John T. Ryan WELL NOW, HERE'S one that we hadn't seen in some time; even ever since its original release in 1971. We really hadn't given it much thought at all and therefore, weren't planning on screening it. This is, after all, a "women's picture", a "chick flick" and certainly not the sort of fare that would show up on the male oriented cable channel, SPIKE. (Conversely we don't see COPS being screened on THE HALLMARK CHANNEL, right Schultz ?) IF WE SEEM to be just a tad harsh and unfair on THE SUMMER OF '42, we beg your forgiveness. In actuality, it has a much broader base of varying types whose grading of it would be surprisingly high. When views are taken from all angles, we find it to be a much more complex a film with (believe it or not) a very masculine, if adolescent, bias. The story is, after all, centered on the sighting of a beautiful, young bride on this summer vacation community, by a threesome of healthy, red-blooded American teen-aged boys.WHILE WE SEE that the point of view is that of some middle class Jewish kids, that is not a limiting factor. The socio-economic stratum as well as the ethnicity represented would not have mattered in the story's rendering. We just don't see that the kids of Blue Collar, proletariat families would be spending the whole Summer at the Oceanside. A week maybe or even ten days, but certainly it wouldn't be longer.BUT AS WE said before, the reactions and basic nature of the beast (the Male Animal) is universal, hereditary, genetic and unmistakably masculine.WHAT SEEMS TO be the sealing ingredient here is that it is the telling of a story from author Herman Raucher's own life. In recent years, the story came out that he was contacted by the real life "Dorothy", who then just as quickly returned to her desired anonymity.IF YOU HAVEN'T seen it do it. Isn't that right, Schultz ?

john_vance-20806 You can argue forever about the morality/legality of what's portrayed here. You can roll your eyes over the implausibility factor. But I'm ready to set those aside to drink in a world of far greater simplicity and time for reflection. Simplicity and reflection are anathema for a teenager of today, but Summer of '42 suggests they could use more of it.The combination of Mr Raucher's book and this movie re-creates a societal atmosphere that characterized American life for 200 years and was swept away in a couple of decades. Our lives today are never off the hook. From childhood to senescence we now exist in a whirlwind of activities and communications that go 24/7/365. There are more texts than we can answer, more entertainment than we can experience and more responsibilities than we can meet.Hermie and his friends travel in a sphere that is hard to imagine for anyone under the age of 70. No television, far fewer phones, slow transportation. No computers, microwaves, air-conditioning, video games. The city streets weren't chock-a-block with McDonald's and the residential streets weren't jammed with McMansions. What they did have was time. And if you were young, you had lots and lots of time to be filled in on your own.Hermie thinks a lot about a lot of things. He doesn't have much help to sort out the details of his adolescent angst and confusion, but he doesn't have many distractions either. He's experiencing the same pain and fear of growing up as we all do, but he's got the freedom and space to work through them at his own pace. He's very troubled and uncertain but he's not getting blasted with imagery and information that has little connection with the real world he is going to be facing.Summer of '42 is schmaltzy, even cheesy, but to imagine a time when a quiet empty field, forest or beach was the norm rather than the exception is an experience to savor.

DKosty123 As we get more and more past the WW2 generation, this film will become a forgotten piece of trivia. It was popular when it was released because of the memories of a time past were still fresh. In reality this one is aging for some very distinct reasons.It represents the apex of Jennifer O'Neill's career. It is without a doubt her best role. The rest of her career has been a futile pursuit of another role it's equal. So far that has never happened.This one represented every teenage boys dream when lots of baby boomer's were teens. Attractive woman in early 20's, desperate for attention, offers herself to a 15 year old boy. In this story they are 2 ships passing in the night as they only have one encounter. In the real world, this boy would be like the Energizer Bunny if he scored a beauty like this one. In fact, with this level of maturity, if he did tire of this woman, he would try and introduce his friends to her.The film has many moments of silence, drama, and the viewer is expected to think of these moments as yearning for another age of the past which no longer happens. Everyone back during the baby boom had these types of moments. Today, with all the distractions away from this kind of stuff, there would be little in common for most folks with what happens here.One thing this film did glorify is the older woman surrendering to the younger boys physical charms. This movie might have helped create the current generation of women school teachers who have victimized their young male students. As the memories of this film and of the greatest generation fades, I have a feeling the next generation of teachers will have more of an attraction for electronic devices than they will for young boys. The only interest they will have in young boys will be in finding ones who can master electronic devices at a younger age. The age of romance is over, and the summer of 42 and sequel class of 44 are long ago past.

davidpeters-38546 Life was simpler. Love was stronger. And each day was a new adventure. I have the DVD and watch this movie at least once every 2 or 3 years. It never gets old, I always see new things or hear new dialog. No great message or political statement, just makes you feel good to be back in the day. The acting was great because you get so involved with the characters you lose the fact of who they really are. The situations are very real for those of us that lived during that period or even into the 50s and 60s. The dialog may seem a little corny, but that is the way we were when I grew up, clumsy and not very cool. The use of the wind throughout the movie gave it the beach feel that I used to get when I went to the beach on the Gulf coast, so the movie takes you away to a past that could have been.