Come September
Directed by Robert Mulligan
Written by Stanley Shapiro and Maurice Richlin; story by Stanley Roberts and Robert Russell
1961/USA
Universal International Pictures/7 Pictures/Raoul Walsh Enterprises
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Lisa Helena Fellini: Why be miserable with someone you don’t love? Better to be miserable with someone you do love![/box]
This is a pleasant enough “sex comedy” of its era, with the added advantage of taking place on the Riviera.
Robert Talbot (Rock Hudson) is an American millionaire bachelor who apparently has only one month out of the year to spend with his main squeeze, the fiery Lisa Fellini (Gina Lollobrigida). Usually this is September, but Robert can’t wait that long this year and arrives for his month-long holiday in Italy in July.
This throws various spanners in the works. Lisa finds out about Robert’s arrival on her wedding day to a stuffy Englishman. She realizes her error in the nick of time and agrees to join Robert at his villa.
When the couple arrives there, they find the place occupied by a large group of teenage girls and their chaperone. It turns out that Robert’s major domo (Walter Slezak) has been running the villa as a hotel during the other eleven months of the year. The girls are man-magnets and soon Robert has a squad of young men camped just outside his gate. Young Tony (Bobby Darin) sets about seducing 18-year-old Sandy (Sandra Dee). Robert is highly moral when it comes to the younger set and counsels Sandry to play hard to get. Meanwhile, Robert is not having his long-awaited “alone time” with Lisa. And Lisa is getting ideas from Sandy.
This is basically a piece of fluff in a gorgeous setting. All the actors do well with comedy and the film goes down easily.
Trailer
