VividSimon Simply Perfect

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

thebuckguy Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee couldn't act, so instead Max Steiner throws a crescendo every time there's drama to be had with them. That, and Sandra Dee carries on about trying not to be "bad". Constance Ford is terrific as a frigid harpy and Dee's mother, who even calls her a harlot. The film goes on a bit too long, but it it was daring for its day.

Elle Wagner I grew up in Monterey and I recognized a half dozen of the filming locations for this well-loved and enduring movie--most which have been identified in other postings. I'd like to add that the "private girls" school Molly is attending is, in reality, the Monterey City Hall (I obtained my Social Security card there in 1965). The used car lot Johnnie walks out of is really the parking lot of the key making store (whose sign Johnnie walks under) that was there until the 1980s on Pearl Street. The stunning Frank Lloyd Wright home is easily seen on Scenic Drive in Carmel to this day. The owners could not obtain house insurance for years because of the crashing waves that sometimes flow over the house. The sunset/evening "watch" for the boat and stranded young lovers is filmed next to the famous "Witch Tree" at 17-Mile Drive which is very dilapidated now, but still recognizable. I used to ride my horse near one of the trails there. Where the boat crashes is right off the Carmel Highlands and can be seen today from certain cliffs.As admirers of this movie will recall--there are truer-than-true phrases in this movie: Ken and Sylvia swear they will love each other through "all the winters all of our lives" and that "the only reason for being alive is to love and be loved" and "I love you too much to speak"and that "learned love that counts for everything" and "love and humor on your side--these are the weapons of the angels". All the characters are "arch-types" who advance the story lines---but really, haven't we all met certain people who are like these?

billpappas-1 I just watched an old Perry Mason ans was pleasantly surprised to see Constance Ford. So, I looked her up and thought I'd see the reviews for A Summer Place.I was in the 8th grade when it first played. Looking back, those teen angst movies with sex as the conflict were laughable back then. Even as an 8th grader, they seemed conservative compared to what us kids talked about at the time which was much racier.There were movies like Susan Slade, Parrish, etc. that are cringe inducing but so entertaining for their dated takes on young love and young sex.Now, Constance Ford is irresistible; a poor man's Joan Crawford during her Queen Bee and Harriet Craig years. She could be so scary just by giving a look of disdain. I wish I could have met her to see what she was really like because she had that tough, intolerant schtick down and half the time seemed like she was having hot flashes to boot. Even in black and white, it looked like her face would get flushed when she was losing her temper. But, she could steal a scene so effortlessly even if she didn't say a word.I don't know what movie or TV show I saw Ford in where she was in a vicious argument with another woman or young girl where she took a fireplace poker and swung it and stuck it in the mantel. She was good. Scarier than Dirty Harry.Poor Troy Donahue couldn't act to save his life. He was a male bimbo. I had a crush on Sandra Dee even though she could be really annoying at times but she had her good moments.Dorothy McGuire was quite a beauty and a good actress but low key and not showy.All in all, a fun and entertaining movie with a window to a different time is some of our lives. I know it was a drama but, really, it still has me grinning throughout. And, that's good.I checked spoiler just in case Ford swinging a fireplace poker was from this movie. I can't recall for sure. She probably could have done that in many of her films with the characters she played.

BigBobFoonman I have always stopped and listened to the music theme of this movie whether it be in an elevator, grocery store or radio.....I see a beautiful woman walking on a beach when I hear it....Just saw the movie last night for the first time. SWEET HAY-soos....what a morality tale!.....there was never an answer given as to what the right thing was to do for the 2 sets of lovers in this story....and that is as it should be.....no answers....no comfort.....when pheromones strike...when the groin takes the heart with it.....Strangely discomforting and sad movie....way ahead of it's time. Richard Egan and Arthur Kennedy did good work as the men, Richard Egan was surprisingly convincing as a real man with a romantic heart....a man well aware that humans must have been an evolutionary mistake...the loins of animals, and the high moral brains of whatever space aliens came down and decided to play pool with the DNA of Earth.Sandra Dee should have been Natalie Wood....nuff said......Dorothy McGuire is the 50s equivalent of heartbreaking beauty.....hell, I was in love with her by the end of the movie.....Troy Donahue did well...I'll always wonder if he was gay...but his acting chops were good in this film.The saddest thing about this movie is how serious unwed sex, adultery and illegitimate babies were taken in the 50s, and how accepted and laughably commonplace they are today. I mark the beginning of the end of the USA as the Woodstock music festival.