It's now summertime, and I thought that it would be the best time for me to provide you with a movie review of the film titled Summer of '42. This movie was released in 1971, and the subject matter in it probably would not be as well received today here in the United States as it was in 1971 because of all the propaganda that self-proclaimed child advocates and the likes shove down our throats nowadays.
This movie also gave us a beautiful instrumental by Michel LeGrand. You can listen to it in the video below.
Theme Instrumental To The Movie Summer of '42 By Michel LeGrand
In this movie, Jennifer O'Neill was perfect for the role as Dorothy inasmuch as she was born in Brazil, which is a nation that is famous for having among the most beautiful women in the world. Another noticeable characteristic of Ms. O'Neill being ideal for this same movie role was that Dorothy ultimately confronts the tragedy of losing a loved one who fought in World War II. Similarly, Ms. O'Neill has suffered serious tragedies in her personal life.
There was nothing sordid or depraved about this movie despite that it crossed a number of forbidden lines and definitely flirted with a whole host of social taboos. It was undoubtedly a film about forbidden love, but it was handled in a tactful way that had a certain charm to it.
I've seen this film several times, and I liked it because of the atmosphere it sets. At the same time, I see this film as a sister film to both Lolita movies, because it takes the same vehicle of forbidden love and switches the gender roles. That is, both Lolita films project a grown man's belated adolescent fantasy coming true from a man's point of view, whereas Summer of '42 projects a grown woman's belated adolescent fantasy coming true from a woman's point of view.
Now, that is not to say that the creator of Summer of '42 plagiarized Lolita in any way. Both stories have their own unique plots, but the vehicles used in both films themselves are identical inasmuch as they hit upon stories of forbidden love that we typically used to hear about on daytime television talk shows and that we typically hear about now on evening news programs.
What I find interesting is that like the Humbert Humbert character in Lolita having a clear pathway of opportunity to Dolores Hayes, Dorothy in Summer of '42 has a clear pathway of opportunity to the 15-year-old boy in that movie whom she pursues romantically. The 15-year-old boy's name is Hermie (played by Gary Grimes).
In the 1997 version of Lolita, no teenage boys ever seem to be present except in conversations between Humbert Humbert and Dolores Hayes. In the 1962 version of Lolita, I only remember one teenage boy making an appearance in that film, and he did not have much of a role.
In Summer of 42, the teenage girls whom Hermie and his two buddies date are unpleasant and pose no obstacle to Dorothy as for her intentions to cross the forbidden age line of love with Hermie. Get my point?
Authors and creators of these types of stories know how to protect their own plots without their audiences even realizing what has hit them. The late British author, Beryl Bainbridge, even whitewashed the presence of any teenage boys from her book titled Harriet Said with the exception of a brief mention of a 19-year old boy whom the 13-year-old co-protagonist in that novel, Harriet, had met before returning to the village where she and the 13-year-old nameless protagonist both resided.
In case you've never read Harriet Said before, it is a novel that also delves into the topic of forbidden love between adolescents and adults. Perhaps I should do a book review about that here on my PeakD channel in the not-so-distant future.
The movie Summer of '42 is a genuine work of art. However, I still must say that the producer of this film and the producer of the original Lolita movie were wise to have released these films long before the Pedophile Panic that first began to take root probably around 1984. There's way too much censorship going on nowadays and way too much power being given to the Puritanical Establishment.
The movie Summer of '42 was actually based upon a true story except that the young boy in real life was 14 years old instead of 15 years old back when he became emotionally and romantically involved with Dorothy. In real life, he and Dorothy didn't go all the way, but they certainly came very close to doing so.
On the other hand, it is rumored that Vladimir Nabokov based the entire Lolita yarn on a grudge that he held against Charlie Chaplin. That is, Charlie Chaplin married an underage girl when he was in his thirties, and Mr. Nabokov came up with the idea for the Lolita story in his novel titled Lolita, and, of course, this story was spun into two different movies.
The movie viewing public here in the United States has seemed to have given much more approval to the movie Summer of '42 than it has ever done so to both Lolita films. Then again, let's remember that the story behind Summer of '42 took place in 1942 Maine. The state jurisdiction of Maine did not begin prosecuting women for statutory rape until 1986.
Furthermore, upon watching Summer of '42, the actual thought of it being a story about child seduction, pedophilia, grooming, or anything of that nature is not going to cross your mind. Yes, it is a story about forbidden love, and, yes, both Dorothy and Hermie are each on opposite sides of the legal age line when things supposedly become intimate for them. However, you are able to deduce that their feelings for each other are genuine and sound.
I was unable to find a free copy of Summer of '42 anywhere on YouTube. If you find one somewhere online, tell me about it in the comments section below. I'd also like to read any impressions you have about this movie if you did have the chance to see it. Out of ten possible stars, I give this movie nine stars.
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