ComedyDramaRomance

Summer of '42

- In everyone's life there's a "Summer of '42"

Over the summer of 1942 on Nantucket Island, three friends -- Hermie, Oscy and Benjie -- are more concerned with getting laid than anything else. Hermie falls in love with the married Dorothy, whose husband is an army pilot recently sent to the battlefront of World War II.

Release Date : 1971-04-19

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Warner Bros. Pictures

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Dorothy

Original Name : Jennifer O'Neill

Gender : Female

Character Name : Hermie

Original Name : Gary Grimes

Gender : Male

Character Name : Oscy

Original Name : Jerry Houser

Gender : Male

Character Name : Benjie

Original Name : Oliver Conant

Gender : Male

Character Name : Aggie

Original Name : Katherine Allentuck

Gender : Female

Character Name : Miriam

Original Name : Christopher Norris

Gender : Female

Character Name : Druggist

Original Name : Lou Frizzell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dorothy's Husband (uncredited)

Original Name : Walter Scott

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hermie's Mother (voice) (uncredited)

Original Name : Maureen Stapleton

Gender : Female

Character Name : Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Original Name : Robert Mulligan

Gender : Male

Reviews

Wuchak

@Wuchak

2021-06-23

Sex-obsessed boys on Nantucket in 1942 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+