Summer Magic (1963)

I had a few days off work through holiday this week, rather than last week’s illness, and I again caught up on a few movies that were on the DVD recorder. A light, airy, cheery Disney musical, Summer Magic filled a couple of hours nicely. It didn’t stretch my mind or my patience, and it never hits the heights of Mary Poppins, but it’s a nicely put together family musical, if occasionally a little sugary sweet.

The Carey family, mother, daughter and two sons – the only one of whom I recognised was Disney stalwart Hayley Mills – find themselves penniless after the father dies and a series of bad investments, so they move to a yellow house in the Maine countryside. The house is owned by a man who is away in China on business, and local shopkeeper Osh Popham (Burl Ives) lets them Careys have the house for a peppercorn rent, and helps them spruce up the place. That’s pretty much it as far as plot goes, although we find that saintly Popham has not actually been writing to the house’s owner, who inevitably turns up unexpectedly at the end of the movie.

The film is an excuse for some good old-fashioned fun and games with the Carey children taking centre stage. There’s a big Dulux-dog, a cousin who comes to stay, a romance with a local teacher, and a few other none-too-exciting incidents, with a number of fun musical interludes along the way. The songs are good, but not instantly memorable, although I did like The Ugly Bug Ball, which I’ve heard before on a Disney compilation CD… It was interesting to see how it fit in to the film, in that it didn’t really. It was a bit incongruous, but the best, most entertaining song, so it’s ok. After 2 hours, Hayley Mills’ smiley face can be a bit trying, but the look and feel of the whole movie put me in the Disney frame of mind, which is always a good thing.