''The Impossible Years'' is a 1968 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 ...

directed by Michael Gordon, and starring

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in '' Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

Lola Albright Lola Jean Albright (July 20, 1924 – March 23, 2017) was an American singer and actress, best known for playing the sultry singer Edie Hart, the girlfriend of private eye Peter Gunn, on all three seasons of the TV series ''Peter Gunn''. Early ...

, Chad Everett,

Ozzie Nelson Oswald George Nelson (March 20, 1906 – June 3, 1975) was an American actor, director, producer, screenwriter, musician, composer, conductor and bandleader. He originated and starred in '' The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'', a radio and te ...

Cristina Ferrare Cynthia Cristina Ferrare (born 1950) is an American former fashion model, actress, author and talk-show host. She had lead roles in several films in the late-1960s and early-1970s, including the comedy '' The Impossible Years'' and the Western f ...

, Gale Dixon and

Darlene Carr Darleen Carr (born Darlene Farnon) is an American actress, singer, and voice-over artist. She is also known as Darlene Carr or Darleen Drake. She has two sisters, both actresses ( Shannon Farnon and Charmian Carr). Early years Carr was born i ...

. It is based upon the 1965 play of the same name, and was adapted for the screen by George Wells. The eponymous theme song was written by

The Tokens The Tokens were an American doo-wop band and record production company group from Brooklyn, New York City. The group has had four top 40 hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, all in the 1960s, their biggest being the chart-topping 1961 hit si ...

and performed by

The Cowsills The Cowsills are an American singing group from Newport, Rhode Island, six siblings noted for performing professionally and singing harmonies at an early age, later with their mother. The band was formed in early 1965 by brothers Bill, Bob, and ...

Plot

Jonathan Kingsley, an author of numerous books on parenting, is a professor of psychiatry at the local university. He and wife Alice are raising two teenage daughters; the elder, Linda, 17, begins to display uncharacteristic behavior: walking as if on air, smiling incessantly for no reason, cleaning up her room daily, showing politeness toward her little sister, and more. It is suspected that she has lost her virginity while on a school field trip to Catalina Island, and Kingsley's general practitioner confirms this. Linda, while being interrogated, admits as much, and she reveals that she is married. She insists on concealing the identity of her husband until the film's surprising conclusion.

Cast

Production

MGM bought the film rights to the play in 1965 for $350,000. George Wells completed the script by March 1966. MGM announced it for production in August 1966. The movie was greenlit by the team of Robert O'Brien and Robert M. Weitman. Filming took place in October 1967. At one stage,

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

was announced for the lead but by May, David Niven had been signed. Christina Ferrare, who played Niven's nubile daughter, had been under contract to 20th Century Fox for a year. The film featured the final movie performance of Ozzie Nelson.

Release

''The Impossible Years'' premiered at New York City's Radio City Music Hall on December 5, 1968.

Box office

The film was a box-office hit, earning $5.8 million in rentals in North America, making it the 17th most popular movie at the U.S. box office in 1969.

Critical response

Critical reaction to ''The Impossible Years'' was overwhelmingly negative. In 1970, it was reported Jackie Cooper and Bob Finkel had written a pilot script for a TV adaptation of the play for NBC.

Home media

The

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

released ''The Impossible Years'' on an

MOD Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...

DVD-R on May 16, 2011.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Impossible Years, The 1968 films 1968 comedy films 1960s coming-of-age comedy films American coming-of-age comedy films American films based on plays Films directed by Michael Gordon Films scored by Don Costa Films set in universities and colleges Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films with screenplays by George Wells 1960s English-language films 1960s American films