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The Greengage Summer (1961)

Director: Lewis Gilbert

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2 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Before Gilbert descended to mush like Friends and Paul and Michelle, he made a number of interesting failures, of which this is probably one of the best. Susannah York, in one of her best performances, plays a young schoolgirl holidaying in France, where she falls in love with an Englishman, a mysterious older man (More). The main problem is that the plot degenerates into silly dramatics at the expense of character development, with More turning out to be - of all things - a jewel thief. (From the novel by Rumer Godden.

Author: DP

Time Out Film Guide

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User reviews of this film

Meg Rosenfeld said...

Posted on Jun 08 2011 17:07 Reviewers seem to have missed the murder which is one of the climactic moments of this well-made film. Susannah York's character is not the protagonist; that role, the ugly-duckling younger sister, was excellently played by Jane Asher, whose coming-of-age story this is. The scene in which the two girls and the scullery boy get drunk is funny and awful and just right, a little jewel. A very well-made film.

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Meg Rosenfeld said...

Posted on Jun 08 2011 17:03 The fact that one of the main characters turns out to be a murderer seems to have eluded the reviewers, as does the fact that the Susannah York character is not the protagonist; this role--the "ugly duckling" younger sister-- was wonderfully played by Jane Asher, whose coming-of-age story this is. The scene in which the two girls and the scullery boy get drunk is a little jewel, funny and just awful enough without being disgusting.

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