A Summer Place is one of those big, emotional, slickly-produced pictures that bite off a great deal more than they can chew and neatly dispose of their intense, highly-dramatic melange by dropping their characters into slots clearly marked 'good' and 'bad'.

A Summer Place is one of those big, emotional, slickly-produced pictures that bite off a great deal more than they can chew and neatly dispose of their intense, highly-dramatic melange by dropping their characters into slots clearly marked ‘good’ and ‘bad’.

In his capacity as writer [from the novel by Sloan Wilson] and director, Delmer Daves has missed the mark by a mile. His characters, anguished most of the time, are unreal and totally devoid of depth. The film runs at least 20 minutes too long and has a tendency to use dialog to preach what should be implied.

Millionaire Richard Egan, his wife (Constance Ford) and daughter (Sandra Dee) arrive on a small island off the New England coast where, 20 years ago, Egan was a lifeguard and had an affair with Dorothy McGuire, who subsequently married Arthur Kennedy, the impoverished owner of a summer mansion. Egan has an affair with McGuire, which is discovered, and divorces result. Meanwhile, Dee and Kennedy’s son (Troy Donahue) have fallen in love but are broken up by Dee’s mother.

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With the single exception of McGuire, who comes through with a radiant performance and is lovely to look at, the cast does an average job.

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A Summer Place

  • Production: Warner. Director Delmer Daves; Producer Delmer Daves; Screenplay Delmer Daves; Camera Harry Stradling; Editor Owen Marks; Music Max Steiner
  • Crew: (Color) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1959. Running time: 130 MIN.
  • With: Richard Egan Dorothy McGuire Sandra Dee Arthur Kennedy Troy Donahue Constance Ford

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