Little Darlings (1980)

★ 6.5 1h 35m IMDb

Comedy Drama

Two 15-year-old girls from different sides of the tracks compete to see who will be first to lose their virginity while at camp.

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Cast

Tatum O'Neal as Ferris Age 62 · Los Angeles, California, USA Tatum Beatrice O'Neal (born November 5, 1963) is an American actress best known for her film work as a child actress in the 1970s. She is the youngest to win a competitive Academy Award, at the age of...

Kristy McNichol as Angel Age 63 · Los Angeles, California, USA Christina Ann "Kristy" McNichol (born September 11, 1962) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Leticia “Buddy” Lawrence on the television drama series Family and as Barbara West...

Armand Assante as Gary Age 76 · New York City, New York, USA Armand Anthony Assante (born October 4, 1949) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as mobster John Gotti in the 1996 HBO television film Gotti, Nietzsche in When Nietzsche Wept and Mic...

Matt Dillon as Randy Age 62 · New Rochelle, New York, USA Matthew Raymond "Matt" Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor and film director. He began his acting career in the late 1970s and quickly rose to fame as a teenage idol in the 1980s. Dil...

Margaret Blye as Ms. Bright Died 2016 · Houston, Texas, USA Margaret Jane Blye (October 24, 1942 – March 24, 2016) was an American actress, also sometimes billed as Margaret Bly. Early in her career, she appeared in a number of popular television series includ...

Director Ronald F. Maxwell

Cast Tatum O'Neal, Kristy McNichol, Armand Assante, Matt Dillon, Margaret Blye, Nicolas Coster, Krista Errickson, Alexa Kenin, Abby Bluestone, Cynthia Nixon

Wuchak 7/10 Oct 21, 2018

***A fun romp about girls wanting to lose their virginity… or something deeper?***

At summer camp in the eastern USA, two girls (Kristy McNichol and Tatum O’Neal) have a contest regarding who will lose their virginity first. Angel (McNichol) sets her eyes on a cool kid (Matt Dillon) at the boys’ camp across the lake while Ferris (O’Neal) pursues an older camp counselor (Armand Assante).

This is a coming-of-age drama with some amusing touches, similar to “The Summer of ’42” (1971), except that it involves a group of girls during the summer of 1979 (when the film was shot). The first half has the girls meet at the buses, which take them to the camp, and the typical shenanigans thereof: Rivalry, friendship, borrowing a bus, meeting guys, stealing condoms, a food fight, swimming, canoeing and so on. It’s similar to “Meatballs” (1979) and all-around routine, although somewhat entertaining. My attention perked up in the second half where I found I had stumbled upon drama at its finest.

Despite the set-up of the wager to see who can lose their virginity first, “Little Darlings” doesn't treat sex lightly. The scene where one of the girls says to a boy before (maybe) having sex for the first time: "Right now. Do you care about me a little?" This shows how little a gal will ask from a dude before giving it up.

Her tears after the fact are also an authentic reaction, not to mention thoroughly convincing. It drove home the point that sex was a big deal and not something of which to take lightly. This is followed by the interesting irony of what the two girls TELL their friends and, even better, Angel & Ferris’ potent meeting at the swing set with its refreshing transparency. The final scene and closing still are heartwarming as “Let Your Love Flow” by the Bellamy Brothers plays over the credits.

I know a lot of people see this flick as little more than a fun summer camp romp, like “Meatballs,” but those scenes are superb and represent drama & cinema at their finest.

The movie runs 1 hour, 36 minutes and was shot at Hard Labor Creek State Park, Rutledge, Georgia, as well as nearby Covington, Madison and Eatonton, Georgia.

GRADE: B