Released in 1971 and directed by Robert Mulligan, "Summer of '42" is the biographical drama of Herman "Hermie" Raucher (Gary Grimes) coming of age at 15 during the titular season & year on Nantucket Island. He and his two pals, Oscy and Benji, hang out on the island learning about sex and chasing girls. Meanwhile, Hermie is an awe of a 21 year-old woman (Jennifer O'Neill) whose soldier husband is off fighting WWII.This is such a well-done classic film from the early 70s. The island locales are breathtaking while the story is low-key realistic, which is fitting since it was based on a real-life. It's basically about a teenage boy in awe of a beautiful adult whoa-man of whom O'Neill voluptuously fills the bill. Hermie has a mature, spiritual attitude toward love & sex, which is contrasted by Oscy's juvenile, animalistic approach.The movie's not meant to provoke "controversy" but rather to just show the way it was and what happened. The same type of story happened and happens to mid-teens in every community all over North America and the world to this day. I'm not saying it's right or wise on the adult's part (it's not), but simply that it happens; and the teen WANTED it, boy or girl. That said, there's some ambiguity to the ending and it's not 100% certain that such-and-such occurred.The outstanding "Last Summer" (1969) is a comparable movie, but with an unpleasant edge. Both films take place on island beaches during the summer and involve teens coming of age. Both films involve a disturbing element. But "Last Summer" is ugly in a significant way whereas "Summer of '42" maintains a sense of awe and beauty. "The Outsiders" (1983) is also a little comparable, particularly the theater sequence.WATCH OUT for notable cutie Christopher Norris as Oscy's wannabe date, Miriam. If you're not familiar with her, be sure to check her out in Ron Howard's "Eat My Dust" (1976) where she's mind-blowing.THE FILM RUNS 1 hour, 44 minutes and was shot in Mendocino in Northern California and a couple other places in California. They had intended to shoot it on Nantucket, where the true story occurred, but the island had changed so much since 1942 that it proved more feasible to simply find another, underdeveloped locale as a substitute.GRADE: A-/B+

An enjoyable movie that brings back memories of a more innocent time. In the drug store scene there is a Phillip Morris poster behind Hermie as he stood in front of the counter which says, "Call for Phillip Morris in 1942 and always". I found the exact same poster in like new condition in an old house that I bought years ago for renovation.

You can argue forever about the morality/legality of what's portrayed here. You can roll your eyes over the implausibility factor. But I'm ready to set those aside to drink in a world of far greater simplicity and time for reflection. Simplicity and reflection are anathema for a teenager of today, but Summer of '42 suggests they could use more of it.The combination of Mr Raucher's book and this movie re-creates a societal atmosphere that characterized American life for 200 years and was swept away in a couple of decades. Our lives today are never off the hook. From childhood to senescence we now exist in a whirlwind of activities and communications that go 24/7/365. There are more texts than we can answer, more entertainment than we can experience and more responsibilities than we can meet.Hermie and his friends travel in a sphere that is hard to imagine for anyone under the age of 70. No television, far fewer phones, slow transportation. No computers, microwaves, air-conditioning, video games. The city streets weren't chock-a-block with McDonald's and the residential streets weren't jammed with McMansions. What they did have was time. And if you were young, you had lots and lots of time to be filled in on your own.Hermie thinks a lot about a lot of things. He doesn't have much help to sort out the details of his adolescent angst and confusion, but he doesn't have many distractions either. He's experiencing the same pain and fear of growing up as we all do, but he's got the freedom and space to work through them at his own pace. He's very troubled and uncertain but he's not getting blasted with imagery and information that has little connection with the real world he is going to be facing.Summer of '42 is schmaltzy, even cheesy, but to imagine a time when a quiet empty field, forest or beach was the norm rather than the exception is an experience to savor.

A fantastic coming-of-age classic, I saw the first release in a theater in 1971 as a young teenager. It's now been resurrected thanks to TCM, where I saw it aired on Dec. 14, 2015. The film is as great as ever, and Dorothy + the haunting music still tug at my heart - even after 44 years! Jennifer O'Neill has an almost magical beauty that is simply beyond physical description. And like millions of other starry-eyed teen-age boys, Dorothy was absolutely my first love. One of my favorite movie scenes |of all time| is when she raises up on tiptoe to sweetly kiss Hermie's forehead. ANY boy who doesn't fall for Dorothy at exactly that moment will never really know love or romance.And even though I still watch it feeling that old familiar pain (and an unspoken kinship with Hermie): God Bless You Dorothy (and Jennifer) for helping me come of age with true love in my heart. I still have it.