was an American actress on stage and in films. Biography In 1928, Givney was a member of the S. E. Cochran Repertory Company. In 1930, she appeared in ''Stepping Sisters'' at the Hollywood Pl ...

as Miss Benson *

Larry Keating Lawrence Keating (June 13, 1899 – August 26, 1963) was an American actor best known for his roles as Harry Morton on ''The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show'', which he played from 1953 to 1958, and next-door neighbor Roger Addison on '' Mist ...

as Danny Cutler *

Hans Conried Hans Georg Conried Jr. (April 15, 1917 – January 5, 1982) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for providing the voices of George Darling and Captain Hook in Walt Disney's ''Peter Pan'' (1953), Snidely Whiplash in Jay Ward's '' Dud ...

as Mr. Sparrow *

Esther Dale Esther Dale (November 10, 1885 – July 23, 1961) was an American actress of the stage and screen. Early years Dale was born in Beaufort, South Carolina. She attended Leland and Gray Seminary in Townshend, Vermont. In Berlin, Germany, she stu ...

as Mrs. Boykin *

Jo Gilbert Joanne Lesley Gilbert (7 June 1955 – 15 September 2018) was an English film producer and casting director based in Holywood, near Belfast, Northern Ireland, and ran Real Holywood Productions. Career Producing At the time of her death, Jo G ...

as Gloria Source: ''The New York Times''

Crew

- film director *

Frances Goodrich Frances Goodrich (December 21, 1890 – January 29, 1984) was an American actress, dramatist, and screenwriter, best known for her collaborations with her partner and husband Albert Hackett. She received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with her h ...

- screenwriter *

Albert Hackett Albert Maurice Hackett (February 16, 1900 – March 16, 1995) was an American actor, dramatist and screenwriter most noted for his collaborations with his partner and wife Frances Goodrich. Early years Hackett was born in New York City, the s ...

- screenwriter *

Sam Zimbalist Sam Zimbalist (March 31, 1901 – November 4, 1958) was a Russian Empire born American film producer and film editor. Early life Born to a Ukrainian Jewish family, he arrived to the US in August 1914. He began his career at 16 as an office b ...

- film producer *

Frederick de Cordova Frederick Timmins de Cordova (October 27, 1910 – September 15, 2001) was an American stage, motion picture and television director and producer. He is best known for his work on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. Early life De Cordova ...

- film director * Everett Freeman - story author *

Joseph Ruttenberg Joseph Ruttenberg, A.S.C. (July 4, 1889 – May 1, 1983) was a Ukrainian-born American photojournalist and cinematographer. Ruttenberg was accomplished at winning accolades. At MGM, Ruttenberg was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinemat ...

- cinematographer *

Conrad A. Nervig Conrad Albinus Nervig (June 24, 1889 – November 26, 1980) was an American film editor with 81 film credits. He began work in 1922 at Goldwyn Pictures, and remained with the studio after its merger to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1924. He ...

film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film which increasingly involves the use of digital technology. The film ed ...

* Johnny Green - music director Source: ''The New York Times''

Reception

At the box office, ''Too Young to Kiss'' earned US$2.3million on a budget of $1.4M (equivalent to about $M and $M respectively in ). The '' Spartanburg Herald-Journal'' reported that ''Too Young to Kiss'' was critically acclaimed. Hal Erickson described the film as "fluff", and noted that despite retreading 1942's ''

The Major and the Minor ''The Major and the Minor'' is a 1942 American comedy film starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland. It was the first American film directed by Billy Wilder. The screenplay credited to Wilder and Charles Brackett is "suggested by" the 1923 play '' ...

'',

and

scriptwriting Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession. Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, devel ...

kept the material "fresh and funny throughout". On a four-star scale,

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...

rated the film at 2.5 stars, calling Allyson's Potter "fetching". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

however, was unimpressed with Allyson and Johnson's adolescent antics and the excessive suspension of disbelief required.

Awards

Five people who worked on ''Too Young to Kiss'' were nominated for film awards, with only Allyson winning hers.

Release

''Too Young to Kiss'' premiered in New York on November 22, 1951, and was distributed by Loew's Inc. In 2015, the film was available on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

References

External links

* * * * {{Robert Z. Leonard 1950s American films 1950s English-language films 1951 films 1951 comedy films American black-and-white films American comedy films films directed by Robert Z. Leonard films featuring a Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe winning performance Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films