Summer and Smoke

As compared to other Tennessee Williams works like The Glass Menagerie and Streetcar Named Desire, Summer And Smoke is distinctly second rate. But second rate Tennessee Williams is better than a lot of first rate work from most and a really good cast puts this one over.

A cast dominated by Geraldine Page who plays a woman who is carrying a Statue of Liberty torch since childhood for the kid next door who grew up to be Lawrence Harvey. At first glance these two seemed ideally suited for each other, her the daughter of minister Malcolm Atterbury, him the son of town doctor John McIntire. But both have some issues, her's the kind that Tennessee Williams is known for being frank about in his work, him an inability to settle down. As the film opens Harvey has returned to their southern town after medical school a newly minted doctor. But he's got enough seeds for a field of wild oats and he just wants to have a good old time. Page won't give him that.

But when you've got a raging libido like Harvey has, the only kind of girl you want to quench it is Rita Moreno. 1961 was Rita's year to be naughty, she won her Oscar playing gang girl Anita in West Side Story. Had that film not been out, more attention might have been paid to what she did in Summer And Smoke.

As Page is frigid and won't give up a little to land Harvey she resorts to a bit of trickery to break up Harvey and Moreno which ends in tragedy for one of the cast. Ironically both Harvey and Page modify their behaviors, but there's too much that now makes them incompatible. In fact Page at the end is showing hints of becoming a lot like Tennessee Williams's other great character Blanche Dubois.

Four Oscar nominations went out to Paramount for Summer And Smoke, Best Actress for Geraldine Page, Best Supporting Actress for Una Merkel, Best Art&Set Decoration and Best Musical Score. Sadly it did not bring home a statue and poor Una Merkel her portrayal of Page's kleptomaniac mother lost to Rita Moreno for West Side Story.

Summer And Smoke is a base hit for Tennessee Williams, but not a home run. Still devotees of the man and others should enjoy this film.

When this was released I quickly made my way to the Fox West Coast Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills, California during its first-run engagement. Advance reviews were quite positive but I was unprepared for the power and yet the delicacy of Geraldine Page's performance as Alma Winemiller. Although I was never a fan of Laurence Harvey, who was cast in so many top films of that era, he joined his fellow players in affording Miss Page some very solid support. Una Merkel and John McIntire were especially worthy of praise, Earl Holliman acquits himself manfully in a brief role in the chilling final sequence, and Pamela Tiffin was touchingly beautiful as a heedless young thing. However, Rita Moreno, who has since complained about all those "spitfire" roles with which she was saddled during her earlier Hollywood days, probably counts this appearance as one of those she'd prefer we forget. (But, parenthetically, she has more than reason to be grateful for a list of credits that had already included the lovely Tuptim in the mega-box office hit, "The King and I," an Academy Award for her supporting role in "West Side Story," resulting in a career that continues to this day, outlasting many of the top stars who had led the casts of her earliest film assignments.)

Peter Glenville's direction (whose filmography is notably sparse) marshalls his actors and the top-notch production values with aplomb, aided by one of Elmer Bernstein's best scores. The VHS version does not appear to be letterboxed, thus losing cinematographer Charles Lang, Jr.'s elegant Panavision framing, which was one of this film's handsomer attributes.

Unfortunately, unlike gems like "Streetcar Named Desire," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "Suddenly Last Summer," and "Sweet Bird of Youth," "Summer and Smoke" doesn't have their intensity of character and situational conflicts.

I love the actors, but Laurence Harvey, so great in movies like "The Manchurian Candidate," lacks the cocky heat, swagger, and desperation of Paul Newman. On the other hand, Una Merkel all too briefly steals the show as the mentally troubled mother--her performance is sly from within and totally believable.

Geraldine Page is always a treasure, but here she's slogged down a bit by an all-too-literal and preachy script and sluggish direction. Yes, it's Williams' play, but the script could have been better altered for a screenplay, and all the scenes, even the most intense, lacked a spark and sense of danger. Rita Moreno was simply gorgeous and effective in a pretty thankless role; her talent was more than evident.

The ending is very effective, and while I won't give it away, I'll just say that it made me wonder if Alma Winemiller was on her way to becoming another incarnation of Blanche DuBois. But I'll leave that for others to ponder.

Seven stars for being, well, Tennessee Williams and Geraldine Page and Una Merkel and another tale of family dysfunction, mores, and hypocrisy. But I had to shave off some due to its unfortunate sluggishness, unnecessary length, and over-talky, over-preachy and explanatory script.

This is one of the most underrated Films from a T. Williams source. Its star , sadly is Laurence Harvey and even more underrated actor.

Many folks had such huge hopes for a long career for Mr Harvey when it was cut so short we often ponder " what would have been" This film gives us some wonderful insight as to the heights that could have been.

Harvey plays Dr. Buchannon on a multitude of levels of emotional detachment..and is superb. Fitzgerald delivers in her role as the tortured Alma and stalwarts, John MCintyre and Rita Moreno supply the sparks.

Lost in all of this is a fine performance by the large version of Thomas Gomez..who proves again his versatility. I love the irony of the ending with the appearance of Earl Holliman as ' Archie" Good Drama is never dated and Peter Glenville (dir) makes it all happen..also ..one wouldn't be surprised to note that Hal Wallis is the producer..one of the all time best that Hollywood has ever had.

C Pope

Set in a small, insular town in the deep South, this is a gripping drama of miscommunication and repressed passion. Geraldine Page's powerful performance becomes progressively more harrowing as her character, the spinsterish Miss Alma, struggles to forge a connection with the man she has always loved--the handsome, dissolute son of the town's respected doctor (Laurence Harvey, perfectly cast). In the process, lives are forever changed--in ways none of those involved could have predicted. Page is simply incredible in this movie, delivering a climactic soliloquy that will leave you emotionally shell-shocked.