Last Summer
Allied Artists (1969) Dir. Frank Perry
97 min. / Color / 1.85:1 / DTS-HD MA 2.0 MONO / SDH
Warner Archive BD $24.98
Available from our partner Movie Zyng
Much to discuss with this film, a movie that until recently few remembered and fewer had seen, from the era of “well, we’re not certain what young people want, let’s throw some stuff at the screen and see what sticks” but also the product of a husband and wife team that were indie film pioneers and knew exactly what they were trying to do, based on a provocative novel by Evan Hunter and starring a great cast of young, talented performers.
Summer on Fire Island, and three teenagers, beautiful Sandy and her new friends, Peter and Dan, bond over an injured seagull and the usual joys of teenagers with no parental supervision: drugs, sex, and rock ‘n’ roll, only generally speaking in a very clean, 1960s teen beach sort of way. Frank Perry (director) and Eleanor Perry (writer) had collaborated successfully on David and Lisa (1962), Ladybug Ladybug (1963), and The Swimmer (1968) and would go on to Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970) before divorcing personally and professionally. It’s worth noting that they were far from teenagers; Frank was pushing 40 and Eleanor was 16 years his senior.
And so on to our stars: Barbara Hershey (age 21, and she later changed her name temporarily to Barbara Seagull as a result of an incident while filming Last Summer); Richard Thomas (age 18, soon to be immortalized as John-Boy Walton); Bruce Davison (23, and we know and love him as Willard, right?); and the one unfamiliar name amongst our young quartet, the late Cathy Burns (age 23, and an Oscar nominee for this film but out of films shortly afterwards). As to be expected, the two boys are sex-crazed; Barbara is attractive but weird, Cathy is socially inept and eager to be accepted as part of the group.
The rest of the backstory of the film is that after an initial and apparently successful release and a re-release when Richard Thomas hit it big on TV, the film became all but impossible to see, with an edited 16mm print all that anybody could find, until a major search and rescue mission by Warner Archive was able to restore the film and offer it in world re-premiere, and in fact, the new Blu-ray release is clearly a marquee effort by Warners, including a booklet on the history of the film as well as a slip-cover for the release, heralding the triumph the Archive feels in this release. The bonus materials are especially impressive, including two half-hour Q&As, one with Hershey and Davison and one with Thomas, commentary by Larry Karaszewski, vintage promotional films, and more.
There is more to the story, though, as some in the audience may find the film’s treatment of the seagull in question and of the Cathy Burns character (and others) to be shocking and depraved. We squirmed through certain incidents in the film, which was originally rated X (as was 1969’s Best Picture, Midnight Cowboy; X didn’t always mean porn, you know) until a brief editing job allowed it an R rating for release back in ’69. This is not a feel good bittersweet movie like American Graffiti or Summer of ’42, two films it brought to mind, and it’s not for everyone.
That said, this is one of the best package releases Warner Archive has ever done, and those who love the film will appreciate it.
