Verano de amor

This movie has only one thing on its naughty little mind - sex. There are those who are getting it, those who aren't getting it but want it, and those who aren't getting it and are pretending they don't want it. One character in the latter category bandies words like "slut" and "harlot" about freely, but she didn't fool me. The four adults have managed to screw up their relationships, but the two very cute teenagers, played by Sandra Dee and Troy Donohue, look as if they'll get by okay if they just follow their hearts. I can't pretend that this is a great movie, but I had fun watching it. That's because the dialogue is way over the top and the actors deliver it with relish. In particular, Constance Ford (as Dee's evil, neurotic mom) and Arthur Kennedy (as Donohue's drunken sot of a dad) get all the best verbal poison arrows, and some of them are quite funny (sometimes unintentionally so). At one point Dee asks Donohue straight out: "Have you been bad with other girls?" That's the temper of the screenplay - everybody says precisely what's on their minds. I have to give the film credit for depicting the utter helplessness of adults in trying to manage their children's lives. Richard Egan and Dorothy McGuire (as lovely as ever) try to behave with stoic dignity which is hard to do when you're sneaking out to the boathouse for a midnight rendezvous and maybe a little you-know-what. The Technicolor location photography is very beautiful, with California doubling, I hear, for New England. And I enjoyed the costumes (okay, okay, I also enjoyed what was in them).

I saw A Summer Place for the first time very recently, and one thing that really struck me was just how gutsy Constance Ford's portrayal of Helen Jorgenson was. Not many actors can pull off a character who has absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Most actors would pressure the director and writer into giving their characters at least a small bit of sympathy, but Ford was excellent at playing someone thoroughly bad.

I'm sure she got static for her portrayal when she visited the supermarket or whatever in her daily life.

I'm not kidding, Bruno Ganz' portrayal of Adolf Hitler in Der Untergang/Downfall was more sympathetic and likable than Constance's portrayal of Helen.

Ken and Helen Jorgenson (Richard Egan and Constance Ford) have a dead marriage. They haven't slept together for years, by her request. Helen is also a spiteful, nasty bigot who tries to indoctrinate to her daughter, Molly (Sandra Dee), that sex is dirty and evil. This highly dysfunctional and sad lot are on vacation at Pine Island, Maine...a place where Ken was a lifeguard two decades ago. There is more to the history of Pine Island than that, however, as Ken had once had an affair with a girl, Sylvia Hunter (Dorothy McGuire). Now Sylvia and her husband, Bart (Arthur Kennedy), run a hotel on the island...the hotel where the Jorgensons are coming for their summer vacation. As for the Hunters, Bart is an alcoholic and has checked out of his marriage from the very beginning. Not surprisingly, Ken and Sylvia are miserable and fall back in love. What is a bit surprising is that their children, Molly and Johnny Hunter (Troy Donahue) have fallen in love as well.

The writers and filmmakers did a great job of showing how adultery and premarital sex are NOT necessarily black & white issues. In the case of Sylvia and Ken, both have been emotionally abandoned by their selfish and detestable partners. And, in the case of Molly and Johnny, they are normal hot-blooded teens who have been thrust together by Molly's mother and her rants about the evils of sex. So, it's all very understandable...and all very, very risqué for 1959. But because the story is so well written and the production so glossy, it makes difficult moral issues and choices much more palatable--and provide for a lot to consider. It also makes for a wonderful film for young married couples to watch...sort of a morality tale about what NOT to do!

A highlight of this film is the speech Ken makes to Helen early in the film...about her many, many, many prejudices. According to IMDb, the crowd at one performance gave it a standing ovation! A very powerful scene indeed.

Overall, this film has many strong scenes, excellent acting, nice music and all the gloss a Hollywood production could have. It also has quite a bit of depth and raises many interesting issues...making it perhaps the best soap opera movie of the day. And, fortunately, while the film might seem a tad dated (such as the custody arrangements), it also is timeless with its themes.

Saw this film when I was about 12 - fell for the older Richard Egan..not Troy Donahue. Richard Egan MADE THIS MOVIE (for ME anyway.)

Have this film on tape-enjoy it each time I watch it again. The theme music is good, the scenery and color are beautiful (for l959).

Dorothy McGuire did an excellent job as the wife of an alcoholic and Constance Ford was convincing as the wife of a man she could not "make happy....or herself."

Troy Donahue did a good job...after all he had not had much experience at this time. (Some moments...yes, he was a bit "stiff".) I thought the beautiful, young Sandra Dee did a wonderful job. I am a huge fan of hers and have enjoyed Sandra Dee in each of her films. She and Troy had some "silly" lines but afterall, it WAS 1959.

This is a movie for sentimental souls. It's for people who are smart enough to recognize that some lines and scenes ARE SILLY...but realize that the majority of this film is worth watching over...and over...and over again.

Any female whose "HEART JUST DOES NOT STOP" when the handsome RICHARD EGAN walks into a room is DEAD ALREADY!!! He was SUCH a handsome man.

He always seemed to be such a "decent" sort of individual as well.

If you want to e-mail IF YOU ARE A RICHARD EGAN FAN OR SANDRA DEE FAN...PLEASE DO SO. WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU.

ROBBY

This was an OK movie. The big draw was Troy Donahue in his first starring film role. A fine looking young Sandra Dee was also a big draw, although not as big as Donahue. I remember that I was a lad in high school when the film was released and all of the girls raved about the fantastic looking blonde wonder boy, Troy Donahue. Whenever one of the guys started acting a little too cool, he was brought quickly back to reality with the question, "Who do you think you are? Troy Donahue?" The Theme song of the movie was played by Percy Faith and his orchestra and was called simply "Theme from a Summer Place" and was on the pop charts for months. Guys loved the song as much as girls because it had a slow and lilting rhythm that even the most awkward oaf could dance to and the girls just loved to be held tightly when it was playing. The scenery was delightful as the film was shot at the seashore where there was lots of water, sand and lush greenery. The plot was fairly comprehensive and involved affairs and marital deceit compounded by the love that developed between Troy and Sandra's characters. All in all not a bad movie, certainly worth the 45 cents admission that I paid to see it in 1959.