Song of Summer

A middle-age composer is struck down by paralysis and blindness brought on by syphilis. All the music still living inside him must remain there forever, or so it seems, until a young man volunteers his time to bring that music to life. Such is the remarkable but true story of Frederic Delius and his amanuenses, Eric Fenby.

In 1929, Eric Fenby was a young man living in England, a frustrated musician earning money by playing background music for Laurel & Hardy films. One night, he reads in the paper of Frederic Delius' tragic plight and, possessing a young man's impulsiveness, decides to go to Grez-sur-Loing, where Delius lives with his wife, Jelka, and offer his assistance.

When they first meet, it is NOT a meeting of the minds. Delius (played so wickedly wonderfully well by Max Adrian) says he wants to compose and he starts humming. Fenby, in frustration, realizing the uphill battle he has taken on, asks, "What key is it in, Sir" and Delius loses patience with the well-meaning young man. An uneasy start, to be sure, but by the end, previously unheard music finds its way onto paper and into concert halls.

This is a wonderful little film, part of a PBS series titled "Biography." The series had been narrated by Lady Antonia Fraser and she did a wonderful job introducing the film and understanding just what a miracle had occurred in 1929 when Fenby decided to help Delius.

But this movie is far from being maudlin and you do NOT end up feeling sorry for Delius. Despite being blind and paralyzed, he is not without talent and he certainly isn't without wit.

When Fenby asks him what he thinks of certain composers, he says of one, "He would have set the entire Bible to music if he'd lived long enough." He also decides to act as a father to Fenby - not having children of his own and being so much older than Fenby, it probably was natural in the course of their relationship. Being an atheist, he suggests Fenby get rid of his "great Christian blinders" but Fenby, being a devout Roman Catholic, ignores this suggestion.

But, later in the film, Fenby ends up being the "parent" as Delius becomes sicker and Jelka develops stomach cancer and requires surgery. He had served as a confidant to Jelka and it is from her that he (and we) learns what Delius was like as a young man - his incredible womanizing, the brutal way he treated Jelka and finally, his contracting syphilis from the women with whom he had slept.

And in the end, no matter how tragic their plight, Delius and Fenby together brought to light some incredibly beautiful music - the music that inspired the title and the picture. It runs like a thread throughout the film and gives it a joy and a hope you would not expect considering the subject.

This wonderful movie is well worth a look if it ever appears on TV again. It's available on British DVD but not on American DVD or VHS. That's a shame. However, the music that inspired it is available on CD and is also well worth listening to. And viewers will be amazed at what Fenby gave up - and what we all got - as a result of his service - which lasted for 5 years until Delius died - to a great composer. We are all blessed by the sacrifice.

The music of Delius seems to be an acquired taste. I acquired it at the tender age of 17 (perhaps just about the right age). I have heard only one piece of Delius performed live since then, a performance, and a very fine one, at the Juilliard School of his last opera, "Fennimore and Gerda." It's a shame that this beautiful music can only be heard (in the U.S. at least) on recordings, for the most part. But thank God there are the magnificent recorded performances of Sir Thomas Beecham who seems to have had an almost mystical understanding of Delius's unique style.

And thank God, too, for this wonderful film, which shows that (despite all evidence) Ken Russell once on a time had an enormous talent and impeccable taste. (What happened? Unfathomable. Oddly, though, his 1990's TV version of "Lady Chatterly" -- unlikely material indeed -- shows by and large the same kind of tasteful restraint exhibited here. Ultimately the silliness of Lawrence's ideas does it in -- not Ken's fault though, really.) The performances of Max Adrian and the late lamented Christopher Gable are remarkable. Gable as Fenby is perhaps the more remarkable, in that this was his first film role ever, after retiring from a career as a ballet dancer. He's really fine, and quite handsome as well. And Adrian is simply brilliant, without the excess he frequently exhibits.

And you can see the whole thing (albeit in 9 discrete segments and less than ideal -- though not bad -- video) on youtube! Highly recommended.

Yes, once upon a time Ken Russell was in control and was actually able to turn out a beautiful and sensitive film bio--how perfectly appropriate here, since the subject was composer Frederic Delius.

Max Adrian was superb and SO believable. I once saw a TV interview with Russell who related that, while filming this picture at the actual site of Delius' house at Grez-sur-Loing, Eric Fenby himself showed up to observe the day's shooting, and broke down into tears as he beheld young Christopher Gable playing FENBY HIMSELF, seated at the side of Delius in his wheelchair, taking down musical dictation. Imagine the overwhelmingly bittersweet shock of that event for Fenby!

Sometime in the early '80's, I met Eric Fenby in Chicago; he was here as part of a Delius Choral Festival. The Film "Song of Summer" was screened--but just barely! The BBC, at the last minute, decided NOT to send the print to Chicago and it was only through a combination of pleading and good luck that they finally agreed and sent it. I spoke with Fenby about the filming, but he seemed to wish to avoid his deeper feelings about it.

Prior to that, I had seen the film in May of 1971 on the local Chicago PBS station. To my knowledge, it is not available in any format, and probably never will be. A great shame.

I agree with the other posters, this is a gem. Ken before he went haywire, a delicate and well made film that does not deserve to languish in obscurity. I saw this on it's original BBC airing and found my old Betamax copy, which prompted my comments.

This touching and bittersweet BBC drama about the final years of the composer Delius, and the role played by young composer Eric Fenby in helping to set down the last great works of the blind and paralysed genius, is truly wonderful.

Now available on Region 0 DVD, thanks to the BFI's Archive Television strand, this example of Ken Russell's early work can be enjoyed by a wider audience once again. The role of Delius is taken by the overbearing presence of Max Adrian, for once not swamping the screen and portraying the composer as a man at odds with the world but at one with its mysteries as they apply to his music. Jelka, Mrs Delius, is played sensitively by Maureen Pryor - the wife brought low by the neglect and cruelty of a tyrannical spouse who nevertheless finds joy, hope and devotion in the contemplation of his musical gift.

By far the most impressive player in this small cast though is the much-missed Christopher Gable, taking the role of Fenby in his first foray into acting after retirement from leading roles with the Royal Ballet. Russell would use Gable well in other films, notably The Music Lovers and The Boy Friend, (and a further, much more controversial film about Richard Strauss), but for me it was an eye opener to see how well he portrays Eric Fenby here - a shy, complex Yorkshireman whose self-sacrifice, as Delius says, gives the ageing composer back his life.

Ken Russell's work became more and more overblown and outrageous through the 1970s and 1980s (although always interesting, visually stunning, and unique). 'Song of Summer' proves his worth as a filmmaker of sensitivity and quiet - the scene where, in flashback, Delius watches his last sunset before his sight fails him, is worth watching this film for on its own.