Summer and Smoke

Academy Award Nominations: Leading Actress-Geraldine Page, Supporting Actress-Una Merkel, Set Design and Original Score.March Boy nominations: Picture, Director-Peter Glenville, Leading Actor-Lawrence Harvey, Leading Actress-Geraldine Page, Screenplay, Costume Design, Set Design, Cinematography, Original Score, Film Editing and Sound Mixing.Alma Winemiller and John Buchannan are polar opposites. She is awkward, shy and timid; he is bold, forward and impetuous. She is a saint, he is a rake.Alma spends most of the day taking on responsibilities her mother would have assumed but can't because due to her senility--going to middle aged women's social gatherings, housekeeping and preparing her father's sermons--and therefore has little spare time while other girls her age are going to boarding schools, balls and parties for young people with suitors left and right. Deep down she longs to experience the sweet, innocent delights of youth before she becomes an old maid but knows she can't because of her circumstances and therefore tries to accept them the best she can. She loves her mother and tries to put up with her kooky annoying antics and repress feelings of resentment towards her for going mad. In one brilliant scene, her mother teases her for looking out the window at John right in front of a guest. Alma loses her cool saying it is all her fault that she has been forced to `grow up too soon.' But then she quickly checks herself and apologizes saying she knows she shouldn't think that. She has to remember her mother can't help being touched in the head. She can't be reasoned with and Alma needs to just give up, accept her eccentricities and love her unconditionally.John has big responsibilities too but unlike Alma, he makes PLENTY OF TIME (or rather TOO MUCH TIME) for recreation and the wrong kinds--loose women, drinking, gambling and fist fighting. He disrespects his father's wishes--not to bring his debauchery into their house and just go out to these places if he wants--by admitting the Spanish floozy Rosa (Rita Moreno) and her friends from the ghettos into the house for a party while his father is away on business.The noise they create is so loud, Alma and her parents can't get to sleep so she calls John's father to tell him what is going on inhis absence and ask him to put a stop to it.John's father beats Rosa's father with a cane in an effort to expel him from the house. In turn, Rosa's father shoots him. John blames Alma saying it was HER fault he died because she HAD to make that call but eventually he faces up to the fact that he is his own worst enemy, because after all he was the one who invited the low company to the house. Therefore he aspires to clean up his act and become a regular, solid citizen like Alma.At the end Alma declares she has always loved him from childhood but knows it is better they remain friends apart since their relationship was more like a brother and sister. So instead of staying home and eating herself away with guilt and torment over her lost love like Miss Havisham in Great Expectations, she decides to enjoy life while she has it.Geraldine Page and Lawrence Harvey have such great chemistry together and their romance has a rare depth and spark. And even though he is struggling with a physical attraction at times (like when he makes the moves on her in the gazebo) I always got the impression that his love for her stemmed more from her character than her face because of how they both teach other different lessons:1. John to Alma: Letting go of her shy, awkward, timid nature.2. Alma to John: Being a man of character and integrity.Like many great films and books, Summer and Smoke is one of those stories that are so multi layered that there are many ways to interpret what is going on within the framework of the narrative.For instance, is Alma really as innocent and saintly as she appears or does she have tricks up her sleeve? Does she really call John's father to stop the orgy because the Mexicans are disturbing the peace or is it because she feels insulted that John should prefer a `fallen woman' to her--a preacher's daughter--someone he has known since childhood? Or maybe for both reasons? When she defends her faith in the Christianity vs. Hedonism Anatomy Chart Debate scene is it simply because she wants the temporary thrill of winning an argument or does she sincerely want to win him over to Christ? At the end, is she saying farewell to the angel and turning to the life of a loose woman because it was her father's religion--not her's--she was just going through the motions--and now she is finally flaring up in her true colors a la Sister Ruth in Black Narcissus? Or does she still believe in God and has respect for basic Christian ethics--she just wants to be taken out for a date and make a new friend with the travelling salesman because she has learned there is nothing wrong with being courted every once in a while and romantic love has its proper place in the world as well as spiritual love? Alas, it is for the viewer to decide.Page has so many great scenes like when she finally `lets it all out' at the end to John and the interactions with her mother and she uses her unique, fluttery, wispy voice and soft expressive, sea blue eyes to great effect.Harvey glides subtly and smoothly from sinner to saint as is excellently foreshadowed in these scenes:1. When he leaves his drunken guests and goes upstairs to `take a breather.'2. When Rosa (the Spanish girl) says she wants to marry him simply to rise above her meager roots. He realizes she doesn't love him--she is merely a social climber and he needs to detach himself from her.Charles Lang's cinematography is some of the best ever put to film. The soft pastel colors--those drop dead gorgeous shots with the trick or treaters at the angel fountain, the gazebo and the neighborhood. The interior designs of the houses are magnificent.Elmer Bernstein's score is rich, lush, dramatic and filled with layers of details and dimensions.I recommend this movie. Good for discussions.

