One Of The Darkest Films About The Sunniest Of Seasons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 Girls, I am telling you, the Summer has been shit, artistically, when it comes to cinema.  So much so, it got me to thinking about better Summer films.  Which brought me back to 1969's "Last Summer."

                                    When this came out, I thought the girl in the poster was Catherine Burns. It actually looks like Barbara Hershey.  These two, plus Richard Thomas and Bruce Davison, all up-and comers, at the time, comprised the cast.

                                      My gall was raised, at the time, when across all the posters was spread this quote from Judith Crist--" 'Last Summer' is a remarkable film."

                                      I am not sure I would call it a masterwork, though it has great depth and substance.  But in an age where "Annabelle: Creation" is the weekend's top grosser, maybe it is time to release a film like "Last Summer."  Or the Film Forum to have a retrospective screening.

                                        The film is deceptively simple--Three teens--Sandy (Hershey), Dan (Davison) and Peter (Thomas) are wealthy kids vacationing on or around the Fire Island area, thanks to their wealthy parents.  Into this clique's path comes Rhoda (Catherine Burns) who is their social equal, but economically only.  She craves their acceptance, but pays a traumatic price for her vulnerability, when she is, brutally, gang raped by the other three.

                                          What is ironic is while those playing what today would be called the bullying trio went on to further successes, it was Catherine Burns' performance that blew everyone away--and still does.  She got an Oscar nomination for this film (well deserved) and then--obscurity. After practically being hailed as the greatest thing since Julie Harris in "Member Of The Wedding?"
Why?

                                              Another case in point--Rhoda has a striking monologue in the film, about her mother's death. I could relate to it. Yet no young actor or actress would even think of auditioning with this, let alone know about it.  And it is perfect.

                                            This was the last good film Frank and Eleanor Perry made, before their careers crashed and burned with their even contemplating a remake of "A Star Is Born."  And look how that turned out.   And "le plus ca change...." yet another redo, with Lady Gaga(!!!!!!!!!!!) is being contemplated.

                                            "Last Summer" is a film about teen bullying, before it became an established term.  It is filled with typical Perry overt foreshadowing-- Sandy killing the gull foreshadows Rhoda's gang rape, and both acts are cruel and disturbing, the way they are staged, which may be the reason why this film does not get shown too often.  It can be hard to watch.

                                              Rhoda's vulnerability, inevitably makes her an easy target.  So does her speaking the truth, because teens don't care.  More of us out there than not can closely identify with Rhoda--this is pretty much how I viewed my adolescence, though if any of my peers had done this to me, there would have been consequences.  I would have fought back.

                                              More people should see "Last Summer," and more showings of this film should be screened.  Especially in this artistically abysmal season.

                                               Summer does not have to mean junk,  as this film demonstrates.