Summer of '42 (1971) User Reviews

Classic, timeless

[rams_lakers · 8/10 · 28 September 2004]

I first saw this movie on TV as a teenager in the 70s. One or two of my sisters may have been watching too, and it was somewhat embarrassing when the intimate scene with Hermie and Dorothy came out, but I wasn't about to turn my head as I enjoyed the movie as a whole. My parents were never that strict on us so I didn't have that worry.

This movie tugs at the emotions. The impossible relationship with the beautiful older woman. The camaraderie with friends during that age. It's also interesting how 15 year old girls were made to appear so immature and unsexy, like when the 3 boys had dates and were standing in a movie line. Everything points to the thrill of that older woman relationship. I was just wanting that to happen for Herbie, and when it did... wow. Some of the situations were humorous, like when Herbie tries to buy rubbers at the dime store. Just all in all a great story, one I can watch again and again. I give it 8 out of 10 stars. This one is easily in my top 250.

The summer knows

[johno-21 · 8/10 · 27 February 2006]

I saw this movie in the theater during it's initial release and several times on TV since then but it's been many years since I've seen it last and would like to see it again. This is a classic coming of age movie. A great story and script with a wonderful cast. Gary Grimes, Jerry Houser and Oliver Conant as the the three teenage boys and Jennifer O'Neil as the war bride. Robert Mulligan certainly had a diverse directorial career with such varied memorable films as To Kill A Mockingbird, The Great Imposter, The Man in the Moon and The Other and quite a few forgettable films as well. He certainly made a memorable one with Summer of 42. Mulligan brought Harper Lee's words to life in his wonderful adaptation of her novel in Mockingbird and he brings Herman Raucher's screenplay to life in 42. Two examples of very personal semi-autobiographical remembrances of growing up successfully brought to the big screen. Michel Legrand's music couldn't be any more perfect for this film. I was the exact age of the boys depicted in this movie when it was released so I could relate to this and the ethereal beauty as represented by O'Neil. Maybe today I would classify this under guilty pleasure like something on the Lifetime channel but movie has stayed with me over time and I would like to see it again on the big screen. I would recommend this and give it a 8.5 on a scale of 10.

Love of '42

[DogePelis2015 · 7/10 · 1 January 2021]

A good classic romance movie; it has a good story and good performances; I recommend it.

One of my all-time favorites.

[dhenderson-3 · 25 August 2004]

This is truly a wonderful film and a classic. It has everything: romance, comedy, sadness and the reminiscence of puberty and coming of age. The dialog between Hermie and his two teenage buddies wile exploring their emerging sexuality is a wonderful and hilarious, i.e., "Do you think I'm in love with Vera Michaels. I hope I'm not in love with her. I hate her." Who couldn't relate to those things in our youth.

Jennifer O'Neill, as Hermie's crush Dorothy, is gorgeous and well suited for her role. The scenes between her and Hermie go from funny and clever to sad and wondrous. One can only guess the emotions going on inside Dorothy's head when she finds out her husband has been killed in the war. I always felt she just wanted to experience closeness with someone during that time and Hermie just happened to be nearby. She also knew he cared about her and it was important for her to be needed . . . by someone.

A glorious film and one I can watch tons of times and discover something different each time. Highly recommended.

P.S. Michele LeGrand's musical score is beautiful. Just another plus for the movie.

The Boys On Nantucket

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 6 September 2020]

After watching Summer Of 42 and noted it's Oscar recognition came in the form of an award for Michel Legrand for Best Musical Scoring for1971 it occured to me that this film is one of the best examples of how the proper music can make a film. It's a beautiful film score, but more than that without it and lesser music this movie could have been a version of Porky's 42.

Three horny teen boys Gary Grimes, Jerry Houser, and Oliver Conant are ; vacarioning on Nantucket Island hich has fewer tourists than normal in that first summer of America in World War 2. The usual teen girls like Christopher Norris and friends get the engines racing. But who really intrigues them is Jennifer O'Neill a war bride whom they catch sight of sending her husband off to war.

