Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams

Rita, the "snow queen" is another of Joanne Woodward's aging spinster virgin frumps, that she seemed to specialise in the early 1970's. Depressed and discontent, her mental state is symbolised by the nightmare plane crash that director Gilbert Cates opens the film with. Writer Stewart Stern - who also wrote Rachel, Rachel - loads on the psycho-baggage. She has a demanding mother (Sylvia Sydney), a fat daughter (Doris Brenner), a gay son, and has married a man she did not love (Martin Balsam). All this would be unbearable with anyone but Woodward playing the role since she lightens it with her natural intelligence and sly sense of humour. It's amusing to see Balsam and Woodward argue in their middle-class educated way, though Rita's wearing a mink clues you that she isn't about to scream abuse. Balsam's subtlety, in particular makes you regret his few screen appearances. The only character that isn't redeemed by the acting is that of the gay son, since he is a cypher, and Cates presents his coming out in a homophobic black-and-white expressionistic sequence. Cates is fond of these kind of theatrical flourishes. There is a death at a screening of Wild Strawberries, a spirited chase at a former European battlefield, a family bickering at a graveyard, and Rita has a breakdown in a crowded London subway, which is probably the most believable of them all. Johnny Mandel provides a lovely theme, in his understated way, and then embarasses himself with trumpets in the battlefield sequence.

With a great performance by Joanne Woodward as a middle aged New York woman named Rita Walden going through an emotional crisis, this movie is a true original. Directed by Gilbert Cates, it shows one woman's strained family relationships as the movie goes from one scene to another where she interacts with the other characters in a series of interesting vignettes.

Rita's mother is played by Sylvia Sidney, whose career dated back to 1929 and her husband Harry, an ophthalmologist, is Martin Balsam, one of the most versatile and recognizable of actors. We see imaginary encounters that go through her mind. The opening scene is a jaw dropper. Another of theses occurs in the New York subway station as she imagines her mother and grandparents looking at her from an escalator. I didn't find these flashbacks particularly relevant to the story and they seemed jarring in an otherwise irresistible movie.

We find Rita shopping in the streets of downtown New York near Washington Square with her energetic, 73 year old mother and then stopping off at a theatre to watch a Bergman movie. The scene shifts to a cemetery covered with brown leaves in the autumn mist as the family bickers over the estate before the deceased is even in the ground. Then on a trip to France with her husband she wanders through a muddy French village where her husband fought in the war. It is here that her husband shares stories that have haunted him for 30 years.

Silvia Sydney is superb in the first part of the movie as a mother with a youthful zest for life, a sharp contrast to her daughter. Martin Balsam is the steadying force in her life but relives his own dark shadows on returning to a former theatre of war in France. Of course, it is Joanne Woodward's role that is critical to the story and she is excellent.

In wintry New York City, attractive middle-aged Joanne Woodward (as Rita) awakens from nightmare. After battling insomnia, Ms. Woodward arranges to meet nicotine-stained mother Sylvia Sidney for lunch. The bickering mother and daughter suggest complaining may be an inherited trait. Woodward fears she's going blind, but husband Martin Balsam (as Harry Walden), conveniently an eye doctor, discovers his wife needs reading glasses. Keeping herself busy, Woodward babysits a crying grandson and sees a revival of Ingmar Bergman's "Wild Strawberries" with Ms. Sidney. During black-and-white movies, Woodward dreams in black-and-white. An unhappy event forces Woodward to reexamine her life. To help, Mr. Balsam takes his wife on a European trip...

"Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams" is a dreary story about an unlikable woman. Masterpieces may fit that description, but this isn't one of them...

The characters and story are rich, but undeveloped. The camera follows when it should lead and a few edits appear to favor scenery at the expense of characters. Most pointedly, Woodward's whimpering epiphany is inadequate. She never gets to let her hair down. Still, it's a good film. The acting is universally excellent. Woodward and Sidney won major acting awards. Balsam is just as good. Writer Stewart Stern does best with a secondary story involving Balsam's character, a World War II veteran. Self-identified "fat" daughter Dori Brenner (as Anna) and her aunt Tresa Hughes (as Betty) are brief, but memorable. Director Gilbert Cates artfully introduces Woodward's estranged son Ron Richards (as Bobby) in the opening nightmare, then, he is regulated to dreams.

****** Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (10/21/1973) Gilbert Cates ~ Joanne Woodward, Martin Balsam, Sylvia Sidney, Dori Brenner

Having worked on "Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams" 50 years ago as the Unit Publicist (that's the person who is in charge of a movie's publicity while it is being filmed), this was only my third job in this field, and remains my absolute favorite. During the 3-month shoot, I actually became friends with several members of the cast and crew, the nicest, most harmonious group of people I had ever worked with. I had always been a fan of Joanne Woodward, who went out of her way to be kind to me and we kept in touch for several years after the movie wrapped. She was completely down-to-earth, warm-hearted, had a terrific sense of humor, and was far more beautiful in person than she was ever allowed to be in most of her movies. Stewart Stern was a lovely man, a brilliant writer, and we also remained friends. The director, Gil Cates, gave everyone a beautiful sterling-silver Tiffanys key chain at the wrap party and when he screened the movie for us after he had finished editing it, I honestly thought it would be acclaimed as one of 1973's finest, award-winning films. The running time of Cates' cut was 112 minutes which, to me, seemed perfect. Unfortunately, as was a custom in those bygone days, the studio had a "sneak preview" of the movie at a theater in New Jersey that was showing a raucous slapstick comedy so the audience was in no mood to watch a serious, emotional drama like SWWD and the cards they filled out were mostly unfavorable. But Columbia took this nonsense seriously and ordered the movie's creative team to cut the movie down to a more "palatable" 90 minutes. Reluctantly, the director and writer (Cates & Stern) went back to the editing room and when I saw the 92-minute release print, I was horrified. Far too many crucial scenes had either been deleted or shortened, and Sylvia Sidney's scenes were so drastically shortened that her screen time now amounted to little more than 5 minutes! Of course I was thrilled to receive my first screen credit, but somehow the fact that my name was misspelled seemed appropriate! Despite the studio's butchery, "Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams" still pleased most critics and won a few awards, but I still can't help think how much more enthusiastic its reception would have been had the far more nuanced 112-minute version been released. Scott MacDonough 1/28/2023

January 29, 2023 at 3:29 AM.

This is a great movie showing Joanne Woodward and her husband in the film, Martin Balsam, dealing with their feelings and memories of the past and the events that have shaped them. I found this movie moving. Joanne Woodward's memories of she and her mother are memorable! I wish I had seen this movie when my mother was still living. Balsam's memories of his war experiences are insightful and moving. We are all shaped by our experiences!