Search - Susan Slade on DVD

Old Fashion Romance and Drama

Cary Villarruel | Miami, Fl. USA | 04/03/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's a film of old fashion love that will never capture what is going on right now. Then one has to remember it was filmed in the 60's. Very refreshing for what we are wataching today."

"She always meant to hold them off. She never could until sh

Byron Kolln | the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood | 12/04/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"From 1959 to 1962, writer/director Delmer Daves had movie audiences crying and swooning with a cycle of lush teen romance titles (keeping heart-throb Troy Donahue in solid employment!), beginning with "A Summer Place", and continuing through "Parrish", "Susan Slade" and "Rome Adventure".

SUSAN SLADE (1961) was amongst the best of the bunch. A soapy tale of one girl's coming of age, it gave Connie Stevens the chance to prove her own dramatic worth--she'd previously played the love interest to Donahue earlier that same year in "Parrish"--and it also starred three more fine actors with solid Sixties Melodrama cred: Dorothy McGuire ("A Summer Place"), Lloyd Nolan ("Peyton Place"), and Brian Aherne ("The Best of Everything").

When Roger Slade (Nolan) retires from managing a mine in Chilé, he takes his wife Leah (McGuire) and daughter Susan (Stevens) back to the States for a new start. During the long sea voyage home, shy Susan experiences her first taste of love when she meets Conn (Grant Williams, "The Incredible Shrinking Man"), an adventurous young mountain climber. Once at home in Pebble Beach, Susan rejects advances from preppy family friend Wells (Bert Convy) as well as troubled stable-hand Hoyt (Donahue), holding fast to the day when Conn will return and marry her. But when tragic news arrives, Susan must face the horrible truth - she is going to have a baby out of wedlock...

This was indeed the "girly" answer to "Parrish", with Donahue this time supporting Stevens, just as she had done with him. They had a rare and remarkable chemistry and later appeared together again in the 1963 "Beach Party" knock-off, "Palm Springs Weekend". Dorothy McGuire and Lloyd Nolan add a great realism playing Susan's parents; the cast also includes Natalie Shafer and Kent Smith.

Sadly, the extras on the DVD are limited to the trailer. It would have been fantastic for Warners to have included an audio commentary with Ms Stevens."

Susan Slade

Helen Follett | Bristol, RI | 10/30/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I saw this movie as a young teenager with my girlfriends. Back then, our parents saw it first at the movies to ensure it was proper. The quality was excellent and I am pleased to have this in my movie library."