Summer Of 42 (1971) This one cleverly followed the marketing path taken by the previous year's read-the-book-see-the-movie sensation Love Story (1970).....which turned tear-inducing kitsch into a box office bonanza.
Warner Brothers convinced screenwriter Herman Raucher to novelize his script before it ever went before the cameras. Sure enough, the book-movie, an overly sentimental, nostalgia-drenched recollection of Raucher's sexual initiation at the hands of a grieving World War 2 widow, hit the bestseller lists. Ka-ching, ki-ching.
Eventually the film version arrived to the delight of a pre-sold audience eager to see the tale play out on the big screen. Ever so gently directed by Robert Mulligan ("To Kill A Mockingbird") and smeared with soft focus golden brown hues by cinematographer Robert Surtees, the movie hit the sweet spot for audiences looking to escape into a simpler, more morally clear era.
And who could forget Michel Legrand's achingly sad theme music that played throughout the entire film? (Later to become a hit song.)
As he did in "To Kill A Mockingbird", once again director Mulligan coaxed endearing performances out of young inexperienced actors, in this case Gary Grimes, Jerry Hauser and Oliver Conant. The boys played three teens spending a long, bored 1942 summer on Nantucket island....while a world war raged around the globe.
Grimes character 'Hermie' a teen version of Herman Raucher is the sensitive soul of the trio and he's captivated by beautiful newlywed Dorothy (Jennifer O' Neill) who's just said her goodbyes to her Army recruit husband as he ships out to join the fight overseas.
In between the expected scenes of adolescent hormonal horseplay among his two pals, Hermie strikes up an overly polite, but none the less adorable friendship with the kind, lonely Dorothy. When she receives the dreaded telegrammed news of her husband's combat death, she's devastated .......and as a momentary escape in a cloud of crushing grief, she takes Hermie to her bedroom, losing herself to sex as Hermie loses his virginity......
If this all sounds too fairy tale unbelievable and far-fetched, well.....sure it is. But Robert Mulligan stages this sequence with such an ever so careful,, delicate touch, he made audiences believe it, even as film critics and other professional cynics mocked it.
For the record, Herman Raucher later admitted that in reality, the young widow was so drunk and distraught at the time, she probably didn't even realize what she was doing......or to whom she was doing it to. Maybe a more gritty director than Mulligan could've filmed it that way, but he'd need a far better actress than Jennifer O'Neill, who came from fashion modeling. (Plus it was designed to be that kind of film anyway....)
But for this film's purposes, the luminous, apple-cheeked model fit in perfectly with the film's Never Never Land world of 1940's nostalgia.....and 1971 moviegoers, afflicted with the twin miseries of Richard Nixon and Vietnam, lapped it up.
And in all honesty, during the 105 minutes it took to watch it, so did we. Call it unrepentant marketing cheese if you like, but strangely enough, that didn't stop us from liking it. 3 stars (***).
No comments:
Post a Comment