MovieChat Forums > Last Summer (1969) Discussion > Was Barbara Hershey ever hotter than in ...

Was Barbara Hershey ever hotter than in this film?


Wow... saw this last night on TCM and she was smokin' hot. Never heard of this film in my life and I've been paying attention. I even have The Stunt Man (1980) on Blu-ray featuring the lovely Mz Hershey, but here she is in her absolute prime. Good lord.

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Barbara was smoking hot, especially early on in that white bikini. However, that's just the tip of the iceberg; this is a great film.

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Yeah it was really good. They didn't air it in widescreen though... it was broadcast in 4:3 not 16:9. I wonder if it was shot full screen 1.33:1 or in a widescreen aspect ratio (1.85:1 or 1.78:1, etc.)?

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Just out of curiosity, can you tell me why you feel this is a GREAT film? I really am interested (and not being a jerk) because I didn't care for it at all.

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Well, the film resonates with me. It works. I gave it a "9" so perhaps the word "great," at least in terms of "all-time classic," (which this isn't, but is a personal favorite) is too strong.

Then again, I never much cared for Gone With The Wind or Titanic . Eye of the beholder and all that.

I like the story, the acting is outstanding, and despite that pan-and-scan presentation (which I have a bit of an immunity to, having done my heaviest movie viewing in the 1980s on VHS tapes, most of them pan-and-scan) I love the photography. It may be a coming of age story and a slightly predictable one at that - since one can sense that it won't have a happy ending. But I think it turns the "coming of age" genre (which I often don't like) on it's head. (I don't buy the comparisons with Summer of '42 , at least not at the core.) I also think Last Summer outclasses that okay crowd-pleaser.

As for herd mentality, narcissism, manipulation, teenage lust, cruelty and evil, well, I once wrote a long review at Amazon under the five star ones. Any of those reviews pretty much sums my sentiments.

But to each his own. If you don't like it, you don't like it.

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This is what I LOVE about imdb: intelligent discussions with other people who love movies!

I am so glad you wrote me back with a sincere reply, because I really did want to know more about why it was a fave of yours.

Thinking of personal perspective, I think you helped me figure out one of the reasons it *didn't* resonate with me.
I was more like Rhoda in my adolescence than Sandy or any of the other characters. Perhaps picking on someone nerdy like myself just hit a nerve. I think the story was edgy and more realistic perhaps than "Summer of '42" and yet not all the acting was good, imho. But perhaps that age requires acting that is kinda stilted at times and awkward because kids that age ARE that way. I also thought most of the sound quality in the movie sounded like it was looped.

I would like to read your review, can you post a link to it here? I'll try & find it on my own.

Again, thank you for your reply! :)

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I agree with you TOTALLY! In the rape scene, when she goes topless and the camera lingers on her pert bronzed boobs, it's hard to sit still in your seat. But that scene may have been modified by cuts from the original, like the first scene in which Davison tells Thomas that "birds have pricks just like we do", a line that was muted after the film's rating was softened from X to R.

LS was made before handheld camera technology had advanced very far, which explains the oft-muffled soundtrack. But I think the overall objective here was going natural and true-to-life, and that that was achieved. Comparisons to "Summer of '42" are beside the point; SO42 was romance; this one is realism. And on that subject, though I can't swear to it, I think that LS actually was not filmed in widescreen, and so would reflect the spontaneity and naturalness of a home movie.

Very sad that the film as originally released hasn't been restored in all respects for us to be enthralled by today.





"Believe not what you only wish to believe, but that which truth demands."

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