The plot has rich man Mitchum run around town sleeping with anything that moves, being shot at occasionally by irate husbands/fathers, showing more affection for his hunting dogs and bastard son (Peppard) than his wife who won't sleep with him (Parker) and whimpy legitimate son (Hamilton). Mitchum is effective and very believable as a boozy basically useless rich man mainly interested in hedonism - his death is no real tragedy in my book. (Okay, they hint at a reconciliation with Parker but how long does anyone think that will last?) Parker looks too young to be Hamilton's mother but this was Hollywood; she gets a big monologue with goes on for far too long.
The two young man parts are dreams. Peppard comes off the better of the two as the tough, brave, smart but poor bastard son - he's not bitter about his upbringing and actually bonds well with Hamilton. He marries the cute girl Hamilton has knocked up, doesn't seem to resent Mitchum and invites Parker to help him raise Hamilton's child. Actually writing that he seems too good to be true but Peppard's playing doesn't make it seem that way. (I like the scene where Peppard visits his wife in bed and he's in pyjamas with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth).
Hamilton is less impressive - his inexperience is all too evident in what is a challenging role - but the role carries him along: highly strung, spoilt, neurotic, but also basically decent (once he finds out about Peppard he insists Mitchum take him in) with a strong motivation for this actions (he loathes his upbringing so doesn't want a wife or kids... which is why he abandons his girlfriend). And he has some good moments. As if to compensate, Hamilton walks around bare-chested a lot.
This goes on too long - two and a half hours - and is at it's core a soapy story but it's an effective one, and a good example that MGM knew how to make films for the teen audience.
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