SUMMER MADNESS aka SUMMERTIME

Year: 1955
UK: BFI (Access)
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Rossano Brazzi, Isa Miranda, Darren McGavin, Mari Aldon, Jane Rose, Macdonald Parke, Jeremy Spenser, Gaetano Autiero, Virginia Simeon, Andre Morell
Director: David Lean
Countries: USA / UK
UK: 99 mins
UK Certificate: U contains mild sex references
UK Release Date: 23 July 2003 (Limited Re-release)

Synopsis

Jane Hudson, a middle-aged American Spinster, arrives in Venice for her first European holiday with the thought of romance in mind. In an attempt to throw off her loneliness, this private secretary from Akron, Ohio, armed with her guidebook, sets out to explore the romantically beautiful city. She roams the streets with her camera; at times she seeks the company of other American visitors; she strikes up an acquaintance with a little street urchin.

When the owner of the pensione where Jane is staying, Signora Fiorina, suggests that Jane seeks male company, she scoffs. But later, when seated at a cafe in the Piazza San Marco, Jane soon leaves in a fluster caused by the stares of a middle-aged Italian gentleman seated at the next table. While sightseeing the next day, she again meets the man, Renato Di Rossi, when she accidentally enters his antique shop.

Reno is attracted to her, and though at first she is shocked by his frank expectations, she is soon completely captivated. They spend a few idyllic days together basking in the romantic atmosphere of Venice. Then Di Rossi tells her that he is married with several children. She is dismayed, knowing that the affair cannot end happily, and her conscience forces her to break off the relationship. As she leaves Venice, she waves a last desperate goodbye from the train to the disappearing figure of her lover.