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#382 Last Summer

Watched: August 9 2026

Director: Frank Perry

Starring: Barbara Hershey, Catherine Burns, Richard Thomas, Bruce Davison

Year: 1969

Runtime: 1h 35min

We continue our streak of feelbad movies with this horrible gem from Frank Perry. Teenagers Sandy (Hershey), Dan (Davison) and Peter (Thomas) meet on Fire Island one summer and bond over a dying seagull. After some improvised veterinary (ornithological?) surgery, Peter becomes Sandy’s new hero and the three of them become inseperable for the season. Both boys are smitten with the fairly uninhibited Sandy, and as they nurse the seagull back to health, get up to drunken shenanigans and laugh together about sexual assault (WTF Sandy’s stepdad???), they develop an unhealthy us-against-the-world mentality.

Fortunately, nothing has ever gone wrong when you mix horned up teenagers, drugs and alcohol, and no adult supervision with summer, sun and rivalry.

Sandy keeps the gull as a pet, but when it does what wild animals do and bites her, she takes it into the woods and brutally murders it. This is what we in the business refers to as “Chekov’s Seagull™” (ok, so it’s not really that, just your run-of-the-mill foreshadowing, but the phrase is just too good to pass up).

“Hot girls keep literary devices as pets”

The trio gradually start hanging out with Rhoda (Burns) who, despite seeming younger, or at least less worldly than them, is not initially intimidated by Sandy and her two minions. They follow the mean girl playbook of adopting her and including her just enough for her to crave their approval, but not enough to actually become part of the crew. More of a pet, really… The only exception is Peter, who seems to genuine like the new girl, at least most of the time.

When he isn’t busy liking Sandy and Dan’s approval more, that is.

We went into this blind, and were intrigued from the start. There are a lot of WTF-moments, such as the normalization of sexually assaulting young girls (both girls have stories about their parents’ friends that are NOT ok). Also, the three guys chasing after them after they’ve been to the cinema (to watch Bergman, it seems – our old dog would have loved it!) – they really decided to go after a girl flanked by two men in order to rape and/or rob her? Seems a bit much, even for rapists. Then there’s Sandy’s psychopathic tendencies and the seagull…

“I may or may not be sleeping with your mother, little girl, but that doesn’t mean a guy can’t shoot his shot?”

Last Summer is a very tense movie and it made us extremely worried, stressed and scared. Rhoda (and Catherine Burns!) was amazing though – despite her insecurities she was the only one who would stand up to Sandy and even in the end, she challenged her “superiority.” Sandy and Dan were just bullies, but we ended up hating Peter the most. He followed along with everything the other two decided to do but then felt really bad afterwards, ok? Like, he’s actually a really nice guy, you see. He didn’t really mean the things he did, he swears. In fact, he didn’t even reeeeally do any of it, he just sort of… participated. But not actively. So you can’t exactly blame him, all right? The other two initiated everything, so they’re the bad guys, really. Honestly, he’s a victim too! Really!

“Besides, if (other) people don’t want to be victims, they should stop putting themselves in vulnerable positions. Such as hanging out with their friends. Or trying to find love through dating ads.”

What we learned: If you keep doing horrible things but then feel bad about them afterwards, it actually changes nothing. You are the literal worst.

MVP: Rhoda. And #Chekovsseagull.

Next time: Midnight Cowboy (1969)

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#127 Blackboard Jungle

Watched: August 20 2017

Director: Richard Brooks

Starring: Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, Sidney Poitier, Vic Morrow, Margaret Hayes, Louis Calhern, Jamie Farr

Year: 1955

Runtime: 1h 41min

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Soft-spoken navy veteran Richard Dadier (Ford) gets his first teaching position in an inner-city school in a big city (New York?). While the school has a bad reputation, the principal denies any discipline problems.

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We’re slightly inclined to agree as all students are shown actually sitting at their desks. Dream scenario!

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Despite the principal’s assurances, the kids are disruptive, disrespectful and generally difficult, and Dadier’s commitment to his job is quickly dwindling. After stopping an attempted rape on a colleague, the students turn on him and attack him and another teacher in an alley. In addition, Dadier’s pregnant (and victim-blaming) wife Anne (Francis) starts to receive anonymous phone calls and letters claiming her husband is having an affair.

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“How do I reach these kiiiids?”

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Dadier notices that Gregory Miller (Poitier) is a natural leader and that the other students tend to follow his lead, so he proposes that they work together to get the class on the right track. Will they manage to build a relationship and turn this class around? Or is Miller the one sabotaging Dadier’s job and marriage?

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“How do I reach these kiiiiiids?”

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From the opening credits set to the tune of “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley & his Comets to the integrated classroom, it is clear that this was a progressive film upon its release only one year after segregated education was deemed unconstitutional in the USA.

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Bringing weapons to school is a long-standing American tradition (somewhat) backed up by the same constitution by the way. Just to put things in perspective.

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We loved Blackboard Jungle, which we fittingly watched the day before the new school year started (and Sister the Oldest went back to teaching). Glenn Ford’s Dadier is a flawed hero who comes face to face with a lot of his own prejudices, and Sidney Poitier really stands out as Miller and saves him from becoming a cliché “angry black man.”

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Also, there’s young Klinger!

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It’s historically very interesting, and films like it are still being made (idealistic teacher in inner-city school), including an (awesome) episode of South Park. What’s not to love?

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“How do I reach these kiiiiiiiiiiids???”

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What we learned: Don’t ever give up on the kids. Unless they pull a knife on you. Also, Sister the Oldest is very grateful she has the students she has…

Next time: Diabolique/Les diaboliques (1955)