The Greengage Summer (1961)

Touches You

Strong and Moving!

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The Greengage Summer is impeccably acted, directed, scripted, filmed, and scored. Excellence abounds which is why it remains one of my favorites. I join in the nearly unanimous chorus for its release on video as well. But, there is a mystery I simply find imponderable here. I hope the Editor who reviews this comment will be kind enough to e-mail me an answer to the mystery if he or she has one. My email is [email protected] mystery is this. 40 of the 59 IMDb reviewers rank this movie 10 out of 10. The other 19 votes stratify down in descending order with the lowest being a 4. The arithmetic mean of these ratings is 9.1; yet the only IMDb rating listed on the main page is something called "the weighted" average which is a lower ranking than 54 of the 59 respondents at 6.6. How can this be? As I understand it, the weighted average gives a higher weight to those who have reviewed the most movies on IMDb. But, I've NEVER seen anything close to this kind of disparity between the arithmetic mean and the weighted average -- I found just a very few with more than a 1.2-point differential, but 2.5??? What, was some 19-year old who has reviewed 100,000 science-fiction and action movies for IMDb forced by his mother to watch The Greengage Summer, so out of spite and anger, he contributed the four -- and because he's watched and reviewed such a gigantic number of movies, everything gets skewed in the direction of his vote??? Am I warm? Could you please provide us with the answer?I think that 6.6 represents a huge distortion from the large chorus of diverse reasons for loving the film. Therefore, I humbly request an executive review and overriding this formula, perhaps splitting the difference to 7.8 or 7.9. I think that the comments make it clear that 7.8 or 7.9 is far more representatives of what IMDb movie-watchers think of The Greengage Summer than a mediocre 6.6. Is there any chance of a revision? If not, could you please explain to us devoted fans why?Anyway, this criticism aside, IMDb provides an excellent service for us all, and I urge you to keep up the good work.

Greengage Summer (Loss Of Innocence, American release title) is a wonderful, nostalgic movie that I love to watch over and over again. How can you improve upon Kenneth More looking over at a blossoming Susannah York in one of her first films, tasting the perspiration on her face and saying sweetly: "Dew of Joss"? Sigh. So romantic!The performances of all the children are first rate, and the actor who plays Paul is perfectly slimey for his part. You can almost smell him through the tv screen! In the novel by Rumer Godden I think there were two more children than in the movie, but who's counting? Best scenes: the French countryside, the sightseeing tour to the church, winery and the cafe, the dance scene at the hotel, and Eliot saying goodbye to Joss at the end. The movie also boasts rather gorgeous music that is available on CD. Check it out. I sounded out the main theme and play it on my piano quite often. They just don't make films like this anymore, and if they tried to they would have the main characters in bed together in the first five minutes. Yuck. Give me yesterday, and understated romance over the tripe they call entertainment today.

I saw this lovely little film shortly after it first appeared. It is a thoroughly charming and winning motion picture about first love, disillusionment, and acknowledgement, as the young and lovely Susannah York comes of age. She is absolutely winning in one of her first major roles. Kenneth More is superb as the object of York's unrequited affections, and Danielle Darrieux is splendid as More's jealous lover. Wonderful scenes of the French countryside (I remember especially a charming visit to a wine chateau) make this a delightfully wistful experience.

Brilliant performances by cadly Kenneth More, astonishing Danielle Darrieux, and winsome Susannah York highlight this perfectly told coming-of-age tale with an amazing balance of whimsy, insight, intelligence, and reality. A must-see for romantics of all ages.