Summer Magic (1963)

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Good or bad, happy or sad, come what may this will always be the most magical of the movies I saw in a theater as a child. Already charmed by its Disney-Norman Rockwell-Hallmark look at the Ragtime Age; this 12 year old boy was simply bowled over 30 minutes into the film by his first glimpse of Deborah Walley. Walley was already a teen queen from her "Gidget" film but had escaped my too-young-to-notice teen actresses consciousness until that day at the theater.In her period costume this vision was the original "Pretty in Pink" and the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. And might explain my lifelong preference for redheads.At its core "Summer Magic" is a Disney fairy tale cloaked in a "too-good-to-be-true" production design. If the term expressionist nostalgia ever applied to a film it is this one. Disney simply took basic plot elements form the novel and film "Mother Carey's Chickens" (1938), threw in a bunch of "Cinderella" elements, and had Dorothy McGuire softly reprise her performance in "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn".If you can't find something here with which to connect, whether it is wistful identification or distanced examination of the film language elements, then you are probably already pretty much used up. Liking this film now is just having the willingness to exercise a little self-knowing whimsy.Cinderella-wise you have a fairy prince, a glass slipper, a wicked step-sister, a wardrobe transformation scene, cute animals, a coach, songs, and a ball.The songs are along the lines of those seen recently in "Enchanted" but without the elaborate special effects. A couple of these, "Pink of Perfection" and "Femininity", have been popping in and out of my head ever since 1963. Those two and "Ugly Bug Ball" have held up surprisingly well. "Flitterin" and "Beautiful Beulah" are decent if not especially memorable."On the Front Porch" was weak then and hasn't improved with age; it should have been trimmed from the film as that is the film's weakest (insert "boring" here) scene. The sequence should be of interest to film students as it is the only time the director has real difficulty keeping the cast focused; definitely a post-production challenge for the editor who did some damage control but could not salvage anything worth keeping.Viewing the film today I found Wendy Turner (as Lallie Joy Popham-Virginia Weidler's role in the 1938 film) a revelation. Turner's is the most authentic performance; which is interesting because she was originally cast as the youngest of the three girls simply because she was slightly shorter than the 5' 2" Walley, not much was expected of this novice. Her ability to take acting for the camera direction must have been a pleasant surprise for James Neilson. She gets to do an ugly duckling wardrobe transformation sequence worthy of "Cinderella".As often happened with Disney, elements were included to insure that it appealed to the widest demographic. So you have a shaggy sheep dog (where have I seen that before?), you have a couple of handsome young television actors (Peter Brown and James Stacy), you have a Moochie Corcoran hammy kid, you have the comedy relief of acting veterans Una Merkel and Burl Ives to appeal to parents, and you have liberal use of Disney's stock nature footage.Although I was too dazzled by Walley to pay much attention to Hayley Mills this was probably her best performance for Disney, it was certainly the most difficult part she was given. Her acting was more polished than it had been in "Pollyanna" and the out-of-place English accent taught us young Disney viewers all about the concept of suspension of disbelief. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I absolutely love this movie. I saw it for the first time when I was about 5 or 6 and I am 27 now. It has some great songs and it is quite funny in some parts. Kids will especially love "The Ugly Bug Ball." It is entertaining enough to keep adults interested, but not too adult for young children. There are lots of actors that appear in other Disney movies from the same era, so most of the people are pretty recognizable. My husband is not a big fan of most "kid's" movies, but he really enjoyed Summer Magic when I made him watch it. I highly recommend this movie to anyone that likes old Disney movies or has children.

I was searching for decent movies for my 3yr. old granddaughter,when I came upon this,and I am so glad that I did. I remembered it and it was such a delight seeing it again when I watched with her. She loved it,and especially the Burl Ives part singing"Ugly Bug Ball". Who wouldn't love that? The whole movie,is fun,entertaining and totally "non-objectionable",which would take a miracle to say that about a film made today! I would not let small children watch and learn the monstrous behavior of the hateful,smart-mouth brats that are in today's films! I thank God so much that old classics like this are available on VHS/DVD so I do not have "settle" for the worthless, valueless, garbage that makes up most of the majority of today's films. Turner Classic Movies makes up the majority of my own film-watching,and I am delighted to see via Forums how many young folks feel the same way,about the offerings of TV/films today. Anyone looking for a delightful film that the whole family can sit down and watch together without having to worry about embarrassing/offensive scenes or language,here is a perfect choice. Wonderful family values lessons as well. How easy is it to find those in a film made today?

Summer Magic is Disney's somewhat dated 1963 semi-musical, semi-melodramatic fantasy. It is a showcase for two talents: the iconic British water sprite, Hayley Mills (Nancy Carey) and the kindly folk singer with a heart, Burl Ives (Mr. Poppem). Nancy's family moves from Boston to New England after their much beloved patriarch dies. Precocious and determined, Nancy manages to convince Mr. Poppem to rent her family a modest but stately home for $60 a year – where can I get one of those? But the family's idyllic existence is soon threatened when an absentee landlord discovers this rental agreement. Tension also mounts after Nancy's cousin, the priggish Julia (Deborah Walley) arrives with preconceived notions of her own. These culminate in an inadvertently painful little scene where Julia and Nancy discuss how to accentuate femininity for the benefit of making a man happy, while concealing and/or sacrificing one's own feelings for 'his' ultimate soul of happiness – oh please! Eventually Nancy learns to live with Julia's prattling and Julia gets a clue to become Nancy's best friend.Resident Disney song writers, Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman penned the charming "Summer Magic", "Lavender Blue, Dilly-Dilly" and the corny "The Ugly Bug Ball," with incomparable rag time nostalgia brimming from every note. The direction by James Neilson is adroit and easy on the mind. But on this occasion, the poignancy one is likely to derive comes entirely from seeing the young Haley Mills and elderly Burl Ives, emphatically and musically sparing off of one another's formidable talents, and leaving us all a little bit better for their joust. Summer Magic has been remastered on DVD with considerably good results. The image is very clean, crisp and smartly rendered. Colors are rich, vibrant and bold. Blacks are deep and solid. Whites are generally white. Only occasionally does film grain hint around the edges. Certain matte shots belie their faux reality on larger monitors. Overall, the picture will surely not disappoint. The audio is another consideration all together. Apart from the songs, which have been lovingly remastered, dialogue on the whole sounds more than strident and completely unnatural. The songs thus appear almost independent in their spread and sonic resonance – offering one a sort of stereo concern buried under a mono melodrama.