A Summer Place (1959)

[TomJH]

I'm constantly drawn to seeing Palm Springs Weekend again and again because of Troy Donahue's charisma and underappreciated acting genius.

 

 

I just wrote that so I could tell myself I was the first person in history to ever write or say those words.

Actually you could replace Palm Springs Weekend with the title of any other film in which Donahue appeared and I suspect those words would remain just as unwritten and unspoken.

[Dargo]

18 minutes ago, TomJH said:

I'm constantly drawn to seeing Palm Springs Weekend again and again because of Troy Donahue's charisma and underappreciated acting genius.

I just wrote that so I could tell myself I was the first person in history to ever write or say those words.

Actually you could replace Palm Springs Weekend with the title of any other film in which Donahue appeared and I suspect those words would remain just as unwritten and unspoken.

Poor Troy. Poor poor Troy.

But then again and on the OTHER hand, the luscious Suzanne Pleshette must have seen SOMETHIN' in him in order to agree to marry him...

...for all of eight months anyway.

(...poor Troy...poor poor Troy)

[TomJH]

1 hour ago, Dargo said:

Poor Troy. Poor poor Troy.

But then again and on the OTHER hand, the luscious Suzanne Pleshette must have seen SOMETHIN' in him in order to agree to marry him...

...for all of eight months anyway.

(...poor Troy...poor poor Troy)

Well, there is charisma in this photo, and this time I'm not kidding. Too bad some of it didn't rub off on Troy, He was a good looking guy alright but what a stiff. You're right, Dargo, I guess Suzanne must have seen something in him. She didn't see it too long, though

These two appeared together in Raoul Walsh's final film, by the way. Walsh had worked with his share of charismatic actors in his day. It's a shame his career had to end with Donahue, of all people, as the lead in his final film.

[txfilmfan]

 

I just wonder how many cans of hairspray it took to hold up Ms. Pleshette's beehive.  It's a close call which is higher, her hair, or their wedding cake...

[Sepiatone]

As a wedding photographer, I'd always have the groom look at either the cake or the bride.  Or at least the two looking at each other or at what they were doing.  So what in the HELL was so interesting to Troy he couldn't resist being distracted?  I mean.....

With Pleshette as my bride,  I couldn't possibly  turn my gaze anywhere else!   

Sepiatone

[Ray Faiola]

3 hours ago, Sepiatone said:

As a wedding photographer, I'd always have the groom look at either the cake or the bride.

 

Here's my wife and myself 40 years ago last month! We had a "New York" cake!

 

[brianNH]

Congratulations to the happy couple!  Here's to another 40!  And bless you both.

(It will be 40 years for my wife and me in July of 2022.)

[misswonderly3]

1 hour ago, Ray Faiola said:

Here's my wife and myself 40 years ago last month! We had a "New York" cake!

 

Omygawd,  Ray,, your wife's wedding dress looks exactly like mine !

[misswonderly3]

1 hour ago, brianNH said:

Congratulations to the happy couple!  Here's to another 40!  And bless you both.

(It will be 40 years for my wife and me in July of 2022.)

Must be several of us old-marrieds hanging around these boards.  My husband and I just celebrated our 36th anniversary in October.

[AmandaBonner]

 

10 hours ago, misswonderly3 said:

Must be several of us old-marrieds hanging around these boards.  My husband and I just celebrated our 36th anniversary in October.

Yep, a lot of us.  It'll be 47 years in April for me.

[Dargo]

17 hours ago, Ray Faiola said:

Here's my wife and myself 40 years ago last month! We had a "New York" cake!

 

Ya know who you look like there, Ray?

Actor Michael Weatherly, who's presently starring in the CBS television series Bull.

[Ray Faiola]

2 hours ago, Dargo said:

Ya know who you look like there, Ray?

Actor Michael Weatherly, who's presently starring in the CBS television series Bull.

Thanks McGoo!!

[Dargo]

3 hours ago, Ray Faiola said:

Thanks McGoo!!

In my very best Jim Backus impression...

                                         "You're welcome, Ray oooool' boy!"

(...although I assumed you meant "Magoo" here...and you DID look like Weatherly back then, ya know...at least  in your wedding pic here, anyway)

[Sepiatone]

HEE!

I remember back in the '90's and shortly into the 200's an NHL referee with the name MICK McGOUGH  pronounced "McGOO"!     It'd annoy him when some players skated past him yelling, "Road hog!"  

