Age difference unsettling
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wlp325 — 10 years ago(March 04, 2016 07:49 PM)
In the review of Broken Arrow (1950) by The MovieScene, I found the following:
"But the thing is that whilst Stewart was perfectly cast and gives the most relaxed performance out of the cast, the fact that Stewart was 25 years older than love interest Sonseeahray, played by 16 year old Debra Paget feels just a little bit too wrong."
Apparently you're not alone. Having watched and enjoyed the picture several times, I had no trouble with the on-screen relationship between Tom Jeffords and Sonseeahray, and am surprised to learn Debra Paget was only 16 during the film's production. I thought she was perhaps 20 and made-up to appear as a young Chiricahua Apache.
Rest in peace, Roger Ebert. You were the best. -
jodysanchez — 10 years ago(March 04, 2016 09:28 PM)
I suppose the reason I was unsettled, it was because I knew her age prior to watching the movie. Had I not; I may not have felt quite so uneasy. Still, to me she just looked way too young to be fondled by Stewart.
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Captain_Augustus_McCrae — 9 years ago(October 12, 2016 08:40 AM)
Stewart is playing a mid-twenties aged character, while Paget's character is supposed to be 16 or so. Is a 9-10 year age difference really that shocking?
"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae -
hoosier95-551-986445 — 9 years ago(November 09, 2016 09:39 AM)
What everybody fails to realize is the time frame the movie takes place. Get past the modern way of thinking about age and age difference and look at it from the time period the movie takes place. In the culture at that time she could have been married and had a child at 13 or 14. Age differences were also not a big deal either. It was one of 2 things, love or a matter of convenience.
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bastasch8647 — 9 years ago(November 19, 2016 08:35 PM)
Not at all unsettling, but rather completely appropriate and fitting for the two characters as depicted. And not a hint of pedophilia, which is an attraction to pre-pubescent children, whereas Paget/Sonseearay was, at 15, fully a woman and fully functioning adult member of her tribe.