Summer of '42

Summer of '42 is set on Nantucket Island during the summer of 1942, where three teenage friends, Hermie, Oscy and Benjie, spend their vacation preoccupied with girls and their own awkward coming of age. Hermie becomes drawn to Dorothy, a young married woman living nearby whose husband is a military pilot serving overseas. What begins as a boyish crush develops into something more serious for him, while Dorothy copes with loneliness and the uncertainty of wartime.

Robert Mulligan directed the film, which came in the middle of a career that also included To Kill a Mockingbird and, later, The Man in the Moon. Herman Raucher wrote the screenplay, Richard A. Roth produced it, and Warner Bros. Pictures released it in April 1971. Gary Grimes plays Hermie, Jennifer O'Neill plays Dorothy, and Jerry Houser and Oliver Conant appear as his friends, with Katherine Allentuck and Christopher Norris in supporting roles.

Made for about one million dollars, the film earned roughly forty-five million worldwide, a strong return that indicates broad audience interest in its nostalgic treatment of adolescence and first love. On IMDb it holds a 7.2 rating from around ten thousand votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.7 from a much smaller number of votes. A critics' rating of 6.7 from twenty-four reviews places it close to the audience scores, suggesting a generally comparable level of approval.