Today, I present another Hayley Mills/Disney movie, her fourth, and with the Sherman Brothers as the magic behind the music. For this project, I’m focusing on the story itself, including dialogue, character development, any subplots, how a story presents itself, the speed at which it moves, if it slows down unnecessarily, etc.
A Brief Summary
(Taken from D23)
Based on the novel Mother Carey’s Chickens by Kate Douglas Wiggin, which has become an American classic, the film tells the story of how the recently widowed Margaret Carey and her brood of three lively children, Nancy, Peter, and Gilly, left almost penniless when her late husband’s investments prove worthless, leave their lovely Boston home to make a new life in a quaint rural town in Maine. Osh Popham, the local postmaster, sets them up in an empty home owned by the mysterious Mr. Hamilton, who turns up only to fall in love with Nancy. When their snobbish cousin Julia comes to visit, she too soon becomes one of the family, and falls in love with the new schoolteacher Charles Bryan.
What works
- I do appreciate the quick, easy resolution to Nancy’s white-lie-filled letter to Osh Popham. And though I did criticize the use earlier, it was the first of a trend in the film, with Popham doing his own bit of letter trouble with Mr. Hamilton (fully revealed towards the end of the movie).
- Osh Popham (played by Burl Ives) is the best character of this whole movie.
- Love the Ugly Bug Ball song and Osh’s relationship with Peter.
- The bug footage during the Ugly Bug Ball scene reminded me of the insects shown in the True Life Adventure Series.
- Love the Ugly Bug Ball song and Osh’s relationship with Peter.
- The songs and song placement didn’t feel out of place or out of touch in the story
- The overall movie was light-hearted and pretty light on dramatic moments, which made it much better to watch.
- I did like the back-and-forth dialogue between Nancy and Hamilton at the end when he reveals who he is.
- The fact that he started dancing with her immediately after was cheesy but I’ll allow it.
- “Now don’t talk.” -Hamilton
- “Wasn’t going to.” – Nancy
- The fact that he started dancing with her immediately after was cheesy but I’ll allow it.
What may or may not work
- From the beginning, Nancy’s dramatic flair for speaking is a bit much. It reminds me a little of Anne from Anne of Green Gables (the version with actress Megan Follows) but Nancy isn’t quite as charming in this as Anne was. She also had a bit of Pollyanna’s attitude in this as well.
- As seen by Nancy’s ‘tale’ with the servants early in the movie, she’s not above telling white lies to get what she wants. That being said, the white lies told in the letter to Osh Popham (Burl Ives) both made sense movie-wise (especially because it leads to the reveal scene later on) but it also doesn’t make sense story-wise. Did she really not think that it would be easily figured out that she had lied when they arrived in Beulah? Also what if her mom hadn’t have read the letter and knew that Nancy had lied? I’m so torn because it’s not like it’s a new idea in stories, but I’m not sure in this movie, with this particular story if it was really necessary to the plot.
- Julia’s arrival adds some good tension to the story but her personality through most of the rest of the movie straight up bugged me. I can understand why Mrs. Carey would let go all of Julia’s very condescending remarks (after sharing Julia’s backstory) but really would a civil put down by Mrs. Carey have been so bad to include? I was fully siding with the annoyance of Gilly and Nancy towards Julia.
- Nancy does try to remind Julia that “this isn’t the Fergusons’, this is the Careys'” after which Julia still has yet another condescending remark.
- I will say that despite it bugging me, her personality quirks/remarks did seem necessary for the story. It just went on for a little too long with too quick of a turn-around.
- The battle between Nancy and Julia over the new teacher was a bit much for me. Did it help push Nancy and Julia to a tense head, thus leading to Nancy’s reveal of why Julia is actually at the Careys and Julia’s step down from her self-imposed pedestal? Yes, yes it did. Was it hard for me to watch? Nancy was being over the top with her attempts to show off her education, especially when it was pretty clear early on that the new teacher liked Julia.
- I’m pretty certain that part of why Nancy didn’t get the man here was that she wouldn’t shut up and let Bryant (the teacher) talk
- Honestly, Julia/Nancy should have had the fall-out much sooner
- While I appreciate Julia’s change of heart, it was way too quick of a turn-around.
- ‘Feminity’, though it has its place in the story, is hands down my least liked Sherman Brothers song. I grew up listening to it as a kid (it was on a Disney compilation album) and while I enjoyed it better actually seeing the scene that accompanied it, it’s still not one that I would care to listen to again on purpose.
- The ‘ceremony’ at the house-warming party was a bit too dramatic/serious for my taste. I did enjoy the reveal of the portrait of Hamilton’s “mother”. Nancy’s ‘eloquent’ monologue was overdone.
Honorable Mentions
- I do appreciate Nancy (Hayley) weaving a blatantly obvious tale to try to get the servants to stay for free AND that the servants deflected her attempt.
- “And you, Miss Nancy, being all so interested in the welfare of the deserved would be happy to know that Ellen and myself have found a nice situation, in Same.
- At five dollars more a month.
- “Oh…I’m happy for you both.”
- (denied)
- “And you, Miss Nancy, being all so interested in the welfare of the deserved would be happy to know that Ellen and myself have found a nice situation, in Same.
- Nancy’s penchant for romanticizing everything got a bit much. The positive attitude was a good thing but she talks so blasted much.
- “Are you an only child, Digby?” -Mrs. Carey
- “Well, you might say so ma’am, I just have a sister.” – Digby
- I appreciate the fact that Beulah has a minister named Mr. Lord.
- “See some of them bright lights, make a little money.” – Digby
- “Money, the heavenly thing about the country is you don’t need money. You have the soil, the soil.” – Nancy
- For all Nancy’s educatin’, she’s a bit or a lot naive.
- “Money, the heavenly thing about the country is you don’t need money. You have the soil, the soil.” – Nancy
- “Halloween?” – Mrs. Carey
- “People are born on Halloween.” – Osh
- Lallie Joy’s transformation for the Halloween dance is worth everything.
- I love the scene between Hamilton and Popham when they meet at Popham’s store.
- “I didn’t get any letters.”
- “That’s right. You see, I didn’t mail’em.”
- “I didn’t get any letters.”
Side Questions
- As my mother asked when we watched, why does a family with no accents have a daughter with a British accent? aka Hayley Mills aka she has never not had a British accent in her Disney movies, whether she’s played someone from the UK or not.
- Did Nancy even actually put glue on the wallpaper? It fits gag-wise to not put glue but I question Nancy’s skills if she can’t get the right material.
- So Hamilton is finally given the letters that Popham wrote and the ones that Nancy wrote. Between the time he receives the letters and the house-warming party, did he read them?
- Was not having a partner for the dance so important?
Would I watch this movie again?
- I’ll watch if I’m with someone who wants to watch it but I probably won’t choose to watch it again. Or if I do, it’ll be a long, long time from now.
If you’ve seen Summer Magic, what are some of your thoughts? Share in the comments below!
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Thanks for your honesty and sharing this review.