Her aloneness sets the hormones racing. But Grimes who meets her accidentally and helps her with groceries becomes a friend. You take it from there.

The score is also helped by the photography of some beautiful scenes of Nantucket or whatever passed for it. Both Grimes and O'Neill got career roles out of the film. They both give sensitive and nuanced performances.

The film holds up well after almost 50 years. No remake will ever be necessary.

Captivating - beyond my expectations

[SushilKBirla · 10/10 · 5 July 2004]

This movie captivated me beyond my expectations. Not being a movie-goer or a TV-watcher, I had not yet seen (or read about) the movie, its excerpts, the original book, or the cast, although I had heard references to the summer of '42. After an intense work week, I had tuned into the PBS channel on TV to watch 30 minutes of a business news program, at the end of which, PBS showed that "The Summer of '42" was next. I thought of watching it only for a few minutes - not really being interested in seeing a story from 62 years ago in a movie made 33 years ago. PBS played the movie without a break, and I sat through all of it - totally captivated. I don't think I can explain the reasons with a typical technical analysis. I think it held me in a trance, because it reflected my own coming of age. Even though I grew up in a different era, country, culture and society, there were many parallels to the drugstore episode, the furtive readings of the book, the carrying of the grocery bags, the storing away of the boxes, and the attempted "fooling around" inside the movie theater.

I like a production (movie; theater; music) that reflects the reality one experiences in life. This movie was one of those rare productions. I felt it was quite artistic in its balance - the way it assimilated simple elements from everyday living, with a simple, but enchanting, musical score. The movie did not need any dazzling stage effects - Jennifer O'Neill was enough; and, even in her, the art and beauty was in her being so natural.

In the end, I felt good about spending the time to see the movie.

Summer of 42 was perfect for 1971...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 14 July 2017]

...because - outside of the music - the 70s is a decade most of us in America would just as soon forget. There was inflation, an unpopular war, a disgraced president, gas lines, and shag carpet. The thing is, most of the things I just mentioned hadn't even happened yet, but by 1971 there was a feeling that our best days were over and we were in a downhill slide as a country. So it would be natural to look backwards at the 30's - there were lots of A list 70s films set during the Great Depression - and also at the 1940s. Summer of 42 is set at a time when the U.S. didn't know how WWII was all going to turn out, but in 1971 we knew it was our finest hour, and there was a desire to revisit that time.

Summer of '42 is a very well-done and entertaining movie. It certainly presents what I would guess is a pretty accurate view of the time and place and what adolescents were like at the time. That for me is its greatest merit. I wouldn't call it a great movie, but it's certainly a good one. I always feel a little sorry for any kid whose nickname is Hermie. Yikes.

At first glance "Summer of 42" is merely another coming of age film wherein a teenager falls in love with an "older" woman and lives the summer dream of every adolescent boy, but first glances can be wrong. Gary Grimes delivers a strong performance, but the gem in this movie is Jennifer O'Neil. This stunningly beautiful woman delivers a remarkably haunting performance as the "suddenly" widowed young bride who dream walks into one night of sexual searching with a local teen. Her performance is so sensual yet innocent of any feelings of guilt, her one night is a gentle embrace of life, not sexual release or wantonness, a perfect performance from a actress we got to see far to little of.

Summer of 42, a Timeless Classic of true Love

[angelsunchained · 10/10 · 20 March 2005]

I saw this film with my dad at the long-gone Surf Theater on 74th Street and Collins Avenue on Miami Beach as a sneak preview. The theater was packed and I was 13 years old and three girls in their early 20s sat next to us, and I was a little red-faced about the movie. But, what a truly beautiful and romantic film. I always thought that my "first" love would be like the Summer of 42. Unfortunately in my case it wasn't. I joined the Army and had my "first" experience with a B-girl(bar-girl) overseas. It wasn't until I was 25 that I think I really had the "love feelings" that were shown in this timeless classic. A great film with outstanding performances by all involved. Really a shame that Gary Grimes and Jerry Houser never achieved the super stardom they deserved. And Jennier O'Neal was so beautiful. She was all-natural, so fresh, so down-to-earth. The Summer of 42 is great.

