One Brief Summer

1971 British film by John Mackenzie

February 1971 (1971-02) (UK)
1972 (1972) (US)

Running time

86 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglish

One Brief Summer is a 1971 British drama film directed by John Mackenzie, the first feature film he directed. It stars Felicity Gibson and Clifford Evans.^[2]^[3] The British Film Institute called it "one of many '60s films to explore a relationship between a middle-aged man and a young woman".^[4]

Plot

Mark Stevens, a divorced wealthy businessman, has a mistress, Elizabeth, and lives with his adult daughter, Jennifer. They are visited by Susan, a friend of Jennifer's. Susan and Mark fall in love and get married, upsetting Jennifer. Susan begins an affair with a younger man, Bill Denton, and leaves Mark to be with him.

Cast

Felicity Gibson as Susan Long
Clifford Evans as Mark Stevens
Jennifer Hilary as Jennifer
Peter Egan as Bill Denton
Jan Holden as Elizabeth
Fanny Carby as Mrs. Shaw
Richard Vernon as Hayward
Helen Lindsay as Mrs. Hayward
Basil Moss as John Robertson
David Leland as Peter
Brian Wilde as Lambert
Lockwood West as Ebert
Carolyn Seymour as Mark's secretary

Production

The film was based on an unproduced play by Harry Tierney. He met producer Guido Coen (who made Baby Love (1969) and Penthouse (1967)) and they formed a partnership to make the film. Peter Egan was best known for the 1969 TV series Big Breadwinner Hog and Clifford Evans for The Power Game (TV series 1965–1969).

Filming began in August 1969 at Twickenham Studios^[5] and mostly took place in and around a country house in Hildenborough, Kent, belonging to diamond millionaire Richard Harris. Felicity Gibson was the niece of Guy Gibson and it was her first film; she had a nude scene.^[6]

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Glum intimations of upper-bracket incest (plus a wisp of lesbianism) permeate this story of the kitten showing her claws. John Mackenzie, whose direction is redolent of his TV training, proves to be too easily swayed by the picturesque qualities of the estate and the summer countryside. His style is smooth and confident, but the script, whose downbeat emphasis somehow suggests that incest is an everyday family problem, needed a spark of real individuality to set it off, and that is precisely what One Brief Summer lacks."^[7]

The Guardian rated the story as "pretty absurd" but commented that the "careful, very professional direction and some expert playing... give this an edge the story scarcely deserves."^[8]

The Evening Standard called it "a Francois Sagan-type story... given added subtlety" by its script and acting. "More a feeling of what a film is about than many a more imposing production.^[9]

Variety dubbed it a "slightweight piece".^[10]

The New York Times called it "a rambling, tedious bore" despite good direction and acting, where "once the friction surfaces, the film goes nowhere, leaving the cast to mill around and stare at one another in disillusion, lust or both."^[11]

References

^ Goble, Alan (8 September 2011). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110951943 – via Google Books.
^ "One Brief Summer". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
^ "One Brief Summer (1969) - John Mackenzie | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie.
^ "Mackenzie, John (1932-2011)". BFI Screenonline.
^ "One Brief Summer (1971)". BFI. Archived from the original on 3 November 2017.
^ "Two dogs began it". Evening Post. 9 August 1969. p. 8.
^ "One Brief Summer". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 38 (444): 81. 1 January 1971 – via ProQuest.
^ "Sweet and sour lovers". The Guardian. 25 February 1971. p. 10.
^ Walker, Alexander (25 February 1971). "The New Films". Evening Standard. p. 18.
^ Variety Film Reviews 1971-74. 1983. p. 35.
^ Thompson, Howard (1 June 1972). "'One Brief Summer'". New York Times.