Summer of ’42  is a 1971 American “coming-of-age” motion picture drama based on the memoirs of screenwriter Herman Raucher. It tells the story of Raucher as a boy, in his early teens on his 1942 summer vacation on Nantucket Island, off the coast of New England, who embarked on a one-sided romance with a woman, Dorothy, whose husband had gone off to fight in World War II.

The film was directed by Robert Mulliagan, and starred Gary Grimes as Hermie, Jerry Houser as his best friend Oscy, Oliver Conant as their nerdy young friend Benjie, Jennifer O’Neill as Hermie’s mysterious love interest, and Katherine Allentuck and Christopher Norris as a pair of girls whom Hermie and Oscy attempt to seduce. Mulligan also has an uncredited role as the voice of the adult Hermie. Academ Award-winning actress Maureen Stapleton (Allentuck’s real life mother) also appears in a small, uncredited voice role (calling after Hermie as he leaves the house in an early scene).

The film opens with a series of grainy, color-warped still photographs appearing over melancholy piano music, representing the abstract memories of the unseen Herman Raucher (Robert Mulligan), a middle-aged Brooklyn Jewish man. After the stills finish, we find Hermie in the present day (1971 according to the book), looking out on the Nantucket sea, recalling the summer he spent on the island in 1942. The film flashes back to a day “Hermie” (Gary Grimes) and his friends— jock Oscy (Jerry Hauser) and introvert nerd Benjie (Oliver Conant)—spent running and playing on the beach.

In the middle of their goofing off, the three boys spot a newlywed young soldier carrying his bride (Jennifer O’Neill) into a house on the beach. The boys are all struck by her beauty, especially Hermie, who finds himself unable to get her out of his mind.

The next several days on the island find the boys continuing to spend their afternoons on the beach, where, in the midst of young, scantily-clad teenage girls, their thoughts invariably turn to sex; all of them are virgins, the height of their experience being when Oscy and Hermie, when they were twelve, touched a girl’s breasts. While Oscy is more interested in sex with gorgeous girls, though, Hermie finds himself developing genuine romantic interest in the young bride, whose husband he spots leaving the island on a military transport boat one morning. Later that day, Hermie spots her trying to carry numerous bags of groceries by herself, and helps her get them back to her house. The two strike up a friendship and he agrees to return in the future to help her out with chores.

Meanwhile, Benjie mentions that one of the books kept in the beach house his parents are renting is a sex manual. Oscy and Hermie convince the reluctant Benjie to steal the book; upon reading it, Oscy and Hermie become convinced they now know everything necessary to lose their virginity and become great lovers.

They decide to put this hypothesis to the test by going to the island movie house and picking up a trio of girls; Oscy happens to find three high-school girls, and sets about staking out the most attractive one, Miriam (Christopher Norris), for himself, “giving” Hermie her wallflower friend, Aggie, and leaving Benjie with the third girl, an out-of-shape, bespectacled girl with  braces. Frightened by the reality of the concept of sex, Benjie runs away into the night, and is not seen by Hermie or Oscy again the whole summer. The third girl, thinking that her appearance repulsed Benjie, likewise walks away.

Hermie and Oscy spend the entirety of the show attempting to “score” with Miriam and Aggie, Oscy aggressively pursuing Miriam to the point that she strikes him, although Oscy soon learns that she is the island “hussy” and simply playing hard to get. Hermie, meanwhile, finds himself getting unexpected success with Aggie, who allows him to grope her breast for almost twelve minutes; it isn’t until after the show Oscy points out to Hermie the reason for Aggie’s passivity was that Hermie was in fact fondling her elbow.

The next day, in preparation for a marshmallow roast with Aggie and Miriam, Hermie goes to the local druggist, and in a protracted sequence attempts to build up the nerve to ask the pharmacist for condoms. He eventually does so, after purchasing some ice cream, telling the pharmacist that the condoms are for his “brother” and he thinks that they are, in fact, a type of water ballon.

Later, Hermie helps the young bride move boxes into her attic, and when he turns down her offer of monetary compensation, she thanks him for his honesty and friendship and gives him a kiss on the forehead.

That night, during a marshmallow roast, Hermie finds himself unable to “put the moves” on Aggie, although Oscy is successful in having sex with Miriam between some sand dunes; he is so successful, in fact, he eventually sneaks over to where Hermie and Aggie are roasting marshmallows and asks Hermie to give him some condoms, having run out of his own. Confused as to what’s happening, Aggie follows Oscy back between the dunes, where she sees him having sex with Miriam and runs home crying. Hermie, too, sees the act, although he is more mesmerized than anything.