Sorry, but 'Oscy' spoiled it for me

[blrnani · 6/10 · 29 March 2020]

It had a beautiful theme tune. It had the beautiful Jennifer O'Neill in a captivating if ultimately tragic role. And the idea was an endearing one that probably became the fantasy of vast numbers of teens - and not just in the USA! But then there was 'friend' Oscar, who was such a jerk that he tended to spoil every scene he was in - which was a lot of them. It is hard to believe this film (and the book that spawned it) were meant to be a tribute to him! As a medic killed in Korea I can only assume he must've improved a lot as he grew older. Hence the lower ('disappointing') rating and omission from my film collection.

It spans the emotions and captures the minds of yesterday's boys

[johnharrison-1 · 10/10 · 12 March 2006]

Benjie was the nerd, Oscy was the tough guy, and Hermie was like most of us guys - confused, inquisitive, and deep in thought about a love he couldn't have. One of them was interested in a little rubber ball, one owned a rubber and was dying to use it, and one was somewhere in between. At least one of them would look back upon their adventures during the summer of '42 and recall it with the vivid detail that many of us have about our own childhood

For those adults who were once a fifteen-year-old boy or ever wanted to understand them, this is the movie that will touch you. To children who ever wanted to understand male adolescence before the digital world, this movie is a must. Other movies have come close but it remains my favorite flick and I am deeply grateful for Herman Raucher.

"Come on. You KNOW what for."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 28 December 2015]

I saw this movie in the theater when it first came out and not again till a couple of nights ago. Even with the passing of four decades my reaction to the story's resolution hasn't changed. The way Dorothy (Jennifer O'Neill) responds to the news of her husband's death doesn't resonate in any realistic way with this viewer. You can rationalize Dorothy's action to a need for compassion and solace if you want to, but to look to a fifteen year old boy for it just doesn't work for me. Had the film kept it's approach to a light hearted, 'American Graffiti' sort of sensibility it would have been a lot more believable. The movie theater scene and Oscy's (Jerry Houser) breathless exuberance in consummating his first sexual experience were well written and funny scenes, certain to bring back fond memories of one's own 'first time'. Even Hermie's (Gary Grimes) wistful encounters with Dorothy were realistic and dealt with youthful fantasy in a way that most viewers can relate to. Perhaps if the bedroom scene with Hermie and Dorothy had been handled as a dream sequence, their characters would have maintained a certain integrity that was diminished by what actually happened. As tastefully as it was done, I couldn't help thinking that the wrong message was being delivered here.

A True Classic

[GOWBTW · 10/10 · 31 January 2003]

I have seen a classic that was indeed a keeper. Summer of '42 is a monster of a hit. Strong, gripping story of coming of age of three mischief makers wanting to know about love during the times of war. The setting was magnificent, Gary Grimes role of dreamer Hermie was outstanding, Jennifer O'Neal as Dorothy was fantastic! Lots of nostalgia, talking about sex was mainly the theme. But when it comes to love it all shows. I felt a lot of wonder and awe when Hermie spent a lot of time with Dorothy with each level: Comedy,it's when he helped store some items, and feeling her moves with every glance he made. Drama, when she lost her husband in the war; Romance, when Hermie got his wish. Losing your innocence is nothing to be ashamed of, when it's caused by curiosity. This one encounter I think that Hermie will NEVER forget in his lifetime. The other two would have to find out themselves about their buddy. Hermie was the risk taker, and it made its payoff. He has more maturity than the other two ruffians. I enjoyed the 10 minutes of silence between Hermie and Dorothy. If you like that try the sequel "Class of '44" and "Stealing Home". This movie gets the 100% grade of A+

Sweet and enjoyable

[grybop · 7/10 · 29 December 2001]

A very sweet film, featuring characters we can identify with. Coming of age is an issue that only a few times has it been tackled with so seriously in a movie; the excruciatingly long scene in the drug store and the poetic love scene are fine examples of the director's delicate approach to the teenagers viewpoint of the world. Good acting and beautiful photography.

