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Summer Storm

Summer Storm

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In 1919, in Russia, the former Count 'Piggy' Volsky visits the publisher of the Times Nadena Kalenin and brings a manuscript that he had stolen from his friend Fedor Mikhailovich Petroff to be published. Nadena gives some money in advance and reads the document. In the summer of 1912, the aristocratic and handsome Petroff is the examining magistrate in the summer resort in Chienova in the District Haircker in the Imperial Russia. His fiancée Nadena is spending the summer vacation in Chienova with her parents that own a publishing house. When Petroff visits his friend Volsky, he meets the gorgeous peasant Olga Kuzminichna Urbenin and he falls in love for her. Olga is an ambitious woman engaged to be married with the peasant Anton Urbenin and she flirts with Petroff. When Nadena witness Petroff and Olga together, she calls off her engagement with Petroff. But sooner Petroff learns that the gold-digger Olga is having a love affair with Volsky, cheating not only her husband but also him. When Olga tells to Petroff that she will marry Volsky, a tragedy happens.

STARS: Linda Darnell, George Sanders, Anna Lee

106 min | Crime, Drama, Romance, Film Noir | 1944 | Color


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Superb film version of Chekhov’s ‘The Shooting Party.’

SUMMER STORM is Douglas Sirk’s 1944 filming of Chekhov’s ‘The Shooting Party.’ Why this literate, mature and well acted film isn’t better known is a mystery to me. Set in Russia just before the revolution, it stars dark and lovely young Linda Darnell as a peasant beauty who’s quest for wealth and position leads to tragedy and death. Linda Darnell has one of the best roles of her film career, and she’s never been better then she is here. She gives a sensual and sexy performance as the vain and greedy girl who plays several lovers against each other in order get all she can out of each of them. I think Linda Darnell’s beauty hardened rather early, and even by A LETTER TO THREE WIVES in 1949, she was already rather sharp and cold looking. But in 1944 and SUMMER STORM, she was still soft and lovely, and one of the most remarkably beautiful brunettes of the era. George Sanders gives another fine performance, in a rather typical George Sanders part, as a snobbish, aristocratic judge who’s obsession with the girl ruins his career and his engagement to lovely Anna Lee. His loves scenes with Darnell are quite frank and passionate for their day, and both stars are excellent together. And Edward Everette Horton gives what has to be one of the best performances of his career, in a role quite unlike his usual, as a spoiled, lecherous Russian count.

Linda’s first chance to shine

Early American Sirk film is a little slow but still interesting version of Chekov’s The Shooting Party. His signature stylistic elements are not wholly in evidence yet although he uses shadows effectively and he gets excellent work from his cast particularly Edward Everett Horton playing a more complex part then usual. Linda Darnell is most impressive in the first of the bad girl roles in which she excelled. Sirk selected her personally for the film sensing more to her than the feather weight beauties she had been assigned up to that point, although she is almost supernaturally beautiful. She digs deep into Olga’s conflicted nature and offers up a passionate portrait of an impulsive girl who causes damage to all that surround her including herself. Unfortunately 20th Century Fox didn’t take advantage of the talent she showed and returned her for the most part to films not worthy of her.
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