Sepiatone

[Bronxgirl48]

On 11/17/2021 at 4:12 PM, misswonderly3 said:

Every time I think of A Summer Place I think of another movie, Diner.   It's the bit where Mickey Rourke's character takes some beautiful rich unattainable girl out for a date.  He's made some unseemly bet with his friends that he can get the girl to --not sure I want to describe it further, let's just say,  get the girl to do something she'd never knowingly do, certainly not on their first date.

Anyway,  he takes her to see A Summer Place.  It involves a box of popcorn,  and the girl being shocked by something Mickey does with the box.  Anyone who's seen it will know what I'm talking about.   It's disgusting,  and also,  by the standards of today's culture,  offensive and inappropriate, to say the least. But it's also pretty funny.  Mickey tells his date that it was all because of a scene in the movie, something to do with Sandra Dee's dress getting torn or whatever.

I have to say,  I like Diner a lot more than I like A Summer Place.  I actually really dislike all those late '50s / early '60s melodramas, they just go on and on, and as someone else here mentioned,  they seem to cram just about every possible "issue" that was on the cultural radar at that time into the story. As I recall A Summer Place,  it's mostly about Johnny and Molly's angsting about wanting to have sex and yet feeling they shouldn't.  I know it was 1959, when it was a big deal for teen lovers to decide to have sex,  but honestly,  I got pretty tired of the angsting.  Ok,  either have sex or move on, already !    

Diner was made in 1982 but was set the same year as A Summer Place,  1959.  In my opinion,  Diner's a lot more fun.

ps:  I have to revise what I said above about 1950s melodramas,  I make an exception with Douglas Sirk, whose films I really enjoy.

 

Ah, DINER !

"Eddie, I knew the Alan Ameche answer!"

"Sinatra or Mathis?"

"Earl, does that include the chicken dinner?"

Those guys were such losers, lol.   But trying to figure everything out....

The only thing I really like about A SUMMER PLACE is Max Steiner's score.  This  "heavy" composer could be downright perky!   (think portions in KING KONG, THE BIG SLEEP, A STOLEN LIFE, etc.)

Although Richard Egan is always easy on the eyes.... 

[Bronxgirl48]

21 hours ago, misswonderly3 said:

Must be several of us old-marrieds hanging around these boards.  My husband and I just celebrated our 36th anniversary in October.

Congratulations!

[misswonderly3]

7 hours ago, Dargo said:

Ya know who you look like there, Ray?

Actor Michael Weatherly, who's presently starring in the CBS television series Bull.

I thought he looked like the writer, Jonathan Franzen  ( when he was young.  ) This is intended as a compliment,  I like that writer very much.  And glasses on a man can be very sexy.  (No, I'm not flirting with Ray - how unseemly !   I'm just sayin'....)

[Sepiatone]

On 11/19/2021 at 4:05 PM, Ray Faiola said:

Here's my wife and myself 40 years ago last month! We had a "New York" cake!

 

See....  I'D have taken that shot over, telling you to LOOK AT THE BRIDE!  

And also;  "Lose the drink."   

This shot makes it seem like you're not really into the whole thing(wedding AND marriage).

Sepiatone

[misswonderly3]

4 hours ago, Sepiatone said:

See....  I'D have taken that shot over, telling you to LOOK AT THE BRIDE!  

And also;  "Lose the drink."   

This shot makes it seem like you're not really into the whole thing(wedding AND marriage).

Sepiatone

I have no idea why I feel the need to reply to your post, there, Sepia, since the wedding pic in question doesn't involve me in any way whatsoever.  But just because the groom ( Ray?)  in that pic is not looking at his bride that very second does not mean he's being inattentive to either her or the fact that he's getting married.   It's pretty usual, when someone's taking a picture of you,  to look right into the camera.  I got the impression from the pic that's all it was.

Even at a wedding, the blissful couple can't be staring adoringly into each other's eyes every second !  Now, all that said,  I know by the jovial emojis you included with your post that you were joking.   I'm just saying,  I did not think, from looking at that shot,  that Mr. Faiola was neglecting his bride in any way.  In fact I think it's a very sweet picture.

( Again, I know you were probably kidding,  so no offense ...)

