"Summer and Smoke" is yet another story about a sexually repressed spinster unsettled by a lusty man she's secretly got the hots for. This trope has been visited so many times, and there are such better versions of it out there, that I can't wholeheartedly recommend this movie. But it does have one major asset, and that's Geraldine Page. Her eccentric, mannered way with a line of dialogue makes her perfect casting for roles like these, and she received the second of eight career Oscar nominations for her performance.
Not much of note happens in this Tennessee Williams-lite stage to screen adaptation.
Una Merkel received a Supporting Actress nomination for playing Page's senile mom, and indeed the film's best moments are when those two are on screen together. The movie also scored nominations for its color art direction and the score by Elmer Bernstein.
Grade: B.
Not much of note happens in this Tennessee Williams-lite stage to screen adaptation.
Una Merkel received a Supporting Actress nomination for playing Page's senile mom, and indeed the film's best moments are when those two are on screen together. The movie also scored nominations for its color art direction and the score by Elmer Bernstein.
Grade: B.