With the '50s coming to a close, audiences were probably looking for a movie to break away from the decade's repressed mores. Boy did they get one! "A Summer Place" contains what were probably some of the most candid discussions of sex to grace the silver screen up to that point (by which I mean that the words "sex" and "pregnant" get used in the movie). But more importantly, the movie hints at what "The Graduate" would deal with head-on less than a decade later: the hypocrisy of the parents' generation. The parents act like nice, upstanding members of the community, while in reality they're a bunch of cold, spiteful individuals (not to mention bigoted; one of them doesn't want to be around "Jews, Catholics, Italians, Poles, French, Germans, Blacks, Latinos or Asians")*.Obviously it was still going to be a few years before cinema could deal with these issues directly. But for a movie to even mention sex, adultery and divorce in the oh-so-wholesome Eisenhower era was a major leap (at least for 1959). As for Sandra Dee, it's understood that she usually got cast in "cute" roles. I bet that if the executives hadn't tried to control her career so much, she would've graduated to serious roles. Who knows? She just might have become her generation's Meryl Streep. From what I've read about her, she was smarter than these ingenue roles implied (as she put it, she soon figured out that the producers just considered her a piece of property). It was probably some consolation to her that San Francisco's Castro Theater held a retrospective of her movies in 1998, which she attended as guest of honor.*"Dirty Dancing" also addressed this, showing how the supposedly liberal parents didn't want their daughter to associate with the "wrong" kind of people.

Oh the memories! The theme from this movie by Percy Faith will to be locked in my mind forever! When I saw it was being featured on classic movies recently, I immediately tuned in. Seeing Troy and Sandra in their youth brought me back to my youth. One of those movies that will ever be a part of my teenage years. God Bless TMC for bringing it back.

When I first saw this film back in the day, I thought it was a proper movie - it seemed bigger, bolder and more beautiful than real life; and it had tidier outcomes.Set in on island off the coast of Maine, Molly Jorgenson (Sandra Dee), the daughter of Ken Jorgenson (Richard Egan), falls for Johnny Hunter (Troy Donahue), the son of Sylvia Hunter (Dorothy Maguire), reflecting the teenage love affair their parents had before marrying different people.As feelings between Molly and Johnny grow, Ken and Sylvia rekindle their romance. But the path to true love is rockier than the rugged coast of the island. Social position, the disillusionment of the children over their parent's affair and pressure from all directions leads to confrontation and rash decisions.Director Delmer Daves was never considered in the same league as Huston, Ford or Wyler, but he made some movies I like - "Demetrius and The Gladiators" is still high on my list of guilty pleasures. Here, he entered Douglas Sirk territory and came up with a movie that gives "Imitation of Life" a run for its money.Seeing it recently, I was surprised at the grittiness of the script. When Bart Hunter (Arthur Kennedy) asks Helen Jorgenson (Constance Ford) if she likes to swim in the nude, you know this film must have tested the old Hollywood Production Code. Sex is high on the agenda, much of it centred on whether Molly and Johnny are doing it.The cast is full of beautiful people in a beautiful landscape. Everyone seems right. Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue are a blonde Romeo and Juliet, and experience a range of emotions that may have even blunted the Bard's quill.Dorothy McGuire and Richard Egan are the embodiment of grown-ups.Dorothy McGuire often played mothers where she had to deal with teenage angst, and the angst is off the Richter scale in this movie. Richard Egan was a powerful screen presence. One of his best scenes is in "A Summer Place" when his character tries to reconcile with his daughter.Max Steiner gave the film a memorable score. The theme he came up with was played to death over the years, but it was a fresh surprise when it first appeared - it still sounds great.All the principals are long gone now. The film represented personal and social attitudes that were changing fast in the late 50's. It's a movie of its time and place, but its heartfelt performances and sheer quality still reach out and grab you.

I just watched an old Perry Mason ans was pleasantly surprised to see Constance Ford. So, I looked her up and thought I'd see the reviews for A Summer Place.I was in the 8th grade when it first played. Looking back, those teen angst movies with sex as the conflict were laughable back then. Even as an 8th grader, they seemed conservative compared to what us kids talked about at the time which was much racier.There were movies like Susan Slade, Parrish, etc. that are cringe inducing but so entertaining for their dated takes on young love and young sex.Now, Constance Ford is irresistible; a poor man's Joan Crawford during her Queen Bee and Harriet Craig years. She could be so scary just by giving a look of disdain. I wish I could have met her to see what she was really like because she had that tough, intolerant schtick down and half the time seemed like she was having hot flashes to boot. Even in black and white, it looked like her face would get flushed when she was losing her temper. But, she could steal a scene so effortlessly even if she didn't say a word.I don't know what movie or TV show I saw Ford in where she was in a vicious argument with another woman or young girl where she took a fireplace poker and swung it and stuck it in the mantel. She was good. Scarier than Dirty Harry.Poor Troy Donahue couldn't act to save his life. He was a male bimbo. I had a crush on Sandra Dee even though she could be really annoying at times but she had her good moments.Dorothy McGuire was quite a beauty and a good actress but low key and not showy.All in all, a fun and entertaining movie with a window to a different time is some of our lives. I know it was a drama but, really, it still has me grinning throughout. And, that's good.I checked spoiler just in case Ford swinging a fireplace poker was from this movie. I can't recall for sure. She probably could have done that in many of her films with the characters she played.