The Group (1966)

There's an old joke that goes "When I saw the pennant on her wall, I said to her 'If you really went to Vassar, what are you doing in a whorehouse?' 'Just lucky' she replied."  I can tell this one since it is where to I went to college and this film based on the novel by well-known alumna, Mary McCarthy, tells of eight friends from the class of 1933 (a bit before my time) as they are about to graduate and take on the world in the run-up to the Second World War.  While it could be considered something of a potboiler, it is actually quite advanced for its time and touches on frigidity, contraception, lesbianism, unfaithfullness, mental illness, and just about every "wimmin's" issue you could imagine.  And it boasts a remarkable cast of young actors and actresses, many of whom went on to define movies over the next two decades, including the feature debuts of Candace Bergen, Joan Hackett (a lovely comedienne who died far too young), Joanna Pettet, Kathleen Widdoes, and Hal Holbrook.  The only problem for me was seeing Richard Mulligan as a feckless bohemian since to me he will always remain Bert from "Soap".  But I thoroughly enjoyed watching this one again, as it brought back so many memories of a very special time and of the young women with whom I spent those important college years.

Tags: Vassar College