A Summer Place

The Hunter family has long owned a mansion on Pine Island, a summer resort located off the Maine coast. Bart Hunter's now-deceased father was able to open the mansion for free when Bart was younger. But current owner Bart, a drunkard and weak man, must now live there year round for financial survival with his wife Sylvia and their late teen-aged son Johnny, the family which is barely able to eke out a living with the mansion now as a year-round inn in an extreme state of disrepair. Bart and Sylvia are in a quietly unhappy marriage due largely to Bart's drinking. The Buffalo-based Jorgensons - husband Ken Jorgenson, his wife Helen Jorgenson and their late teen-aged daughter Molly Jorgenson - have rented rooms at the inn for the summer, while Ken looks for a summer house on the island. Ken lived on the island 20 years ago when he was a working-class lifeguard for Bart's father at that time. Ken is now a self-made millionaire as a research scientist, who had never been back to the island until now. Ken and Helen too are in an unsatisfying marriage, Helen, a shrew and prude, who seems to hate and mistrust anything and everything, including her husband and daughter. Helen only seems concerned with public perception that their lives are perfect. Upon first meeting, Johnny and Molly fall in love. Meanwhile, Ken and Sylvia rekindle a romance from 20 years earlier, uncertain if Bart knew at the time of their relationship, which did not last because of the differences in their social background. The two romances have a rocky road to potential happiness. Helen does not trust either Johnny or Molly to be morally proper. Ken and Sylvia know that their respective spouses will never consent to divorce, and if they do will do whatever they can so that they will never get to see their children again. And despite knowing that their respective parents are unhappy in their marriages, Johnny and Molly do not approve of a liaison between his mother and her father. Regardless, Ken and Sylvia want to provide their children with as much love and guidance as possible, including encouraging them to follow their hearts while not getting into trouble, a message which may not be heard if only because of Johnny and Molly believing that what they are doing is disgusting, and because of Johnny and Molly's own raging hormones.

STARS: Richard Egan, Dorothy McGuire, Sandra Dee

130 min | Drama, Romance | 1959 | Color

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Unforgettable
I saw this movie as a teen in January 1960 and was totally mesmerized. So much so that I returned to watch it eight days in a row... It was so incredibly right for me at that time. Sandra Dee became like my goddess. I learned the dialogue practically by heart. I saw it again on DVD after 47 years. Very moving reminiscences. As the scenes unrolled it all came back, word for word. Few people seem to realize BTW(as to the music) that there are really two major themes in the film: the young love theme, which you hear for the first time around minute 15 (when Sandra is shown around the estate and its garden), and which while quite wonderful is relatively muted in comparison to the pop version (which should have somehow been included in the special features). And the quite different, and superb, main theme (slightly less than 2 minutes long) which opens the film. Frankly, in the context of the whole story I prefer the latter. The message of the movie remains as compelling as ever: there is nothing stronger than love, and love conquers all, or should. You bet! I don't know of any film which says it better.