Sunday, June 20, 2021

Summer's Here and the Time is Right for ... SUMMER MOVIES

Just in time for summer, TCM and Running Press offer John Malahy's delectably readable Summer Movies: 30 Sun-Drenched Classics. Featuring summertime-set films dating from the '20s (Lonesome/1928) to the present day (Call Me by Your Name/2017), it's a wide-ranging collection, detailed, photo-packed and filled with tantalizing backstory.

In his quest to "reflect the full range of how summer has been depicted on screen," Malahy explores films as diverse as the Bergman art house classic, Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), and the Harold Ramis pure-'80s farce, Caddyshack (1980). Naturally included are "beach movies" like Gidget (1959) and Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) as well as the seaside thriller that would become the first ever "summer blockbuster," Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) - the inspiration for this book.

While this collection is Malahy's own "subjective sampling," he encourages readers to continue to explore beyond his book. The author himself can't resist exploring further. Along with each of the 30 movies chosen, he recommends a second summer movie for a "double feature" experience and also includes a "vacation inspiration" suggestion with every entry. For example, Key Largo (1948), among the primary entries and a film set in the Florida Keys, is double-billed with Body Heat (1981), the steamy neo-noir set in South Florida. The vacation inspiration for Key Largo highlights the area's diving attractions as well as the fact that the steamboat from another Bogart vehicle, The African Queen (1951), is currently moored there.

Another of Malahy's double feature suggestions introduced me to a film I was 'til now unfamiliar with. His entry on The Seven Year Itch (1955), a minor but fetching Billy Wilder comedy that provided Marilyn Monroe with one of her more endearing roles and catapulted her career into the stratosphere, is paired with the more obscure Out of the Blue (1947). Based on a short story by Vera Caspary (author of Laura) and starring George Brent, Virginia Mayo, Turhan Bey, Ann Dvorak and Carole Landis, the film is described by Malahy as "a screwball combination of The Seven Year Itch and Rear Window." This I've gotta see. Such are the nuggets to be found in Summer Movies.

Moondoggie and friends
In his foreward to Malahy's guide, Leonard Maltin travels down Memory Lane, remembering his own early experiences with summer movies beginning with the time he saw The Parent Trap "the first week it played in a nearby New Jersey theater." Maltin's recollections brought to mind memories of my own. There was the summer long ago when I first saw Gidget at a Saturday matinee at the Ritz Theater in my hometown in Southern California. It was a few years after Gidget's original release and I remember how much I'd anticipated seeing it and how enchanted I was with the freewheeling beach scene it depicted, with "Moondoggie," and with the sport of surfing, which was on the cusp of becoming very, very popular. I also remember a hot summer night in the distant past when I went with an older cousin and his family - again to the Ritz Theater - to see Disney's Summer Magic (1963). It starred Hayley Mills, Dorothy McGuire, Burl Ives and Deborah Walley (future Gidget!) and told the story of a turn-of-the-century family making a new life in a small town. I was charmed. A summer or two later, word of mouth began to spread on a movie about surfing that was then being shown in auditoriums and other small venues. It was called The Endless Summer and in Southern California at that time it became the definition of "cool."

As I've mentioned more than once, this is an eclectic assortment. Commingling on Summer Movies' pages are the likes of Breaking Away (1979), Dirty Dancing (1987), Do the Right Thing (1989), The Graduate (1967), Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (1953), Moon Over Miami (1941), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), On Golden Pond (1981), Picnic (1955), The Parent Trap (1961), A Room with a View (1985), Summertime (1955) and Summer Stock (1950). It's kinda wacky but mostly engaging and a lot of fun. Which is what makes Summer Movies: 30 Sun-Drenched Classics great summer reading for classic film fans and anyone with an interest in the films of summer. It will probably inspire other readers, as it has me, to consider what films would be on their own A-list of films set in the summertime. A few have already popped into my head: American Graffiti (1973), Body Heat (1981), Say Anything (1989), Summer Magic (1963), Summer of '42 (1971)...and I'm wondering if Roman Holiday (1953) took place during Rome's summer season.

Many thanks to Taryn Jacobs/TCM and Running Press for a review copy of Summer Movies: 30 Sun-Drenched Classics.

4 comments:

  1. "Kinda wacky but mostly engaging" sounds like a good recommendation to me! My first pick would be a summer favorite not mentioned: The Long, Hot Summer with Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Orson Welles, and Angela Lansbury.

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  2. Great pick, Rick, The Long, Hot Summer would be on my list, too.

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  3. I only know "Out of the Blue" because of my devotion to Ann Dvorak - who gives another smashing performance. Aside from a few, it seems this really is the summer films of our lives. Let me add one which is not necessarily on my list of favorites, but is one of my favorite titles - "The Endless Summer." Living in the northeast, it's my favorite dream.

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    1. I've yet to search out "Out of the Blue," but it's on the list. Even though I grew up in California (and as natives will say, "don't call it Cali"), the concept of "endless summer" or "following the sun" was inspiring since 'round the world travel to exotic locales was part of the fantasy.

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