wes-connors
After the death of her dad, destitute Hayley Mills (as Nancy Carey) and her ragtime musical family must move from Boston to a small town Beulah, Maine. The blonde, British-accented Ms. Mills looks and sounds nothing like dark-haired mother Dorothy McGuire (as Margaret Carey). To confuse matters, brother Eddie Hodges (as Gilly Carey) is a flaming redhead, while little Jimmy Mathers (as Peter Carey) looks like he's related to the lad on "Leave it to Beaver" - more so, after he loses the "sissy" wig.This is a fowl adaptation of "Mother Carey's Chickens".The family moves in to the "yellow house", with assistance from lovable old caretaker Burl Ives (as Osh Popham). Later, snooty cousin Deborah Walley (as Julia Carey) arrives, to show you where Mr. Hodges got his red hair. Mills attempts to hook up with handsome older men, like James Stacy (before "Lancer") and Peter Brown (before "Laredo"). Michael J. Pollard (as Digby Popham) provides comic relief. Worst song may be Mr. Ives' rendition of "The Ugly Bug Ball", which seems like it could be a Disney TV outtake.* Summer Magic (7/7/63) James Neilson ~ Hayley Mills, Burl Ives, Dorothy McGuire, Deborah Walley
beegeebright
I remembered this one fondly from my childhood and I now have absolutely no idea why. What is the point of this movie? It has terrible, terrible songs sung by people with terrible, terrible voices (except for Burl Ives, but the songs he sings are still stupid). It is certainly not Polyanna all over again (which does hold up to a recent viewing) although they were clearly trying to capitalize on the success of that one when they fell for this sucker. Dorothy Maguire does nothing but smirk and simper. Hayley is just wasted. It is interesting to see Jimmy Mathers play the youngest child, his resemblance to Jerry Mathers, the Beaver, will be obvious to anyone. Deborah Walley is also nice always to see but she is given nothing at all to do.
jmhv417
I absolutely love this movie. I saw it for the first time when I was about 5 or 6 and I am 27 now. It has some great songs and it is quite funny in some parts. Kids will especially love "The Ugly Bug Ball." It is entertaining enough to keep adults interested, but not too adult for young children. There are lots of actors that appear in other Disney movies from the same era, so most of the people are pretty recognizable. My husband is not a big fan of most "kid's" movies, but he really enjoyed Summer Magic when I made him watch it. I highly recommend this movie to anyone that likes old Disney movies or has children.
montypythoninlegos
This movie had very little substance. Hayley Mills' English accent was not disguised at all and I was extremely offended by the song "Femininity." It was also very slow and didn't have the usual Disney charm. Trying to fill up space... this was a bad movie please take our comment seriously and don't watch this film. But, have you seen the movie Ten Things I Hate About You? It is very good. Loosely based on William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew," it is very entertaining and has an incredibly gorgeous cast (especiually Heath Ledger). Not only that, but it can truly change your life. A friend of mine watched this movie and proceeded to become obsessed. She not only watched it hundreds of times, but began to emulate the main character, Kat. She became a vegetarian, renounced Abercrombie and Fitch, and started wearing glasses instead of contact lenses. She became interested in majoring in women's studies and going to Sarah Lawrence University. With her Abercrombie clothes banished to the garage, she is a better person because of this movie. Watch it instead of Summer Magic and your life could be changed too.
AD
