Summertime

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Summertime

1955,

1h 39m,

Romance

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Watchlist

92%

24 Reviews

Tomatometer

80%

2,500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

92%

Tomatometer

24 Reviews

80%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

Middle-aged Ohio secretary Jane Hudson (Katharine Hepburn) has never found love and has nearly resigned herself to spending the rest of her life alone. But before she does, she uses her savings to finance a summer in romantic Venice, where she finally meets the man of her dreams, the elegant Renato Di Rossi (Rossano Brazzi). But when she learns that her new paramour is leading a double life, she must decide whether her happiness can come at the expense of others.

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Critics Consensus

With Katharine Hepburn and the city of Venice glowing under David Lean's direction, Summertime is a swooning romance for the ages.

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Jake Cole

Slant Magazine

Jul 13, 2022

David Lean basks in the splendor of Venice’s tourist hotspots in a manner that, as evinced by Summertime’s rapturous visual splendor, anticipates his subsequent string of massively scaled productions.

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Gavin Lambert

Sight & Sound

Mar 18, 2020

It offers a rich, sometimes dazzling surface, with its fine Venice locations, but its conception seems tentative.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Nov 6, 2007

3/5

The dialogue can be stagey and Venice is evoked at a tourist level, but it's beautifully photographed and Hepburn's loneliness and sadness look disquietingly real.

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Ian Thomas Malone

ianthomasmalone.com

Aug 11, 2025

While her obvious star power radiates in every scene, Hepburn elicits great sympathy for Jane through the subtle moments of profound sadness, the immutable sting of loneliness still resonating seventy years later.

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Rob Aldam

Backseat Mafia

Jul 25, 2022

An intelligent and well-acted romantic drama.

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Michael Barrett

PopMatters

Jul 20, 2022

The tawdry subject became the province of only the classiest actors.

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Luke W

Jun 10, 2017

Summertime is an annoyingly uneven film, ranging from a confused study of economy and a feel-good romance, but benefits overall from David Lean's sharp direction.

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George G

Mar 28, 2017

The photo shots here shown in the RT movie info page is outrageously NOT from the film. Does RT care anything abut accuracy? Apparently not. That said this is a somewhat tedious and therefore slow moving account of a secretly lonely middle aged secretary on a personal tour of Venice Italy. She gets swept up in the romance of the visit and by the way you get to see lots of great views of Venice the city. David Lean (also of so many classics like Lawrence of Arabia) directed this one and Kate Hepburn (alas NOT Audrey Hepburn) plays the usual aged independent woman but secretly needing a man. She stumbles on the lead none other than Rossini Brazzi a well known Italian actor of the day. It takes a third of the film to get into their relationship made difficult that he is married and she is not. But he is quite the charmer as is ever Italian man seen in this film. She has plenty of encounters on the streets and canals of Venice to forewarn her of these wolf Italian men but nevertheless falls for this guy. A muture romantic relationship ensues and its quite charming. The film is difficult to find on the Amazon firestick using Exodus as some other modern Italian film keeps popping up in its place. This film is SO late fifties but the cinematography is excellent.

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Finn M

Jan 21, 2017

Katharine Hepburn is absolutely enchanting in this sun soaked Venice romance, and the film is worth watching purely for the enjoyment of her performance. Her expressions range from blissful to heartbreaking and are utterly convincing, whilst her interactions with a streetwise local boy are even more charming than her burgeoning relationship with a Venetian silver fox of questionable integrity.

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David Lean

Director

Katharine Hepburn

Jane Hudson

Rossano Brazzi

Renato de Rossi

Darren McGavin

Eddie Yaeger

Isa Miranda

Signora Fiorini

Mari Aldon

Phyl Yaeger

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Synopsis

Middle-aged Ohio secretary Jane Hudson (Katharine Hepburn) has never found love and has nearly resigned herself to spending the rest of her life alone. But before she does, she uses her savings to finance a summer in romantic Venice, where she finally meets the man of her dreams, the elegant Renato Di Rossi (Rossano Brazzi). But when she learns that her new paramour is leading a double life, she must decide whether her happiness can come at the expense of others.

Director: David Lean
Producer: Ilya Lopert
Distributor: United Artists
Genre: Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 8, 1955, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 23, 2012
Runtime: 1h 39m

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