Summer Place, A (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Delmer DavesRelease Date(s)
1959 (October 14, 2025)Studio(s)
Warner Bros. Pictures (Warner Archive Collection)- Film/Program Grade: C+
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: D
Review
A Summer Place was adapted from the best-selling 1958 novel by Sloan Wilson that compresses two decades into a single year. The tale of conflict and heartache caused by the social repressions of the era, made under the restrictions of the Production Code, attempts to expand the scope of what was acceptable.
On Pine Island off the coast of Maine, formerly affluent Bart and Sylvia Hunter (Arthur Kennedy, Dorothy McGuire) are trying to keep up appearances by running their once-elegant mansion as a summer inn with the help of their teenage son, Johnny (Troy Donohue). Needing money, Sylvia persuades Bart to accept a reservation from Ken Jorgenson (Richard Egan), who once worked on the island as a lifeguard and is now a self-made millionaire. Bart fears that Ken is planning to gloat over his financial difficulties.
Ken arrives with his wife Helen (Constance Ford) and their sheltered teenage daughter Molly (Sandra Dee). Johnny meets them at the dock to escort them to the inn, and the two young people take an interest in each other. Old passions are aroused between Ken and Sylvia and they confess to each other how unhappy they are. Bart’s drinking has been responsible for the decline in their fortunes, and Ken and Helen constantly disagree on how to deal with Molly’s burgeoning interest in boys. Helen is obsessively puritanical toward her daughter. She keeps a tight rein on Molly, doesn’t trust her alone with boys even though Molly is a “good girl,” and poisons the girl with her own hang-ups.
Following strong hints that Ken and Sylvia are having an affair, the two couples divorce. Ken and Sylvia marry and the narrative shifts to Johnny and Molly as they attempt to pursue a chaste relationship and avoid the interference of their parents. Johnny’s sent to a men’s college and Molly’s mother ships her off to a finishing school. They contrive to meet periodically and talk repetitively between smooches about “being good” until love triumphs and Molly gets pregnant, presenting them with a whole new set of obstacles.
For 1959, the subject matter is unusually candid. Ken and Helen openly discuss sex, while Johnny and Molly try to abstain but eventually succumb to their passion. To some, the film was regarded as scandalously steamy. As a glorified soap opera, A Summer Place is lavishly produced. With California’s Monterey Peninsula and Carmel standing in for the rugged Maine locations, the film looks beautiful in widescreen with many shots of the rocky shoreline, sandy beaches, and rough surf.
Egan conveys authority as Ken, a loving father who’s frustrated by Helen’s attitude toward sex and her rigid repression of their daughter. But his scenes with McGuire never really click. We’re supposed to believe that seeing Sylvia again has rekindled a dormant flame between them, but their screen chemistry is tepid at best. In scenes with Donohue and Kennedy, McGuire is far more believable as she conveys compassion, understanding and patience. Her face, with the hint of a smile, tells us she feels for Bart’s alcoholic weakness and Johnny’s attraction to Molly.
Constance Ford is dynamic as the villainess. Helen is an unsympathetic character and Ford leans into the role, her cold expression suggesting that this is a woman with excessive bitterness in her heart. She’s never less than a terrible mother and wife and creates considerable tension when she’s on screen.
Kennedy’s performance is uneven. When we first see his Bart, he has a drink in his hand, but for a good portion of the film, he’s rational and congenial on the surface and bitter underneath. Only later does he segue into his irredeemably alcoholic persona, overacting and employing many cliches of drunkenness.
Dee looks doe-eyed for most of the picture and never convinces as a young woman suffering from sexual repression. The role enables her to run the gamut of emotions, not always believably. Donohue, who had previously appeared only in small roles, got his big break in A Summer Place and makes the best of a thankless role. He’s the pretty boy love interest and the script gives him little to do other than look good in swim trunks and sweaters and murmur hokey dialogue.
Director Delmer Daves nicely balances the six main characters and his screenplay integrates their stories well. Despite an overblown and highly melodramatic script, contemporary viewers might be drawn in as witnesses to a period piece from another decade rather than a plausible tale of real people. There’s a lot of kissing backed by the famous Max Steiner theme, but these scenes become tiresome and repetitive. The eventual consummation occurs off-screen, as required by the film industry’s self-censorship.
A Summer Place is a textbook example of how music can uplift a film. The Theme from A Summer Place is the leitmotif of Molly and Johnny, playing whenever they’re on screen together, sometimes simply, other times with full orchestra. The melody would have a life beyond the movie theater when Percy Faith recorded a version that received a Gold Record for over a million copies sold. It was one of the most successful instrumentals of the rock era.
A Summer Place was shot by director of photography Harry Stradling, Sr. on 35mm film with spherical lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Clarity on the Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection is excellent, with details such as waves splashing on the rocks, decor in the Pine Island Inn, Sandra Dee’s dresses, a foundering sailboat, and the exterior of the mansion well delineated. Sandra Dee’s peachy smooth complexion is well rendered. The color palette is broad but tends toward bold reds, as in Johnny’s sweater, to suggest passion.
The soundtrack is English 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio. English SDH subtitles are available. Dialogue is clear and distinct. Constance Ford speaks with coldness and bitterness in her voice. Sandra Dee’s tone suggests both fear and innocence. The beautiful love theme by Max Steiner accentuates the love and desire of the two young people.
Bonus materials on the Blu-ray release from Warner Archive include the following:
- A Witch’s Tangled Hare (6:24)
- Theatrical Trailer (3:10)
A Witch’s Tangled Hare – This Looney Tunes Technicolor cartoon from 1959 stars Bugs Bunny, who evades Witch Hazel at Macbeth’s castle. Witch Hazel deems Bugs an important ingredient in her brew. Meanwhile, struggling playwright and William Shakespeare lookalike Sam Crubish is watching them, looking for new dialogue for his play. There are slapstick chases, with Bugs outsmarting the witch and her potions as the writer desperately tries to capture the magic. The cartoon is directed by Abe Levitow. Mel Blanc provides the voice of Bugs Bunny.
A Summer Place is one of many big studio melodramas released in the late 50s and early 60s. Because it dealt with racy material for the time, it filled theater seats and became a huge hit. It’s beautifully shot and has an unforgettable score but hasn’t dated very well. The social taboos and repression suffered by all of the main characters don’t have the impact they had in 1959. With the relaxing of the Production Code and the release of movies such as The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, and Easy Rider, Hollywood turned to much more frank treatments of sex.
- Dennis Seuling