A SUMMER PLACE (1959)

Pine Island Inn is a small resort hotel on a private New England island. It's seen better days, but the current owner, Bart Hunter (Arthur Kennedy), has let debts pile up and let the building and grounds go to pot. His wife Sylvia (Dorothy McGuire) is about at the end of her rope as she tries to keep the resort going through the summer months with help from a small staff and their son Johnny (Troy Donahue). Bart is unhappy to hear that Ken Jorgenson (Richard Egan) has made reservations for the summer for his family. Ken used to be a lowly summer lifeguard on the island, in the employ of the Hunters, but he is now a wealthy research chemist, and Bart is sure that he is coming just to show off his good fortune. But Sylvia is happy to hear the news, partly because of the money they'll get, but also because Ken was her first boyfriend all those years ago and it seems she's always held a bit of a torch for him. For his part, Ken's wife Helen (Constance Ford) is a frigid shrew who is doing everything she can to de-sex their teenage daughter Molly (Sandra Dee). All the elements for a soap opera are in place and very soon, Sylvia is running off to the boathouse for midnight make-out sessions with Ken, and Johnny is having a nice time squiring Molly around the island doing some making out of their own. Eventually, after much anguish, divorces occur and Sylvia marries Ken. That fall and winter, Helen does all she can to keep Molly away from Johnny, but of course, that only makes the two work harder for some time together. Throw in the fact that they are now siblings by marriage and the stage is set for a second act focused on these star-crossed lovers.

I guess this was hot stuff in the late 50s when the Production Code was weakening. Had this been made just a few years earlier, the pre- and extra-marital sex would have either been less explicit or there would have to have been a tragic ending. Of course, I use the word "explicit" here not to refer to actual sex scenes, of which there are none, but just to the fact that we know illicit sex is occurring. What was titillating in 1959 is not now, and I suspect that this movie is much more known for its theme, which was a #1 hit for Percy Faith, than for any avid following the story itself has. Still, this remains watchable, mostly for some of the performances. The actor who is the most fun to watch is Constance Ford who gets to be bitchy and judgmental throughout, and also gets to spit out the word "harlot" at Dorothy McGuire a couple of times. McGuire plays a bit against her goody-goody type here; yes, she has an affair, but she remains a mostly demure and gentle presence. This was Troy Donahue's big breakout role, and his appeal remains a bit mysterious to me. He's attractive but also has the look of dissolution around him, even here at the age of 23. His acting is a bit wooden but he and Dee (both pictured above) have chemistry and their characters remain sympathetic. Egan and Kennedy are acceptable if not exceptional. For a movie with the word "summer" in its title, it doesn't have the feel of a summer film. Most of the first half is indeed set in that season, but the focus for much of that time is the relationship between Egan and McGuire. Once that gets settled and the seasons turn, the focus shifts to the younger people, though we only make it back to summer in the last minute or so of the movie. All the best lines are given to Constance Ford, whose advice to her daughter is, "You have to play a man like a fish." [TCM]