7

Stultifying remembrances...

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 6 December 2010]

Heavy petting on the home front. Coming-of-age tale has a 15-year-old boy vacationing with his family on Nantucket Island during wartime, becoming smitten with a solder's wife living by herself in a house on the beach. The youngster offers to carry the attractive woman's groceries, and later lugs her boxes up into the attic, but what he really wants to do is master the twelve steps of coupling. Screenwriter Herman Raucher based his story on his own experiences as a sexually-curious juvenile, and received an Academy Award nomination for his work--rather surprising since the film (though popular at the box-office, for a variety of reasons) isn't very good. The dialogue throughout is stilted and unremarkable, and the scenario so underpopulated and bland that the sniggering charm of a vacuous boy hoping to ingratiate himself to an older woman is really all the picture has to offer. The Oscar-winning music by Michel Legrand gives the movie a touch of bittersweet nostalgia, but Robert Surtees' zoom-happy cinematography and Robert Mulligan's plodding direction just about kills any genuine interest in the characters. Newcomer Gary Grimes is over-directed; he's impossibly scrubbed-clean and galumphing one minute, and smiling like a naughty child the next. We first see Jennifer O'Neill romping with her husband in slow-motion, however the rest of her performance also feels a little slow. We never get to know this gorgeous lady; she's as overly-polite and blank as her junior-suitor. The finale is excruciatingly tasteful, dithering and dumb. There was no other place for the story to go but to the bedroom, but one can't help but thinking this was a bad idea. Audiences in 1971 surely hooted at the earnestness to which Grimes is initiated into manhood. Mulligan apparently wants us to feel a kinship with the boy, while the woman disappears into the sea-air like an evaporating question-mark. ** from ****

A Cinema Classic

[Tommy-5 · 6 September 2002]

Summer of 42

By Tom Fowler

This film touched me in an odd way. Perhaps it is because I waited 30 years to view it and see so much of the young guy I used to be in Hermie that it is sort of frightening. One shouldn't look too deeply into a mirror of any kind. Most people reading this are going to be familiar with this old and well known story. Three young boys, all 15 years of age, are spending a boring summer on a vacation island in the summer of 1942. The lovely Dorothy, 22 years old and her husband away fighting the war, is hauntingly played by Jennifer O'Neill, fresh and very beautiful in the summer of 1972 when this film was enjoying it's impressive run in the nation's theaters. Dorothy lives alone and Hermie injects himself into her life, carrying groceries and performing odd jobs around her home. Director Robert Mulligan was wise not let us get to know Dorothy too well, as this allows us to feel the same mystique regarding her as Hermie feels, and it is through his eyes the key parts of this fine film are presented.

Hermie was smitten with Dorothy from the beginning, but we are never allowed to think the feelings were reciprocated, much to Mulligan's credit, for Summer of 42 could very easily have been turned into something sleazy without his skillful and understated direction. Throughout the film, we see a view of the world through 15 year old male eyes. Life and love are overwhelming mysteries at that age and we are somewhat comforted by the fact that it is not until deep into the film that Dorothy, shocked and grief stricken by the telegram informing of her soldier husband's death, succumbs to a temporary but very intense emotion and introduces Hermie to a world he has only dreamt about. Everything comes with cost and we see Hermie and his buddies, themselves introduced to the world of females and relationships during this long summer, at film's end retreating back, for the precious time they have left for it, into the safety of childhood and teenage concerns. Perhaps this film worked as well as it did because of the presence of Ms. O'Neill. Her personal problems and anguish are well documented, and one wonders if some of this did not show up onscreen at this very early time in her life? An element of sadness hangs over Summer of 42 to this day. Robert Mulligan could not sustain the promise of this film and The Others, a little known but wonderful film made during the same general time period,. Gary Grimes never had another Hermie role and certainly Ms. O'Neill never realized her vast potential nor ever again reached the excellence she did as Dorothy. Who knows, perhaps art did imitate life to come and that is what gives Summer of 42 its well deserved reputation.

beautiful scenery, affecting nostalgia, so-so story

[daviddaphneredding · 6/10 · 1 June 2014]

