The Summer of '42 (1971)
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77% of critics liked it
(22 reviews) -
76% of users liked it
(2,589 ratings)
A surprise success in 1971 ($20 million worth of "surprise"), The Summer of '42 is a coming-of-age piece, drenched in nostalgia. Director Robert Mulligan narrates the film as the grown-up counterpart of Hermie (Gary Grimes), a teenager of the War Years who has a crush on twentyish… More A surprise success in 1971 ($20 million worth of "surprise"), The Summer of '42 is a coming-of-age piece, drenched in nostalgia. Director Robert Mulligan narrates the film as the grown-up counterpart of Hermie (Gary Grimes), a teenager of the War Years who has a crush on twentyish Jennifer O'Neill. With O'Neill's soldier husband off to war, Grimes convinces himself that he can take hubby's place in every way. O'Neill is amused by Grimes' attentions (confined to doing chores and carrying her groceries), but never thinks of him in sexual terms. And then, O'Neill's husband is killed in battle. Herman Raucher based his intensely nostalgic script on his own experience, going so far as to use the real names of past acquaintances (including the Jennifer O'Neill counterpart) as character names in his screenplay. An Academy Award went to Michel LeGrand's evocative musical score. Summer of '42 was later novelized by Raucher, then followed up on screen by the less effective Class of 44. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Robert Mulligan
- Written By
- Herman Raucher
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Classics, Comedy
PG,
- In Theaters
- Apr 30, 1971 Wide
- Studio
- WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES
Critic Reviews
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Variety Staff, Variety
Summer of '42 has a large amount of charm and tenderness; it also has little dramatic economy and much eye-exhausting photography which translates to forced and artificial emphasis on a strungout story.
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
It forever misses, unlike American Graffiti, the heady sexual climate of adolescence to concentrate on the circumstances of the sex act itself.
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Vincent Canby, New York Times
"Summer of '42" is a memory movie, written, directed and acted with such uncommon good humor that I don't think you'll be put off by its sweet soft-focus, at least until you start analyzing it afterwards.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Nostalgia is used as a distancing device -- to keep us safely insulated from the boy's immediate grief, love, and passion.
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, TV Guide's Movie Guide
People who actually recall 1942 will more greatly appreciate the waves of nostalgia that bathe this affectionate coming-of-age drama, set on a tiny island off New England.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Jennifer O'Neill
as Dorothy
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Gary Grimes
as Hermie
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Jerry Houser
as Oscy
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Oliver Conant
as Benjie
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Katherine Allentuck
as Aggie
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Christopher Norris
as Miriam
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Lou Frizzell
as Druggist
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Maureen Stapleton
as Hermie's Mother
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Robert Mulligan
as Narrator the Older Hennic
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Walter Scott
as Dorothy's Husband
- Gerald Houser
