Summer of '42 (1971)
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Romance
wmcclain — 2 years ago(April 26, 2023 11:32 AM)
Summer of '42 (1971)
, directed by Robert Mulligan.
During summer vacation on "the Island", a teenaged boy falls in love at a distance with a married young woman, a neighbor. When her husband goes off to war he may be able to spend time with her. They are only a few years apart in age, but that is a gulf of experience and maturity. Raging hormones and earnest adoration make for pain and confusion. As they say: it's complicated.
Adolescents understand that lust and love are different things, but that doesn't mean they are easy to untangle. Our hero struggles.
A good bit: dating girls their own age, the boys try furtive groping in the dark theater while elegant Bette Davis and Paul Henreid are projected in
Now, Voyager (1942)
.
Also the reminder of those days when a glimpse of the loved one seemed a bit of heaven.
And something you find in literature more often than in films: people sometimes have sex to assuage grief.
The coming of age story is a well-worn genre. This was the blockbuster entry of the early 1970s, earning 30x its budget. Michel Legrand's theme song became an omnipresent standard, the ambient background music of those years. The lyrics are not used in the film: "The summer smiles / The summer knows / And unashamed / She sheds her clothes…"
Jennifer O'Neill (23) is lovely as a dream. She insisted on no nudity in the film. I know her name better than her filmography, recalling her clearly only from Cronenberg's
Scanners (1981)
. She did quite a lot of TV work.
Photographed by Robert Surtees, a soft look. The outdoor scenes seem particularly hazy and I wonder if there isn't something about Mendocino, standing in for Nantucket.
Dead & Buried (1981)
was also filmed there and has that same soft atmosphere.
Available on Blu-ray from Warner Archive.
Capsule film reviews:
Strange Picture Scroll -
Paul P. Powell — 7 months ago(August 31, 2025 10:49 PM)
Following up:
Really glad to see this flick cited here.
It is drawn from a novel which was in turn drawn from the writer's true-life experiences as a teen on the eastern seaboard –the American homefront –during the war. Too young to enlist.
Herman Rauscher or Rausch I believe his name was. Anyway –released in '71, beating
'American Graffitti
' by two years, it was a sleeper that caught Hollywood and audiences unaware.
Came outta left field. Came outta nowhere.
Launched the career of a good young actor –Gary Grimes –and made starlet Jennifer O'Neil a household word.
Basically, gave her her entire career. She was just another random fashion model before this role.
Undeniably, she was possessed of an ethereal beauty at the time; and yep the whole movie is rather misty and gauzy and dreamlike.
Budget:
I haven't checked but I reckon the flick was probably made for $4m. That was teh typical cost for a low-budget film at the time
(it is a financial model which both Spielberg & Lucas urge Hollywood to return to, today).
Roger Corman objected to it as well, when he temporarily joined the big boys to helm
'The St Valentine's Day Massacre'
He could likely direct as many as eight movies for $4m.
One more item: a 'big' movie in '71 might still only cost $10m to make.
How unlike today.
Such ridiculously low prices allowed big studios to release a wide variety of pictures. Little comedies, little dramas –big on acting and something-for-everybody. It was glory days.
Admittedly, it all eventually led to disaster –in two words,
"Heaven's Gate".
Revenue:
Anyway.
"Summer of '42
" raking in $30m [or however much it recouped], was proof of the lucrative cost model.
In return for this rare era of fiscal wisdom in Hollywood, audiences got fabulous sleepy little gems like this.
Arguably, "
Summer of '42"
broke the ground for the entire genre which followed after. I myself can't think of a single coming-of-age flick releaed before this one, which was anywhere near as triumphant.
There was simply a reticence in all (or most) prior movies, to treat the topic of underage sex.
A must-see for anyone interested in young love. Thanks for posting about it!
Paul P. Powell, Pool Player