In this 1971 Warner Brothers movie, set against the Nantucket Island backdrop of WWII, the nostalgia was great, strongly taking people back to the era of the early 40's. Nantucket was very appealing in this story, the coastal waters being very refreshing as well. As for the acting, Jennifer O'Neill portrayed so well the part of the lady with whom the young teenage boy became so taken. (Gary Grimes acted so well the part of the immature boy taken with her so strongly.) Jerry Houser was definitely an immature boy. But the storyline is not original. In their adolescent years, only a small number of boys do not find themselves fantasizing about some female they come upon and, as in this case, sometimes the women are too "old" for them; Grimes was a high school boy and O'Neill was somewhere in her middle 20's. In short, an adolescent boy meets an attractive older woman, he becomes strongly infatuated with her, and neither knows nor cares how the situation will resolve itself. The ending did and did not surprise me. To recapitulate, I was impressed with the nostalgia, the color and scenery were drawing, but the storyline was mediocre.

A special film...

[jv-5 · 10/10 · 8 September 1999]

"The Summer of '42" is an exceptional and touching film, one that holds a special place in American film history. It is not a film to be forgotten. And the musical score by Michel Legrand is easily one of the most beautiful ever produced. See this film!

Another word for Infidelity

[thinker1691 · 7/10 · 15 October 2006]

From time to time, Hollywood produces a masterpiece of a film. The audience congratulates the writer and director for the film's message. Of course, the critical adulations are as many as the various reasons of why the film succeeded. Different groups applaud the film and few if any ever see the subtle lie woven intricately within the story. Such is the way with the film " Summer of 42'. " The movie itself is offered as a heartwarming story of a young, beautiful and lonely wife, waiting patiently for her soldier husband fighting the good fight in Europe during the summer of 1942. Woven into her lonely vigil is a young fifteen year old boy who's summer vacation is made a little more enticing by the fact, the woman in question finds favor in the hormone driven lad. Feminists see the woman as needing love and comfort and accepts the fact the youth conveniently fills that need. Teenage boys see nothing wrong with the union as nothing more than a physical act of opportunity. But for men of reality, this film is nothing more than blatant hypocrisy. When an older woman allows a young man to join her in bed, feminists, sigh and say how romantic. Yet, others view it as further proof of a double standard imposed on men who wish the same privilege without deterrent of law. If the roles of this film were reversed, an adult man, sleeping with a young teenage girl, those same feminists would be screaming, "Child molester!" "Lolita lover!" If the viewer proceeds further, those same women who love this film and easily accept the romantic affair and see nothing wrong with it, why then do they see the same romance between a man and a young girl, (when the wife is out of the way) as nothing short of rape? Could it be, one needs to be Gary Grimes before feminists concede the point? If not; this film, should be relegated to the graveyard of feminine hypocrisy, wherein lie other such films like "Bridges of Madison County, and Birth." Touching as Robert Mulligans' 1971 film is and sympathetic as Jennifer O'Neill's character is, one either accept this film as romantic or nothing less than feminine child molestation. **

A work of art that seems to grow only finer with the passing of time.

[HoldenSpark · 9/10 · 11 July 2004]

Oh. My. God.

What a stunning piece of craftsmanship. A masterpiece. Such innocence. Such humanity. Such wisdom. Such truth. Such is the need to touch the soul of another, and such is the need to seek comfort. Yet tenderness risks so much. Oh to be tender again. Yet who could bear it again?

I remember when I was eight years old and I remember what a splash this movie made. I don't really recall that I was told or even understood why, and of course I wasn't taken to see it at that age, at that time, when it was common to keep children ignorant of much they are not today. I'm not sure now that it wasn't the craving of the parents to let themselves drown in the strangeness that is naivety prolonged too long for the sake of innocence itself rather than some strange desire to protect their children from things the children could already begin to feel within themselves but were not allowed to mention or ask about.

