L'été magique

The decade that brought us the First World War may seem an odd subject for nostalgia, but "Summer Magic", like "On Moonlight Bay" from a few years earlier, is a film which tries to persuade us that, whatever may have been happening on the battlefields of Europe, the 1910s (or the "Ragtime Era" as many Americans called them) really were the time of a kinder, gentler America. (It is, apparently, a remake of a 1938 film called "Mother Carey's Chickens", which I have never seen). Margaret Carey, a recently widowed mother from Boston, is forced to move out of the family home when she discovers that her late husband was the victim of a fraudulent investment scheme. She and her three children, Nancy, Gilly and Peter, relocate to the small town of Beulah, Maine, where they rent a large yellow house. (Gilly- pronounced with a hard "G"- is a boy, not a girl. The name is presumably short for Gilbert, but this is never actually made clear).

There are two main plot lines. The first revolves around the family's friendship with Ossian ("Osh") Popham, the agent for their rather mysterious landlord Mr Hamilton. The kindly Osh is more than just a letting agent; he is also the town's storekeeper and general odd-job- man. The second plot line deals with the visit of the Careys' spoilt, snobbish cousin Julia and the mutual dislike which grows up between her and Nancy, especially when they fall for the same man.

This was the fourth of six films which Hayley Mills made for Walt Disney Productions. Hayley was, of course, originally from England, but during this period of her career was most often cast (as here) as an American, even though she had trouble managing a convincing American accent. (Here she attempts to sound more American by shortening the long "a" vowels, but this only makes her sound closer to Boston, Lincolnshire than to Boston, Massachusetts). This did not, however, affect her popularity, and she became possibly the most popular teenage star of the sixties. In Britain she tended to be cast in more serious roles ("Tiger Bay", "Whistle Down the Wind", "The Chalk Garden"), but most of her American films were comedies, of which this is a good example. It is also a good example of just what made Hayley so popular in her day- her wonderful liveliness and vivaciousness, combined with a gift for conveying sweetness and innocence. By 1963, when she would have been seventeen, she performed a sort of dual role for Disney. To the older generation she was the daughter they wished they had. To boys, she was the girlfriend they wished they had, a sex symbol in the nicest possible way.

Dorothy McGuire, looking much younger than her 47 years, is good as Margaret, as is Deborah Walley as the insufferable Julia. The other performance which stands out, however, is from Burl Ives as the warm- hearted, if occasionally devious, Osh. Ives had originally made his name as a folk-singer, but later became a successful actor, both on Broadway and in the cinema. I had previously associated him with serious dramas such as "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "The Big Country", but here he shows that he could do light comedy as well.

The film is also a musical with several songs, although none of them rally stand out apart from "The Ugly Bug Ball", which was a favourite of mine as a child. (I had no idea at the time that it was from a film). The plot at times becomes a bit hard to follow, especially the various machinations involving Osh and Mr Hamilton, and the ending seems a bit too abrupt. Overall, however, the film's cheerful atmosphere and the contributions of Mills and Ives make this a watchable example of warm- hearted Disney family entertainment. 7/10

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.

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"

Many films are criticized for what they are not, rather than what they are. "Summer Magic" is not a critical, gritty look at the turn-of-the-century life in rural Maine. It is a good-natured, fun film that you don't have to worry about letting your children watch. Hayley Mills is a delight as the ever-optimistic Nancy Carey who misrepresents her family's situation in order to win the sympathy of Mr. Popham, a rural Maine postmaster, general store owner, sheriff, etc. who allows them to rent a house he doesn't own. The plot is complicated by the unanticipated visit of Nancy's snobby cousin, Julia, the dour nagging of Mr. Popham's doom-and-gloom wife, Mariah, and the ultimate arrival of the house's true owner at a most inconvenient moment. Burl Ives as the laconically good-natured Mr. Popham is a absolute treat to watch. And the climax of the film (which I won't reveal here)makes me laugh out loud no matter how many times I've seen it. Those looking for a good family film should look no further.

My sister and I discovered this movie at least 20 years ago, and fell in love with it instantly. It is just utterly delightful. Hayley Mills plays the oldest daughter of a newly impoverished family that moves to an old yellow house in Maine. Dorothy McGuire plays the widowed mother; Burl Ives is at his incomparable best in the role of Osh Popham, the town's general factotum married to what has to be the gloomiest woman in the state of Maine, if not the United States. Based on the book "Mother Carey's Chickens," by Kate Douglas Wiggin, the story was well adapted for the screen, maintaining the integrity and heart of the novel while making the cast a little more manageable. This truly is a feel good movie that you'll want to add to your collection.