Summer Magic

This movie (based on a book called Mother Carey's Chickens) is for anyone who spent their Sunday nights watching The Wonderful World of Disney while growing up and wants to share that same feeling with their own children. Turn on the closed caption, gather up your little girls and sing along with the movie.

The Carey family is saved from having to live in "a hovel...that's not in a very nice neighborhood, either" by a mysterious "Mr. Hamilton" via the town postmaster/constable/general store owner Osiam Poppham. The eldest daughter Nancy's (Hayley Mills) boundless enthusiasm and interaction with a fun assortment of characters such as a homeless cousin that "Thinks she's the pink of perfection" to Mrs. Poppham (Una Merkle-whom Hayley Mills fans will recognize from the original Parent Trap movie) who believes in a "good solid black cloud with no silver linings"

Excellent movie, if you liked Hayley Mills in PollyAnna, look no further. This movie exhibits family values and basic human kindness amid the traditional Disney music and humor. There's nothing wrong with some simplicity and optimism. Today we can use them. Burl Ives and Dorothy McGuire are absolutely wonderful. The story is endearing and the life lessons are timeless. This is a classic. Many thanks to the Hallmark Channel for bringing it to us. I don't recall seeing it when I was growing up, but at 45, its never to late to enjoy vintage Disney. Maybe today's Disney execs should review their history for future successes. I highly recommend it.

This movie is a remake of a movie called Mother Carey's Chickens (1938) Anne Shirley as Nancy Carey, Ruby Keeler as Kitty Carey, James Ellison as Ralph Thurston, Fay Bainter as Mrs. Carey, Walter Brennan as Mr. Popham, and Donnie Dunagan as Peter Carey.

Both are really good family movies. Summer Magic is more on the musical end and Mother Carey's Chickens is more of the romance side. Both have a lot of love, kindness and care one for another.

What a little pearl of a movie! No smut, no foul language, no violence...just good clean shenanigans. They don't make them like this any more, and it's a shame. Haley Mills is as sweet and feisty as can be, and all the supporting players do good jobs. But for me the real star of the movie is Burl Ives. His down-home folksiness is just perfect for the role of the good-hearted Osh. His singing is timeless. Seeing this movie makes me want to fire up the time machine.

I have fond memories of watching this movie on TV when I was about 7 years old. Looking back on it now, it's pretty typical Disney family-fare from the early 60s. Hayley Mills is cute, as usual, as the older sister in the Carey family. Eddie Hodges is not bad either as her brother. Burl Ives is enjoyable. His "Ugly Bug Ball" sequence with little Jimmy Mathers is cute, corny and memorable. Deborah Walley is fun as cousin Julia, and it's fun to see her and Mills irritating each other. There are some cute songs in here, by the Sherman brothers, but you have to wonder what they were thinking when they wrote them. In addition to the aforementioned "Ugly Bug Ball", we have two of the oddest inclusions in the Disney catalog: "Femininity" (where Walley and Mills teach Wendy Turner how to act like a woman!) and "The Pink of Perfection" (Mills' and Hodges' duet, in reference to Walley's snooty character).

Harmless, good, clean fun for the most part, but not in the same league as "Mary Poppins".