Though the latter is, even today, what is trumpeted about as the reason for shielding children from things they might not be ready for, I'm beginning to wonder if it isn't really the parents who are just protecting themselves, trying to squeeze out more childhood days from their children for the parents to enjoy before they must finally release their darling children into the fray that tides upon the whims of nature and destiny.

This movie came out in 1971. Tonight they played it late on our local PBS station here in Dallas. I'd never seen it and not thought about renting it and watching it in all these 33 years since then.

One might say it is simply about a couple of 15 year old boys coming of age. But it is more than that. So much more. In fact, without question, it is about the human condition itself.

This is a movie about sex, no doubt about that either. But a movie of a kind that I don't think I've ever seen before. Everyone should see this film. Everyone.

If you live alone, see it and feel your own soul's needs. If you live with someone, see it together and draw him or her close.

Above all, when it is over, you will find yourself remembering and feeling that rarest of all feelings, true tenderness.

The young men should have received acclaim for their performances , and without question so too should have the woman.

For she was woman, every woman.

robert mulligan

[yusufpiskin · 6/10 · 14 August 2020]

As a dedicated movie buff and a very serious student of film, Summer of '42 is, without a doubt, one of my all time favourite movies! Nothing I have ever seen since (or before) will ever come close to its magic and power. I first saw it so many years ago when I was not much older than Hermie, the main character in the film. I remember the experience so well: a hot Saturday night in a large art house cinema in a suburb of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. The movie house was fairly deserted that night and it felt like I was the only one in the theatre. On a huge screen the story unfolded and I was hooked from the beginning.

After it was over I remember going back to my car and just sitting there for about a half an hour, dwelling on the unique movie experience that had just totally consumed me. It really got to me on so many levels: the innocence and awkwardness of youth, the secret world of teenage boys that adults (especially parents) never understand, the awesome intoxication of that first crush.

And ... in my opinion the scene where Hermie goes into the drugstore to buy the condom is one of the sweetest and funniest scenes ever recorded on film.

I have lost count of how many times I have seen Summer of '42. I do know, however, if I watch it when ever I am happy, it makes me sad; if I watch it when ever I am sad, it makes me happy. Strange ... but true!

I run it regularly in my home movie theatre for friends to introduce them to its magic, but I never watch it with them. I only ever watch this movie alone. This is "my movie"; I will share its wonder with others, but I can only ever watch it by myself. Again strange ... but true!

Gary Grimes who played Hermie left acting in the late 1970s. I found an article on him several years ago. He is now 65 years old. He has moved on to other pursuits and says that he is happy with the life choices he has made. Still ... he is a great loss to film ...

A heartwarming coming of age film that is timeless.

[FOCKLERRC · 10/10 · 12 August 2002]

No boy who suffers the pangs of adolescence should go unarmed into young manhood without the comfort and the solace that this film provides. If for no other reason, see the film only to establish every mixed up emotion and confusion was for all accounts, normal. This film will also hold a special place in my heart. I saw if first at 17. Then again at 35, and once more at 45. I daresay I shall watch it again at 55, 65 and 80 as long as my eyes hold out and can shed a romantic tear for the love of Hermie and Dorothy.

Breakthrough film that was misunderstood and somewhat overrated.

[imbluzclooby · 6/10 · 20 April 2019]

The Summer of 42' is a 1971 memory film that's narrated by the main character who tries to convey a special time in his youth that would change his life forever. Fine, we all know the basic premise; three friends travel to a New England island for the summer. One of the friends Oscy (Jerry Houser) is the crude lout who constantly expresses his knowledge in sex. Hermie, the sensitive and gangly boy who's eager to break his virginity but knows very little on how to accomplish this feat. And the nerd friend. A war bride says her goodbyes to her husband as he goes overseas on his mission to serve. The rest of this story follows these boys as they venture off in to town, seeing movies, stopping by soda shops, ice cream parlors and hang out at the beach.

Of course. we are headed to that obligatory climax where the whole audience is waiting to see what will happen to Hermie and how it plays out. That's pretty much all we look forward to. The rest of the movie is filled with some sophomoric humor, mediocre acting and a couple scenes that are just played to promote laughter. Depending on your state of mind, it may just make you cringe which was beyond its intended purpose.