[PhillyCinephile]

On 11/17/2021 at 2:16 PM, Det Jim McLeod said:

The best thing to me was Constance Ford, she plays a nasty, cold, vindictive prude and she does it really well. The Christmas scene between her and Sandra Dee is a classic.

"Merry Christmas, Mother!"

I cannot resist A SUMMER PLACE.  It's a yummy hot fudge sundae of a movie, meant to be devoured gluttonously.  While I am guilty of film snobbery, the truth is, I'm as fond of late-era Delmer Daves melodramas as I am of anything that gets a mention in Sight & Sound's decennial surveys.  

[Ray Faiola]

On 11/20/2021 at 12:43 PM, Dargo said:

In my very best Jim Backus impression...

 

                                         "You're welcome, Ray oooool' boy!"

(...although I assumed you meant "Magoo" here...and you DID look like Weatherly back then, ya know...at least  in your wedding pic here, anyway)

No, I meant "McGoo" because that's what Michael Weatherly always called Sean Murray (McGee) on NCIS!  I've been married to my wife AND CBS (recently retired) for 40 years!!

[HoldenIsHere]

On 11/18/2021 at 4:58 PM, speedracer5 said:

I’m sure if A Summer Place had gone on a little longer, Constance Ford would have had Sandra Dee institutionalized. It was pretty much the only thing that hadn’t happened to her yet. With that said, much like “Written on the Wind,” I love everything that happens to everyone in that film. I love it. I also love Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue, while wooden (I agree) has some weird charm to him that makes me like him. My favorite parts of “A Summer Place” is Richard Egan’s  glorious speech condemning his wife’s hatred and prejudice (makes you wonder how they married in the first place, much less had Sandra Dee) and later when Constance Ford slaps Sandra Dee and she very dramatically falls onto the Christmas tree. 

Yes,  the plastic Christmas tree that Constance Ford's character says should last  ten years.

I also love A SUMMER PLACE.  It's a movie that I can easily get pulled into.

I really  like the parts you mention  and also the way Beulah Bondi's character calls Richard Egan's character "Lifeguard" and gets him to fix the leak that's dripping on her "convenience."  I love when he asks her: "Where are you leaking?"

I'm a big fan of Sandra Dee and especially love her in GIDGET and TAMMY, TELL ME TRUE.  I also love her  in A SUMMER  PLACE even though her hairstyle in the movie is not very flattering.  One of of my favorite Sandra Dee lines is A SUMMER PLACE is the one to her mother:  " Johnny's lettuhs  were all I had to live for. And now you've even made them dirty. "

[NipkowDisc]

On 11/18/2021 at 9:28 PM, TomJH said:

Well, there is charisma in this photo, and this time I'm not kidding. Too bad some of it didn't rub off on Troy, He was a good looking guy alright but what a stiff. You're right, Dargo, I guess Suzanne must have seen something in him. She didn't see it too long, though

These two appeared together in Raoul Walsh's final film, by the way. Walsh had worked with his share of charismatic actors in his day. It's a shame his career had to end with Donahue, of all people, as the lead in his final film.

I think Troy Donahue's performance in A Distant Trumpet is pretty dam good.

 

[Mr. Gorman]

If you watch Oliver Stone's first movie SEIZURE (1974-Canadian)  Troy Donahue has a small part and he gets killed off early.   That should cheer up all the non-Troy fans here.   👍

[Sepiatone]

18 hours ago, misswonderly3 said:

I have no idea why I feel the need to reply to your post, there, Sepia, since the wedding pic in question doesn't involve me in any way whatsoever.  But just because the groom ( Ray?)  in that pic is not looking at his bride that very second does not mean he's being inattentive to either her or the fact that he's getting married.   It's pretty usual, when someone's taking a picture of you,  to look right into the camera.  I got the impression from the pic that's all it was.

Even at a wedding, the blissful couple can't be staring adoringly into each other's eyes every second !  Now, all that said,  I know by the jovial emojis you included with your post that you were joking.   I'm just saying,  I did not think, from looking at that shot,  that Mr. Faiola was neglecting his bride in any way.  In fact I think it's a very sweet picture.

( Again, I know you were probably kidding,  so no offense ...)

Yeah, in a way I was kidding, but really, I'd catch holy hell from the director of Edward's wedding photography studio for not getting the shots like I described.  It gives the couple another alternative to choose for their album.  And at least, we can be thankful it wasn't that way too overdone cliche of the bride shoving the cake in his face! 

Sepiatone