Main Cast: Richard Egan, Dorothy McGuire, Sandra Dee, Arthur Kennedy, Troy Donahue
Release Year: 1959
Country: US
Run Time: 130 minutes
Plot
The Jorgensons are a wealthy family spending the summer on a resort island. Ken (Richard Egan), Helen (Constance Ford) and daughter Molly (Sandra Dee) settle in to a beach house on the island where Ken was a young lifeguard twenty years ago. He rediscovers Sylvia (Dorothy McGuire), with whom he had an earlier affair before she married Bart Hunter (Arthur Kennedy). The Hunter's son Johnny (Troy Donahue) and Molly fall in love, much to the objection of her mother, a cold and cynical woman. When Ken and Sylvia start another torrid affair, the exposure of the liaison leads to the divorce of both married couples. After Johnny and Molly are stranded overnight on a beach, Molly is forced by her heartless mistrusting mother to undergo a physical examination and a pregnancy test. Tests results are negative, but more negative is the mother-daughter relationship. Ken and Sylvia get married and Molly gets pregnant. The newlyweds then compassionately guide unwed couple to marriage. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
Review
Propelled by a certain degree of infamy (due to its stand on sexual matters), an attractive pair of young lovers and a theme song that for a while was pretty near inescapable, A Summer Place was a big hit upon its initial release. Seen today, it's pretty tame stuff, and modern audiences will laugh at some of the soapier moments (as well as some of sappier moments, usually given to Troy Donahue and/or Sandra Dee). Still, there's enough to A Summer Place to make it consistently enjoyable. Delmer Daves has directed slickly and stylishly, and there's some good over-the-top fun from the wicked Constance Ford. Indeed, the cast in general makes the film worth watching. Donahue can't really overcome a great deal of his material, but Dee does very well and in her centerpiece "examination" scene is exceptional. Richard Egan also does a fine job, even making the bluntly written "this is what the film is really all about" speeches work as well as can be expected. Even better are Arthur Kennedy and a gorgeous Dorothy McGuire who bring much more skill to their roles than is necessary, and Beulah Bondi, who seems to relish the rare opportunity of playing a member of the upper class. They're all shown off to their best visual advantage via Harry Stradling's yummy cinematography, which by itself is almost enough to make the viewer forgive the screenplay for its strained stretches. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Constance Ford - Helen Jorgenson; Beulah Bondi - Mrs. Hamilton Hamble; Jack Richardson - Claude Andrews; Martin Eric - Todd Hasper; Eleanor Audley - Mrs. Harrington; Marshall Bradford - Dr. Matthias; Peter Constanti - Captain; Richard Deacon - Pawnbroker; Ann Doran - Mrs. Talbert; Gertrude Flynn - Mrs. Carter; Bonnie Franklin - Young Girl in Dormitory; Everett Glass - Dean; Howard Hoffman - Alvin Frost; Lewis Martin - Doctor; Junius Matthews - Mr. Hamble; Susan Odin; Roberta Shore - Anne Talbert; Arthur Space - Ken's Attorney; Helen Wallace - Wife; Phil Chambers - Sheriff; Robert Griffin - Englehardt; George Taylor - Bart's Attorney
The story examines the adult lives of two onetime teen lovers, Ken (Egan) and Sylvia (McGuire), who were from different social strata. Ken was self-supporting, working as a lifeguard at Pine Island, an exclusive Maine resort, while Sylvia's nouveau riche family stayed as guests of the owners, one summer between years at college. They went on to marry different people – entirely the wrong people, it turned out. Ken's wife Helen (Ford) turns out to be frigid and shuts him out romantically, while Sylvia's husband Bart (Kennedy) becomes an alcoholic, gradually costing him the family fortune. Ken buries himself in the research chemist's job he finds after college, while Sylvia devotes herself first to charity work, then motherhood.
The saving grace of each marriage is their children, Sylvia's son Johnny (Donahue) and Ken's daughter Molly (Dee). Ken and Sylvia meet again on Pine Island after twenty years, with Ken now wealthy through his chemistry work, while Bart has turned his family's mansion (their sole remaining asset) into an inn, which is failing. Johnny and Molly meet and fall in love, while Ken and Sylvia begin to cheat with each other on their spouses.
Differences between novel and movie
Some changes were made as the novel was adapted. While the novel's story takes place over about five years, the movie condenses events into a single year. Helen's parents play a substantial role in the novel, while the movie includes only a single telephone conversation between Helen and her mother. Sylvia and Bart's second child (a daughter) is eliminated from the movie, and a soul-searching Sylvia, asking herself questions of right and wrong, instead has a heart-to-heart talk with Bart's elderly aunt, who is staying at the inn.
Release and reception
The movie became popular after its release, but had a mixed critical reception, and received some negative reviews through the years. The 1960 hit "Theme from A Summer Place" (composed by Max Steiner and recorded by Percy Faith and His Orchestra) enriched and improved on a secondary musical theme of the film; it remains a classic of its era. A vocal version, with lyrics by Mack Discant, was a hit for The Lettermen in 1965. Singer Dean Torrence referenced the song's melody in Jan and Dean's "Like a Summer Rain" in 1966.