This movie highly benefits from a beautiful and effecting score which won an Oscar. The cinematography is lovely with the magnificent view of the ocean and the nearby beaches. And I hate to admit this as many other perverted guys have, but Jennifer O'Neill as Dorothy is too pretty to ignore. The boys are typical hormonal teenagers. Jerry Houser is the most grotesque and obnoxious of the three. He was one character I found hard to watch and accept. Gary Grimes as Hermie is perfectly cast displaying teenage awkwardness while showing an earnest appeal of goodwill and friendship for Dorothy.

Plus, the overall premise is interesting enough for any man who wants to get another person's perspective of when and how they lost their virginity. I was in for the ride even though some of the scenes didn't work well. That's either a misfire in the acting, directing or both. The two teenage girls the boys hook up with are also miscast. The blonde, who's supposed to be the prettier girl, is too chubby and boyish in the face to be regarded as such. The brunette girl, who's supposed to be the homely girl, was actually better looking than the other. So. miscasting was a problem here for me.

Parents are never seen in this picture for reasons I'm not sure about. I've noticed in other reviews that people have to constantly remark on "Nostalgia", ad nauseum. I don't see why nostalgia should be a theme here. And if so, it doesn't resonate with any force other than showing us American life in 1942. I think that the use of nostalgia to convey a certain mindset of American youth in the 40's can be problematic especially since the narration has to frequently remind us of it. But we never know exactly what that is in relation to who we are now. In addition, the exalting music and narrative purports to add a layer of profundity to a rather simple love story. What I think is most important for a story such as this is to see how a 15 year comes to grips with his need for acceptance, proving his manhood, and impressing a woman while struggling with his own teenage growing pains. But the movie falls short of this if not completely fails. We never really get to know Hermie, what it is that's troubling him and how he deals with these prurient feelings that are overcoming him. The script doesn't allow for us to see those moments other than the cheesy scene where he helps Dorothy load groceries and boxes in her beach house. Other people have expressed strong disapproval for the double standard of statutory rape and the role reversal of young male and older female. Quite honestly, I wasn't offended one bit. Nor did that theme ever enter my moral compass. because I know the story's intention is one of compassion and sympathy. Herein lies my biggest complaint. I'm not complaining about this movie inasmuch as I'm complaining about the reactions of those who've seen it. You'll get those jerky high school/college boys who joke around in that obnoxious and boorish tone about how this is a funny movie from their immature and unsophisticated viewpoint. You'll also get those who praise this as some epic masterpiece that captures a specific time capsule of how people were more innocent back then, And finally, you get those who will bellyache about the questionable immoral theme of the story's outcome. Each of these types of viewers are wrong and poorly mistaken of what we are supposed to gather from The Summer of 42'.

A sensitive and poignant film that you will never forget

[richievee · 10/10 · 24 November 2008]

I first saw this movie during its initial release, in 1971, while I was serving in the U.S. Army at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It affected me to such an extent that I (a "tough guy" G.I., mind you) left the theater in tears and had to walk along the train tracks of Fayetteville, North Carolina, for half an hour before I finally regained my composure. It is a poignant film, wonderfully written, acted, directed, and photographed. The interplay among the Terrible Trio (Hermie, Oscy, Benjie) is quite funny indeed, and most men will relate to the boys' curiosity about sex. But the scenes between Hermie and Dorothy raise this film into an exalted realm of the cinema, capturing the human spirit with rare insight. Among bittersweet, nostalgic, coming-of-age movies, only this one and the brilliant (but sadly neglected) "A Summer Story" strike me as achieving such a remarkable level of honesty. The sequence after the War Department telegram arrives is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful, sweet, sensitive scenes ever to be filmed. To those of you who accuse the bereaved Dorothy of committing statutory rape, of being a pedophile, and other such stupidly nonsensical allegations, I say take your politically correct crap and stick it up your... (Sorry, I got carried away there.) It's just that I resent dirty-minded morons who try to ruin a sweet, poignant scene by calling it something that it is not. Dorothy is no predator. She certainly has not been lying in wait for Hermie. She is shattered by the news, she has turned to the bottle for solace, and Hermie only happens along, offering physical comfort and a husband-figure in her time of need. I find nothing at all offensive about it. In fact, it is a lovely scene that is handled by director Robert Mulligan with great taste and sensitivity. It could hardly even be described as sexual. Please make it a point to see this film. You will never forget it.

