Peter Kastner stars as Bernard Chanticleer, the “big boy” of the title, who works for his father I.C. Chanticleer at the New York Public Library and, to his mother’s dismay, has recently moved from the family home in Great Neck to an apartment in the city. Bernard’s parents are played by real life husband and wife Rip Torn and Geraldine Page (who received one of her many Oscar nominations for her role in this movie). Julie Harris is a hoot as Bernard’s landlady Miss Thing (yes, that is the character’s name!) Miss Thing has a rooster that keeps young women from entering her apartment building. Mrs. Chanticleer likes that. Her Bernard is too young for girls! (He’s 19.)
Early in the movie, Bernard becomes infatuated with an actress named Barbara Darling, played by Elizabeth Hartman. He first sees her when she visits the library wearing a yellow mini-dress. Later, during F.N. (family night) with his parents, he sees her again in an off-Broadway play, which inspires him to write her a letter. Elizabeth Hartman is probably best known for her role as the timid blind girl in A PATCH OF BLUE, but she must have tapped some aspects of her own personality to bring the boldly sensual Barbara Darling to life in such a vivid way. Although Bernard is the focus of the movie, Elizabeth Hartman received top billing. We’re given insight into Barbara’s background when she dictates her memoirs (“the story of a star before she happens”) to her “confidant” played by Michael Dunn. This is one of my favorite sequences of the movies, especially her recount of her experiences with the albino hypnotherapist with the wooden leg (which she stole and keeps in her apartment). I also love it when she she bites the tongue of the fellow actor who slips it to her when they kiss as part of a play performance.
Karen Black plays sweet Amy Partlett, who also works at the library and is crushing on Bernard. Poor Amy! When Bernard takes her on a date, Barbara Darling is the go-go dancer at the club where they go. And later when Bernard kisses Amy in Times Square, the lighted signs all say BARBARA. Karen Black’s role in YOU’RE A BIG BOY NOW was her first in a major movie. She would go on to work with other major figures of the New Hollywood movement, appearing in Dennis Hopper’s EASY RIDER, Bob Rafelson’s FIVE EASY PIECES and Robert Altman’s NASHVILLE Although Amy is the “good girl” compared to the toxic Barbara Darling, she lets Bernard know that she wants him to take her to his apartment. But Miss Thing’s rooster is standing guard!
The songs in the movie were written by John Sebastian and were performed by his band the Lovin’ Spoonful. “Girl, Beautiful Girl (Barbara’s Theme)” is heard during the opening credits. The title song underscores Bernard happily roller skating through Manhattan after he receives a response to his letter to Barbara. “Darling, Be Home Soon,” my favorite song from the soundtrack, is playing on a record player in Barbara’s apartment the first night that Bernard visits her.
Coppola’s screenplay was adapted from a novel by British writer David Benedictus. Coppola moved the setting from London to New York City. I could see Julie Christie as Barbara Darling if John Schlesinger had adapted Benedictus’s book into a London-set movie. Benedictus’s Bernard worked in the shoe department of a department store, but Coppola’s Bernard works in the New York Public Library. Tony Bill brought the book to Coppola with the hope of playing Bernard. Coppola, however, cast Peter Kastner in the title role and Tony Bill as Bernard’s co-worker at the library.
The movie has so many fun moments. Some of my favorites:
• The reaction of Miss Thing (Julie Harris) to I.H. Chanticleers "private collection" of erotica in his secret room in the NYPL
• Bernard’s names for people’s faces (“Bobby Benzadream,” “Lonely Lozenges”)
• Bernard’s tie getting caught in the Times Square arcade peep show (Fortunately Amy arrives with a pair of scissors.)
• The chase sequence with the Gutenberg Bible that culminates in Mays Department Store.* Was that really Geraldine Page running down the streets of Manhattan with a sheep dog or a stand-in?
*The first time I saw the movie I thought it was Macy’s but later learned it was the Manhattan location of the now defunct Mays. If I listen carefully, I hear an announcer say, “Please be sure to visit Mays boutique department” at one point.
