And Two Free Giveaways
The first time I ever thought about summer love, it was when I was a child watching a movie that took place in the 1942. It was about a group of friends spending their summer vacation on Nantucket Island.
Told through a series of flashbacks, the movie recalls the day when 15 year old 'Hermie' and his friends- Oscy (a jock) and Benjie (the nerd) are on a beach playing ball when they spot a young soldier carrying his new bride into a house on the beach.
They, especially Hermie, are struck by the bride's beauty. And consequently are unable to get her out of their minds. This stirs a sexual awakening in them (I guess teenage hormonal lust was not in them before. Perhaps things were different in the 1940's when the film took place or in the 1970's when the film was made) that drives them to the point of unbridled lust-- where they think about sex all the time.
Meanwhile Hermie, is still smitten with the bride, whose husband has since left her (to presumably go off to war). Hermie does odd jobs around the house for her and the two strike up a friendship.
His friend, Benjie finds a sex manual and after sharing it with his two friends, they all think they know everything there is to know about losing one's virginity. They try out their new found knowledge on the local girls with one chickening out, the other striking out and the other (Hermie) thinking he got to second base when in fact it turned out he'd been feeling his date's arm.
Like the next day or something, after another brief meeting with the bride, she gives Hermie a kiss on the forehead. It strikes a fire in his core and spurrs him to go to the drugstore and attempt to buy condoms. The scene was hilarious! I remember him buying ice cream, gum, I think a magazine and almost some cigarettes but stumbles out the words when the clerk gives him a weird look. Eventually he builds up the nerve to ask for the condoms and buys them.
That night, Hermie roasts marshmallows with the local girl from before while Oscy succeeds in having sex with his date from before. He even borrows some of Hermies condoms. I have no idea what happened to the nerdy friend.
The rest is best summarized by its Wikipedia Entry--
The next day, Hermie comes across the bride sitting outside her house, writing to her husband. Hermie offers to keep her company that night and she says she looks forward to seeing him, revealing her name is Dorothy. An elated Hermie goes home and puts on a suit, dress shirt and heads back to Dorothy's house... He is convinced that he is on the brink of adulthood because of his relationship with Dorothy.
Going to her house he finds it is eerily quiet. When he enters, he discovers a bottle of whiskey, several cigarette butts, and a telegram from the government. Dorothy's husband is dead, his plane shot down over France. Dorothy comes out of her bedroom, crying, and Hermie tells her "I'm sorry." The sense of empathy triggers her to channel to Hermie some of her loneliness.
She turns on the record player and invites Hermie to dance with her. They kiss and embrace, tears on both their faces. Without speaking, and to the sound only of the waves, they move to the bedroom, where she draws him into bed and gently makes love with him.
Afterward, withdrawing again into her world of hurt, Dorothy retires to the porch, leaving Hermie alone in her bedroom. He approaches her on the porch, where she can only quietly say "Good night, Hermie." He leaves, his last image of Dorothy being of her leaning against the railing, as she smokes a cigarette and stares into the night sky.
Trying to sort out what has happened, Hermie goes back to Dorothy's house. Dorothy has fled the island in the night and an envelope is tacked to the front door with Hermie's name on it. Inside is a note from Dorothy, saying she hopes he understands she must go back home as there is much to do. She assures Hermie she will never forget him, and he will find his way of remembering what happened that night. Her note closes with the hope that Hermie may be spared the senseless tragedies of life.
In the final scene, Hermie, suddenly approaching manhood, is seen looking at Dorothy's old house and the ocean from a distance before he turns to join his friends. To bittersweet music, the adult Raucher sadly recounts that he has never seen Dorothy again or learned what became of her.
The screenplay was turned into a novel of the same name prior to the film's release. It was a runaway bestseller, to the point that audiences lost sight of the fact that the book was based on the film and not vice-versa. Eventually it fell into obscurity and went out of print throughout the decades until a Broadway adaptation in 2001 brought it back into the public light and prompted Barnes & Noble to acquire the publishing rights to the book.
Despite the obvious jail bait tone of the entire movie, and the obvious fact that the main characters were boys, for the longest time I thought that's how teenage first love was suppose to be. You know, being away on vacation on a cool island with your friends. Having the best summer ever, then meeting a gorgeous guy, having the greatest fling of your life and remember it forever.
Alas that sort of thing never happened to me at least. And now that I think about it, I'm glad. Because I hate water bugs, flies and other insects associated with being around open water and the grasses that go with it.
But when I allow myself to dream, occasionally, I remember the movie with fondness and see the waves sloshing onto the sandy beach while everyone is basking in the beautiful weather during that summer on Nantucket and think-- what if?
What about you? Do you have an incredible summer memory?
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