Captivating coming of age tale, but do note my disclaimer

[roghache · 6/10 · 6 March 2006]

I saw this movie over 30 years ago when I was a young college student and loved it. However, my opinion of it has changed a bit over the years. I would still recommend this classic coming of age tale (both as an amusing glimpse into the hormones kicking in, so to speak, and also a young male adolescent's bittersweet experience of first love), but with a big disclaimer. Please don't anyone get their standards of appropriate adult behavior from it.

In summary, this story, especially during the first half, revolves around the humorous, almost innocent sexual fantasies of three male adolescents (Hermie, Oscy, and Benjie) who get their thrills chortling over explicit reproductive pictures from medical journals and comparing notes about 'how far they got' (really, not very far!) with the young girls. Sadly, this would of course not make any story whatsoever today because sex is everywhere in the media and throughout society all the time.

Later the main and quite endearing character, Hermie, is smitten with an 'older' 20 something year old woman, Dorothy (played by the lovely Jennifer O'Neill), whose husband is off fighting World War II. The early scenes between them as he helps her with groceries and so on are quite amusingly and touchingly done. Viewers of both sexes would be sympathetic toward Hermie's awkwardness, his youthful emotions and passions. Like one of the other reviewers, I found it pretty funny when 15 year old Hermie tries to impress the mature object of his affections with his fondness for black coffee!

*** WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD ***

However, the finale to their relationship now gives me pause. One evening when Hermie visits Dorothy's beach house, he finds her quietly grief stricken, having just discovered that her husband has been killed in action oversees. He tries silently to comfort her, they begin slow dancing, one thing leads to another...and you can imagine the end result here. Hermie's conflicted emotions following his first sexual encounter are touching, as the two basically never see each other again.

Now, 30 years after my original viewing and having raised a son myself, I find myself questioning Dorothy's behavior. I have every sympathy for the young widow's pain and am perhaps judging her a little harshly, but I'd be pretty upset, grief stricken or not, drinking or not, if a woman her age had slept with my son when he was 15. Hermie, raging hormones notwithstanding, isn't the one who took advantage of Dorothy's fragile emotional state to satisfy his own physical needs; SHE'S the one who took advantage of HIM and his youthful feelings to comfort HER.

I was quite pleased to note that I'm not totally way out in left field here. Some reviewers seem positively livid and question whether Dorothy is a child molester or pedophile, and use phrases like statutory rape. I definitely wouldn't go that far, given her traumatized state, but make no mistake, it's not laudatory adult behavior. Using others (especially vulnerable adolescents) isn't right, so while it may be dramatic, let's not make this a rosy enchanting ending, please.

If Hermie wasn't permanently scarred by the encounter, great. The point is, boys aren't just hormones but have emotions, too. A few have rightly commented that the public would be outraged if the sex of these two characters had been reversed, with a young girl being taken advantage of by a recently bereaved man in his 20's. They're absolutely correct that it wouldn't have been called a 'nostalgic' tale in that case.

That being said and bear it in mind, it's an amusing and touching story all in all, and I suppose in a sense its sins are pretty minor (to say the least) when compared with the outrages on the screen today. You'll enjoy this movie and yes, you'll probably recall your own particular Summer of 42, whatever form it may have taken.

He's Fifteen For Goodness Sake

[kacarrol-783-577285 · 4/10 · 25 May 2017]

Funny how given the right musical score, narration, setting and actors...an adult having sex with a child is considered an "awakening" by some. Yes, I liked the movie years ago, but I know better now. Since the 70's, we better monitor such "splendor". The problem is that adults in the same situation can envision themselves in some kind of "Summer of 42", but all it is without the musical score and great feeling...is criminal activity.