As Boys Grow... (1957)

★★★★★ · Remarkable · arteitle · 2002-09-19

Having just watched Molly go through her first period, and the solemnity with which this event was treated, I was really surprised at how honest and open "As Boys Grow" was for its time. While the acting or the naivete of the boys may seem a bit unrealistic now, the film still gets high marks for its frankness and completeness.

★★★★★ · Was I ever that young and innocent? · randomc · 2005-09-11

I found myself smiling at the end of this film, the innocence of kids, still more interested in sports and simple fun than in "doing it". Sweet, but not cloying. Pity about the acting, but really, could any of us have managed as well at that age, considering the subject matter? I would never have been able to get most of those lines out! I wish they had used this film for "sex ed" when I was in school. It would have certainly cleared up a few things when I was that age. We got the egg-fertilization-with-incomprehensible-diagram class (what? mention masturbation in a Texas school, are you…

★★★★★ · Straight talk about sex · rcfuzz · 2003-02-18

Living in this day and age of pedifiles, I was waiting for the coach to start hitting on one of the boys. But there's no such nonsense here. The Coach does a great job as a surrogate father teaching the boys on his team about human reproduction and male sexuality. This film would have come in very handy a few years ago when I gave my son "the talk." The information is presented in a very straight forward, non-judgemental way. Despite a little campiness, this film can still be a valid tool to teach kids about sex. Worth watching, especially for parents.

★★★★★ · Boys have penis's · MediaWhore · 2004-11-28

I love the scene where the coach is explaining about how a man ejaculates after he has an erection and a shy student raises his hand to ask "that doesnt happen everytime does it?".

★★★★★ · Never had the movie, just a book · Trio33 · 2006-03-25

We never had a nice laid back movie like this to watch in sex ed class, just a weird book to read. Much better in a movie.

★★★★★ · Lost in the Fifties · Dudley Duright · 2009-01-18

I was 15 in 1957, when this film was made. I was a student at the newest public high school in my city, and it had the most advanced, up to date curriculum available at the time except for any form of sex education. Being in the "bible belt" part of the country, sexuality as subject matter in schools was strictly taboo. All that having been said, for years I was haunted with the fear of blindness or mental incapacity due to frequent masturbation. That fear and other phobias based on my sexuality could have been prevented from ever occurring had open discussions about male/female sexuality…