Hermie & Dorothy – Summer of ’42

Otherwise known as Gary Grimes and Jennifer O’Neill. Any man over the age of 60 or so is going to instantly recognize this photo. The movie was made exactly 50 years ago, even though it wasn’t released until 1971. Someone had clicked on my ’10 Most Beautiful Women of the 70s’ post. I was looking it over and thought I’d see if I could find a better picture for Jennifer (I found the same picture with a larger file size, but as it wasn’t as sharp so it was a tradeoff). Then for better or worse I read her bio on IMDB. Oh my goodness.

You see a man looks at a goddess like her and assumes she is a person of utmost confidence and sensibilities. Not a basketcase that has 9 marriages, 9 miscarriages, a suicide attempt, a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a daughter that was abused for 4 years by her own husband who also stole all her money! The title of this post is a quote of hers that covers the gist of it: “Hollywood didn’t own me, my need for love owned me.” Losing her virginity at 15 to her 20 year old boyfriend so he “would love me”. Married at 17. From a guys point of view it is incomprehensible a well to do girl who is one of the most beautiful in the world could be so vulnerable to men! She should have had self-esteem out the wazoo and the ying yang.

It sure takes the shine off your teenage crush. Which is good. Born in Brazil (tomorrow February 20th is her birthday), it adds even more to her exotic allure. For me personally growing up I knew her from “the” movie, her Covergirl ads and maybe a poster. That’s it. In Summer of ’42 her screen time was an entire 12 & 1/2 minutes. Think about that. Its kind like McDonald’s only having the Shamrock Shake around St Paddy’s Day, Chevy quitting production of the Camaro for awhile, contrived ‘rarity’ increases the value of a commodity. Looking at the pics from Rio Lobo you kind of wonder what the fuss was all about?

Outside of ’42 she looks like a mere human. Its hard to explain. For that brief period in the summer of 1970 when they filmed it, she was the most beautiful woman on the planet. The freckles, the tan, the clothes, she was 22 and gorgeous, who knows why? She had her “15 minutes” of fame and a few more. Director Robert Mulligan (To Kill A Mockingbird) took great care with her wardrobe, hair, makeup and lighting to make her the object of Hermie’s desire. He did a great job. Another thing Mulligan did was keep the two apart so that when they were together on camera it was truly electric.

Eventually Jennifer became a Christian and got her life together. From what I gather she has an extensive record in working for charity. I certainly never meant to imply she was at all destructive or mean to others, only to herself. A sad story. But for that brief period in the early 70s, she was unbeatable. Looking back, it seems to my casual observations she was a Barbie Doll. A pretty shell. I’ll have to look at some of her later work to see what sort of actress she became. Here’s another bizarre observation, Jennifer gives off the vibe of being a very nice, maybe slightly gullible person. A contemporary of hers that seems absolutely cynical, streetwise and unable to  be taken advantage of is Rachel Ward.

But she never would have been able to pull-off the innocent angel role like Jennifer did.

[Did I call it on Rachel Ward or what? She has been married for 37 years to Bryan Brown. Her only trip down the aisle. She just seems so sensible.]

{Mulligan is a very interesting director. While Scorsese and Tarantino are heralded and fawned over for their ability to kill humans onscreen in spectacular fashion, Mulligan touches the heart in a wonderful way. Others get the accolades, but with Mockingbird and ’42, he is the one who has left a warm feeling in your soul decades later. And gives you hope for humanity.}

[I just noticed in the replay of it on TCM this afternoon that director Mulligan had  a very irritating trait. He made Hermie’s interactions so painful. While Jennifer as noted had 12 1/2 minutes onscreen, Hermie’s scene with the druggist when he’s trying to buy condoms goes 15 minutes easy. It was so cringeworthy. Its like dang, I can think of a lot better things to put onscreen then a geeky 15 year old hemming and hawing trying to buy rubbers. The big climax encounter at the end didn’t go 7. You could tell he had the talent to go delicate, but crass draws directors like a magnet. I suppose it takes  the vulgar to make the soft standout. In the final 24 minutes Mulligan really shines, he shows just what he is capable of. It begged the question: Just how good could that movie have been?]