TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Claudio Carvalho The American secretary Jane Hudson (Katharine Hepburn) travels from Ohio to Venice. Jane is a middle-age single and lonely woman that have saved money for her dream trip. On the arrival, she immediately befriends the owner of the boarding house Signora Fiorini (Isa Miranda). During the night, she goes to a café and an Italian helps her to call the waiter. Jane feels sort of uncomfortable for being alone and on the next day, she sees a red glass goblet in the window of an antique store. The owner Renato de Rossi (Rossano Brazzi), who is the man that helped her, explains that it is an ancient goblet from the Eighteenth Century and therefore expensive; then he also explains that she should always bargain for a lower price in Venice. Jane recognizes Renato from the previous night and becomes clumsy. Soon Renato woos her but the needy Jane is afraid to love."Summertime" is a deceptive film directed by David Lean and with Katharine Hepburn. Her character is a tight and awkward spinster and the romance with Rossano Brazzi has no chemistry. Most of the time the viewer has a tour through Venice and a tasteless romance. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Quando o Coração Floresce" ("When the Heart Blossoms")

kijii This is part of my ongoing personal project to see all of David Lean's 18 directed movies. This particular film is sandwiched in between his early years with Coward, Dickens, and his wife (from 1949 to 1957), Ann Todd on the one hand, AND his five epic-type movies made from 1957-1984. Lean's story sources seemed to be heavily influenced by the traditional English values of Noel Coward and Terence Rattigan, even after the short 'kitchen sink' revolution of the late 50s to early 60s.For this movie, David Lean received his third of seven Oscar nominations for Best Director (with 2 wins) while Katherine Hepburn received her sixth of twelve nominations for Best Actress (with 4 wins—2 in consecutive years). Personally, I think that their nominations for this movie were the least worthy for both of them—nowhere near their other film projects. To me, this movie marked a demarcation for both Lean and Hepburn, separating each from better works from the past and setting the table for better movies yet to come.Though Lean had already made two Technicolor movies, neither were, technically, as colorful as this one. And none were quite as committed to 'out of the studio' camera shots as this one was. Here, the location was beautiful and vital to the movie's story. Further, when you think of the stunning 'on location' epics that Lean later made, you are glad that he ventured out to make this first one!!With Katherine Hepburn, audiences had not seen her vulnerable romantic side since Alice Adams. Here, she actually wears a dress and is as shy as she had been at the opening of The African Queen (1951) and would soon be in The Rainmaker (1956). This is a rare intimate story about a spinster secretary, Jane Hudson (Katherine Hepburn), who goes to Venice, more or less seeking a romantic adventure. When she finds it with a local Venetian shopkeeper, Renato de Rossi (Rossano Brazzi), and then discovers that he is a married; she first rejects it then accepts it for what it is worth---and for however long it can last.

maryszd In this wonderfully dated film, Prudence Bell (Suzanne Pleshette) and Don Porter (Troy Donahue) are romantically involved young Americans in Rome. Prudence is a wisely named and intelligent young woman who in a way, presages the sexual revolution and women's movement that came later in the decade. She's a teacher who left her job after she was reprimanded for giving a student a romance novel. As a schoolteacher traveling alone to Rome, she's a far cry from the lonely spinster Katherine Hepburn played in Summertime (although Rossano Brazzi shows up again in this film) just seven years earlier. But Prudence is still holding out with Don until he commits himself to marrying her. Her opposite, Angie Dickinson, plays Lyda Kent, Don's ex-girlfriend who unlike Prudence, is sexually active and a rival for Don's affections. The adventure of Rome Adventure is really the adventure of young women and their sexuality. The film also is more of a travelogue about Rome and Italy than we would see in films today. These were the days before the advance of mass tourism and Americans didn't take trips to Europe for granted. The sights Prudence and Don see are astonishingly uncrowded by today's standards. Pleshette and Donahue are solidly unpretentious actors who were easy for their young audience to identify with. A charming period piece of a film.

treeline1 Ohio secretary Jane Hudson (Katharine Hepburn) has saved up for years to visit Venice and it's everything she hoped it would be...exquisitely beautiful and romantic...but lonely. Or so she thinks on her first night there, as she sits alone and watches the lovers in Piazza San Marco. Then, she sees Renato (Rossano Brazzi), a handsome and charming shopkeeper, and she starts to change her mind. He pursues her, too, and before you can say, "Buona Sera!" they fall in love. Jane now thinks Venice is perfectly glorious, but some information about Renato may change her opinion of both him and Venice.Directed by David Lean who is known for his wonderful epic movies, this is a very simple and intimate story of a middle-aged woman's wistful dream of romance. It's easy to feel Jane's initial pain and later, her exhilaration. Hepburn is perfectly cast and gives a touching performance, full of longing and spunk. Charismatic Brazzi was just starting his American film career in 1955 when he played Renato, and he certainly could sweep a woman off her feet. Filmed entirely in Venice, the scenery is lovingly photographed, and there's even a sweet subplot about a little boy. Highly recommended for those who like a mature romance in an idyllic setting. Lovely.