Summertime (1955)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

David Lean

Writers:

H.E. Bates (screenplay) &
David Lean (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

14 August 1955 (Japan)

Genre:

Romance | Drama

Tagline:

It Happens to Hepburn - It Happens in Venice!

Plot:

A lonely American woman unexpectedly finds romance in Venice, Italy.

Plot Keywords:

Venice Italy | Secretary | American | Camera | Train

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Katharine Hepburn	...	Jane Hudson
Rossano Brazzi	...	Renato de Rossi
Isa Miranda	...	Signora Fiorini
Darren McGavin	...	Eddie Yaeger
Mari Aldon	...	Phyl Yaeger
Jane Rose	...	Mrs. McIlhenny
MacDonald Parke	...	Mr. McIlhenny
Jeremy Spenser	...	Vito de Rossi
Gaetano Autiero	...	Mauro
Virginia Simeon	...	Giovanna

Also Known As:

Summer Madness (UK)

Runtime:

UK:99 min | USA:100 min | Argentina:102 min | West Germany:100 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | Italian

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Australia:PG | New Zealand:PG | UK:PG | Finland:S | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Campo San Barnaba, Venice, Veneto, Italy

Company:

London Film Productions

Trivia:

Katharine Hepburn's apartment is actually an amalgam of three different locations. The door through which she enters the apartment belongs to the Trattoria Sempione, a restaurant that still exists today. Her bedroom belongs to an apartment two miles away in the suburb of Dursoduro, and the terrace was a purpose-built set in Compo San Vio.

Goofs:

Continuity: The amount of wine in Di Rossi's glass when he first sees Jane - the glass is empty, then full.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 76th Annual Academy Awards (2004) (TV)

Let's clear this up:

As someone who has viewed Summertime 5 or 6 times a year for its beauty alone, I can clear up a few questions: Jane Hudson has come to Venice for a relatively short vacation for which "she has waited such a long time" and "saved for so very long." She's a "fancy secretary" she says. It's easy to surmise from the action of the film that she is spending somewhere between one and two weeks in Venice. (They meet, she resists, she gives in, the go off for a weekend on the isle of Burano.)She's not rich and neither is he.

As for Renato's attraction to the prim Jane: first it's her ankle and calf, when he spots her at the cafe in Piazza San Marco. Next, it's her awkward shyness when she catches him looking at her. He is absolutely ga-ga over her "innocence" and sets his sights on the conquest. (The two of them play this nearly wordless scene brilliantly. I'd think anybody with a soul and two eyes would get it.)Then, naturally, when his heat is turned onto her and she blooms, he can't get enough.

She was 48 and he 39 when the film was released.