The next day, Hermie comes across the young bride sitting outside her house, writing a letter to her husband. Hermie offers to come keep her company that night and she says she looks forward to seeing him, finally revealing that her name is Dorothy. An elated Hermie goes home and puts on a suit, saddle shows, and a dress shirt, and heads back to Dorothy’s house, running into Oscy on the way; Oscy relates Miriam’s appendix burst that morning and she’s been rushed to the mainland.

Hermie, now convinced he is at the brink of adulthood because of his relationship with Dorothy, brushes Oscy off and the two get into a fight. Oscy threatens to tell everyone on the island that Hermie is a homosexual, and storms off; Hermie heads over to Dorothy’s house, which he finds eerily quiet. Sneaking in, he discovers an empty bottle of whiskey, several cigarette butts, and a telegram from the U.S. Government, with a time stamp of just an hour prior, saying that Dorothy’s husband is dead, his plane having been shot down over France.

Dorothy comes out of her bedroom, crying, and Hermie comforts her. She moves to the record player and turns on an album (the movie’s theme music) and invites Hermie to dance with her. Near the end of the song, Dorothy kisses Hermie and the two embrace, slowly moving to the bedroom, where she makes love with him. Afterwards, Dorothy puts on her bathrobe and retires to the porch while Hermie dresses alone in her bedroom. He approaches her on the porch, where she can only say “good night” to him. Hermie leaves, his last image of Dorothy being that of her leaning against the railing, as she stares off into the night sky.

Hermie spends the entire night roaming the island in a state of shock. At dawn he meets Oscy on the beach and the two share a silent moment of reconciliation, broken only by Oscy’s informing Hermie that Miriam survived her appendix bursting but will remain hospitalized until autumn. Sensing that something traumatic has occurred between Hermie and Dorothy, Oscy, in an uncharacteristic act of sensitivity, lets Hermie be by himself, departing with the words, “Sometimes life is just one big pain in the ass.”

Hermie goes back to Dorothy’s house to try to sort out what has happened; he finds it abandoned, Dorothy having fled the island in the night. All that remains is an envelope tacked to her front door with Hermie’s name on it. Hermie opens it; inside is a note from Dorothy, saying that she hopes he understands that she must go back home to arrange her husband’s funeral and deal with familial obligations. She assures Hermie that she will never forget him, and that she hopes one day he will come to terms with what happened that night. Her note closes with the hope that Hermie may be spared the senseless tragedies of life.

Back in 1971, the adult Herman Raucher stands once more on the beach, looking at Dorothy’s old house and the ocean and remembering the day that he, Oscy, and Benjie first saw her, and sadly recounts that in the ensuing years he has never learned what became of Dorothy.

*Article was written with the help of Wikipedia.

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Summer of ’42  

deletereply tulipsinspring wrote on Jul 23, ’08 I confess I haven’t heard of this before, but it sounds great! Although the theme music is familiar, and the theme seems familiar too. I will check it out. Thanks for a great review!

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jul 23, ’08 Cathy, check it out. It was a great movie.

deletereply welshdoug wrote on Jul 24, ’08 I remember this film – I, too, fell in love with Jennifer O’Niell…… There was a sequel called “Class of ’44” I believe.

deletereply slohomeles wrote on Jul 24, ’08 Great post… I remember my Aunt Ki taking me to the theatre to see this film… and like welshdoug… found myself infatuated with O’Niell (and subsequently angry with Hermie because he got the kisses I thought I should have gotten)…. * sigh *

deletereply welshdoug wrote on Jul 24, ’08 slohomeles said Great post… I remember my Aunt Ki taking me to the theatre to see this film… and like welshdoug… found myself infatuated with O’Niell (and subsequently angry with Hermie because he got the kisses I thought I should have gotten)…. * sigh * HANDS OFF! I SAW HER FIRST!! lol

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jul 24, ’08 Yeah, it was a great film dealing with the coming of age of a teenage boy and an older woman who lost her husband. I think the film was done very tastefully with sensitivity concerning the subject matter.

deletereply slohomeles wrote on Jul 24, ’08 Oh yes, I forgot to mention… great music track on this page. There is no instrument that sounds as beautiful to me as does the piano.

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jul 24, ’08 Michael, yes, the theme to this movie is very beautiful, especially on the piano.

deletereply skeezicks1957 wrote on Jul 28, ’08 In 1971 I could not have gotten in to see it but I know I have seen it so I must have rented it at some point in time.  I do not think I snuck in to see it?  I know for a fact my parents would have not allowed me to go if they were aware.   But I do remember it as a good movie.   Great choice for this weeks post.  And the song brings back great memories!

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