Vacances à Venise

David Lean's film version of the Arthur Laurents Broadway play, THE TIME OF THE CUCKOO, which starred Shirley Booth, is a shimmering and beautiful valentine set in Venice, but one with a touch of realism.

Katharine Hepburn stars as a mousy secretary from Akron who saves for years to have an adventure. She's a spunky and self-sufficient gal who secretly yearns to find love. She arrives in Venice and is immediately under the city's spell even though she's always running into a crass, older couple from Illinois. As she wanders the city, she's befriended by a tough little boy who is savvy in the way of tourists and life.

She spots a man (Rossano Brazzi) several times in San Marco plaza and one day wanders into his shop to buy a red goblet. She is stunned that the owner is the same man. He pursues her but her puritanical streak flares up when she discovers he is unhappily married.

She discovers all sorts of things about the owner of the pensione (Isa Miranda) and other guests (Darren McGavin, Mari Aldon) and even herself when she finds out what she's willing to settle for.

The ending at the train station is beautifully shot and justifiably famous. Indeed, the entire film is an eyeful of beauty, and Venice, with its canals, bridges, and ancient towers is breathtaking. The film also contains the famous scene where Hepburn falls into the canal. In Kevin Brownlow's biography of David Lean, the director admits that there were nets in the water to prevent Hepburn from sinking to the bottom of the canal which was full of garbage.

This is a stunningly beautiful film, a romance for adults. with a slim story that boasts great performances from Hepburn and Brazzi. The supporting cast is also very good, including Jane Rose and MacDonald Parke as the tourists, Jeremy Spencer as Brazzi's son, Andre Morell as the man on the train, and Gaetano Autiero as the street kid.

Although Shirley Booth had originated the role on Broadway, she was considered too old for the movie version. Indeed, Ingrid Bergman and Olivia de Havilland were early front runners for the role of Jane. Others who expressed interest included Susan Hayward, Joan Fontaine, Bette Davis, Gloria Swanson, Dorothy McGuire, Rita Hayworth, Lizabeth Scott, and Jane Wyman.

Hepburn won an Oscar nomination for her work.

The picture deals with a attractive spinster secretary (Katherine Hepburn) from Ohio who goes to holiday and has ultimately made it to Venice , for her long-awaited dream . Never-married , likable middle-aged Jane is a self-described "independent type" who's content , or so she claims , to go it mostly solitary , wielding her movie camera throughout the city when she meets a antiques merchant (Rossano Brazzi) . Jane soon discovers that even in a town as marvelous and riveting as Venice , going it alone can still leave one feeling unfortunately alone . She's trapped in an idyllic romance until that's realised of the reality . She also befriends a helpful beggar boy who pursues her everywhere .

The film plot is plain and simple but abounds the surprises . The various highlights movie include : the spectacular downfall of Hepburn into the Venice canal or when the lovers watch how the flower dropped to water is going away and of course the sensitive and exciting final in the train and station . Impressive and breathtaking cinematography by Jack Hyldyard ; David Lean , in fact , had only used four photographers throughout his career . The other cameramen have been Guy Green , Ronald Neame and Freddie Young , everybody notorious color specialists . Katherine Hepburn's interpretation is top notch , she's sympathetic , romantic , attractive , memorable but also sad and vulnerable . Rossano Brazzi as a Latin lover is awesome . The support cast although relatively known -Darren McGavin, Isa Miranda , Marie Aldon- is very secondary , the film is principally interpreted by the excellent pair : Hepburn and Brazzi . Production set by Vincent Korda is spectacular , Korda is considered the greatest British designer . The motion picture is well directed by David Lean , author of many cinema classics . The picture will appeal to romantic movies fans . Rating : Above average . Well worth seeing .

The mood is leisurly, the pace deliberate, and the look of Venice is shimmering and magical. This "brief encounter" of an American spinster on vacation falling for a married, though separated, man is David Lean as his best. It is also one of Katherine Hepburn's lovely performances. Having read about production problems with this film, it became all the more remarkable to watch. To name a few, Hepburn suffered severe eye damage from her spill in the stagnant canal (in a remarkable shot without use of a double) and the stench from the waters aggravated ailments left over from her previous "African Queen." Also her private life during the filming mirrored the quiet desparation of the heroine, due to personal circumstances. Yet all of this is amazingly hidden through the skill of Director Lean and his camera crew. It's a Hepburn "spinster" role she played many times ("Alice Adams," "The Rainmaker") and no one could do it as convincingly. "Summertime" is a kind of film they don't make any more--and for good reason: they couldn't top it. Nor is there a "Hepburn" today able to carry a full production like this on her shoulders as effectively as this legendary actress.

Jane Hudson (Katherine Hepburn), a middle-aged American school teacher, arrives in Venice, fulfilling a lifelong dream… On her first evening, she has an encounter with Mauro, an enterprising little street child, who becomes her unofficial escort… But in the evening, while seating in a crowded café, she sees a handsome man in a gray flannel suit... Her first instinctive reaction was to oppose, pay the bill, escape, and keep out of sight...

The next evening, she sits alone to take a drink in the Piazza San Marco, but with a wandering eye… As the violins begin playing 'Summertime in Venice', Jane would turn away in a heart beat to see Renato passing by… To hide her anxiousness, she inclines the chair next to her, pretending that she is expecting a company... Jane has come to Venice to find a handsome, unmarried hero of her dreams... But she is furious and resentful... She really can't understand what she is doing...

The most advantageous thing about David Lean's 'Summertime' is its sensitive portrait of the loneliness that holds back the fancy secretary, a desperately single heroine whose search for romance and adventure is prevented less by cultural differences than by her own feeling defenses...

Hepburn is a pleasant tourist with great magnetism... Rossano Brazzi is too powerful, tempting and charming as Renato, the Venetian who couldn't catch a fallen white gardenia in one of the canals of his town

I've seen this movie quite a few times on televison, but during the 2003 60th Venice Film Festival I had the opportunity to see it on a big, big screen in a brand new copy.

Well, miss Hepburn's acting is breath taking, one of the few times she incarnates a woman so vulnerable, and she does it to perfection. And the tone and mood of the entire pic, while a little bit too "touristic", are absolutely sweet and romantic. I live in Venice, and can surely say that seeing what's on screen, I'm sure David Lean did fall in love with this city

Only one minor (really minor) flair: some scenes were filmed in winter, not in summer, since the Moors of San Marco Square's clock only appear once a year, at Christmas time (and seeing the movie on a big screen, it was possible to notice that while the Moors were striking the hours, people on the back ground, although out of focus, were wearing coats and furs)..