A classic with Rita Moreno and Mischa Skikne.

Nearly all the films made from Tennessee Williams' plays reveal their stage origins, but none more so than "Summer and Smoke". I must admit that its theatricality put me off at first, but there are many things about the film I do like.I was interested in seeing the film after I read reviews of "Splendor in the Grass", which claimed that the basic idea for that movie was borrowed by William Inge from Tennessee Williams' "Summer and Smoke". I love "Splendor," and wanted to see if the 'Bard of the Midwest' could possibly have copied from Tennessee's homework."Summer and Smoke" is set in an early 1900's small town in Mississippi. A young woman, Alma Winemiller (Geraldine Page), the daughter of a minister, is in love with the boy next door, John Buchanan (Laurence Harvey), the son of the local doctor. However, she is repressed emotionally, believing that personal dignity is paramount, while he is adventurous and wild. She stays at home nursing her mentally ill mother while he goes out into the world living life to the full.John returns and has affairs with other women, which hurt Alma deeply. Although each comes around to the other's way of thinking, by the end they are just as apart as in the beginning.Yes, Inge probably saw "Summer and Smoke" when it opened on Broadway in the late 40's, and there may have been an influence, but I think most people would probably need it pointed out. As far as the two movies are concerned, "Splendor" is the more accessible work while "Smoke" does struggle to overcome its stage roots.But with that said, "Summer and Smoke" picks up the pace along the way, and the two leads are good together. Geraldine Page, an unusual beauty, repeats her role from the stage. She has some tough speeches to deliver, but the vulnerability of her character gains sympathy before the end.Then there is Laurence Harvey. I've always found him a striking screen presence, and was therefore surprised to find websites where his peers from British cinema and theatre have been quoted as saying he was a bad actor. They seemed to get his roles on-screen mixed up with his life off-screen - a colourful one to be sure. However, there could also have been sour grapes involved; he was such a good-looking dude with a great voice to match, and the camera loved him. In fact, he gives the most natural performance in the film.Many years before I saw "Summer and Smoke", I knew Elmer Bernstein's score. It is a beautiful and nostalgic work with a heart-wrenching main theme. The music gives a haunting sense of loss to the film, offsetting the staginess of backlot sets and overlit photography. It shows the power of music to enhance a film.I am glad I saw the film now. It moves at its own pace, and presents some challenging ideas. Maybe it's not the best translation of Tennessee Williams to the screen, but it has its moments nonetheless.

I just finished watching this DVD from Olive Films and I must say I had forgotten how good the movie is. I won't get into all that though because most of the previous reviews listed here go into great detail about the plot and the cast and their opinions of everything about it except what is most important in these types of reviews--the actual quality of the specific product that you are interested in purchasing. (After all, do people really read these reviews for plot and cast info? You can certainly get that information in great detail from other sources, assuming you don't already know it before you even begin your amazon search.) As far as I can tell (judging by the publish dates), only 2 of the people who have so far reviewed this particular DVD have actually purchased it. So I'm here to help.I was unfamiliar with Olive Films and was hesitant to purchase this release, but I found a used copy here on amazon and decided to take a chance. I must say I am very pleased with the quality of the transfer--in my opinion it is flawless. My only complaint is that, for the high price that this DVD is going for, I expected more. There are no extras whatsoever--no commentary, no trailers, no production notes, no stills, not even subtitles!! Thus my 4-star rating.So now you have a few actual details of the Olive Films release of "Summer & Smoke". Hopefully they will help with your decision to purchase this product.

Interesting William’s film

I hadn't seen this for years, but was pleased to find it still packs a punch. Peter Glenville's moody treatment of Williams' play, great camera work and a brooding — yeah, smoky — score made this one of the best movies of the early sixties. That's not to mention a host of great performances — Geraldine Page and Laurence Harvey were probably never better. Set in a small town in the deep South in 1916, it concerns the repressed daughter of the local minister and her secret crush on her next-door neighbor, a young doctor and the town's bad boy. It other words, typical Tennessee Williams. So it's probably not for everyone, but if you like well-written drama, fine acting and a far from predictable plot, you should love it.

Envío muy rápido y DVD de buena calidad.

Pleasantly heavy going of a DVD from Paramount as far as I know just released on Region 1 Nice print in W/s 235:1.

This paramount print by olive films looks terrific sound bright and clear dvd transfer is splendid a tennesee williamsplay it looks more a stage play translated to film the great geraldine page and laurence harvey are perfect match with the sultry rita moreno as the love element una merkel is the mother who suffered a nervous breakdown and john mc intire as the father of the arrogant doctor john introducing lovely pamela tiffin dvd has no subtitles meu play chapter delection