Summertime (1955)

A lonely middle aged American spinster (Katharine Hepburn) spends her vacation in Venice, Italy where she finds love for the first time with a handsome Italian shopkeeper (Rossano Brazzi). Based on the play THE TIME OF THE CUCKOO by Arthur Laurents and directed by David Lean (DOCTOR ZHIVAGO). Funny that Lean is never thought of as a romantic director. I suspect most people associate Lean with his male dominated epics like LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI or his lauded Dickens adaptations like GREAT EXPECTATIONS and OLIVER TWIST. But films like this one, BRIEF ENCOUNTER, RYAN'S DAUGHTER and ZHIVAGO show a romantic at heart. Is it a great film? No but Hepburn's vulnerable performance and Jack Hildyard's cinematography (Venice has never been more lovingly photographed) might make it seem so. It may go a bit over the top (those fireworks and sunsets) but at least Lean was able (despite some cuts to appease the censors) to show adultery without anyone getting punished. I've not seen Laurents' play but I understand the romanticism is kept in check and it's more of a subtle rendering of an aging virgin reluctantly succumbing to the affair. With Isa Miranda, Darren McGavin, Mari Aldon, Gaetano Autiero and Jane Rose (the only cast member from the play repeating her stage role).