A review of the David Lean film that you’ve never heard of: “Summertime”
In 1955, just two years before acclaimed British director David Lean began turning out a series of hugely successful epic movies, he made “Summertime”, a small romantic comedy-drama shot entirely in the glorious city of Venice. In spite of being a massive Lean fan since “Lawrence Of Arabia” (1962) and visiting Venice three times, I had never heard of this film until 2023 when the British Film Institute screened a restoration, with an introduction by Lean biographer Kevin Brownlow, as part of its seniors’ free matinee offering. It was a delight to see.Based on the 1952 play “The Time Of The Cuckoo” by Arthur Laurentis, it was scripted by Lean himself and the novelist H E Bates. It tells the story of Jane Hudson (the wonderful Katherine Hepburn), a lonely, spinsterish American who travels to Venice for a vacation and falls in love with both the city and one of its inhabitants (the charming Rossano Brazzi). Hepburn is splendid at portraying Janes’s initial aching loneliness and subsequent playfulness, but the motivation for Jane’s final decision is never made clear.
In his biography of Lean, Brownlow writes: “‘Summertime’, or ‘Summer Madness’ as it was called in Britain, was David’s favourite film, starring his favourite actress. It was made in Venice, one of his favourite places in the world. As he told a friend: ‘I’ve put more of myself in that film than any other I’ve ever made.'”