Summer of '42 (book)

Last updated
Summer of '42
Summer of '42 BOOKCOVER.jpg
Putnam 1971 hardcover
Author Herman Raucher
LanguageEnglish
GenreDrama
Publisher Putnam Publishing Group
Publication date
1 June 1971
Publication placeUnited States
ISBN 0399107770 (first hardcover ed.)

Summer of '42 is a novel written by Herman Raucher, based upon his screenplay and personal experience. [1]

Contents

In a 2002 TCPalm interview, Herman Raucher mentions that the 1971 film of the same title gave birth to the book Summer of '42. [1] Raucher wrote the screenplay for the 1971 film first. When the film was in post-production, someone told him to write the book about Summer of '42 to help publicize the picture. So Raucher wrote the book in about three or four weeks. [1] The book became a bestseller prior to the film's release, so the film was publicized as "from Herman Raucher's national best seller." [2]

Both the film and this book are based on the real incidents that happened during the summer of 1942 in Raucher's life. Raucher's novelization of the screenplay, with the dedication, "To those I love, past and present," serves more as the tribute to his friend Oscar Seltzer that he had intended the film to be, with the focus of the book being more on the two boys' relationship than Raucher's relationship with Dorothy. The book also mentions Seltzer's death, which is absent from the film adaptation.

Differences between the book and the film version

There are differences between the real life incident that happened during the night and the incident in the film. The book stayed faithful to the real incident that happened during that night. In 2002 TCPalms Interview, [1] Raucher pointed out that the real Dorothy was drinking heavily when he visited Dorothy during night time. This is implied in the book. But in the film, it is only implied that Dorothy "may" have been drinking. But when Dorothy appears to Hermie in the film, visually there is no indication of her being drunk at all. In the film, Dorothy is completely aware of what is going on. In both the real incident and in the book, the song that was played on the phonograph record was "That Old Feeling". In the film, the composer, Michel Legrand, wrote a new score for the dancing scene. The real life incident took place in Nantucket Island. But the name of the island is not mentioned in the film. In the book, the name of the island was changed to Patchett Island. In the real incident, the real Dorothy kept calling Hermie "Pete" thinking that Hermie was her husband while they both were in bed. There is no indication in the film that Dorothy is imagining Hermie as her husband Pete. In the book, it is only mentioned that Dorothy talked about private things that Hermie was not familiar with. Unlike the film, the book shows that the tears come out of Hermie's eyes while the music "That Old Feeling" is playing.

For the film, Raucher admitted about moving the order of certain events around and interchanging some dialogue. There are several differences between Dorothy in the book and Dorothy in the film. One of several changes is where Hermie's tongue gets hurt by the coffee. Both in the film and in the book, Dorothy helps Hermie by providing ice when Hermie's tongue gets hurt by the hot coffee. Unlike Dorothy in the book, Dorothy in the film repeatedly apologizes to Hermie for the coffee being too hot and makes sure that he is doing fine. In the film, Dorothy moves on to her work and also to a conversation "only" after she makes sure that Hermie's tongue is feeling better. But in the book, there is no indication of an apology from Dorothy. In the book, when Hermie was "able" to look up to see what Dorothy was doing after getting relief from the ice cubes in the coffee, he saw her sitting opposite to him and she was already eating one of the doughnuts and she was talking about her old 1934 stove.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Great Santini</i> 1979 film by Lewis John Carlino

The Great Santini is a 1979 American drama film written and directed by Lewis John Carlino. It is based on the 1976 novel by Pat Conroy. The film stars Robert Duvall, Blythe Danner, and Michael O'Keefe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Gale</span> Fictional protagonist in Oz novels

Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by the American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his Oz novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels. She is also the main character in various adaptations, notably the 1939 film adaptation of the novel, The Wizard of Oz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herman J. Mankiewicz</span> American screenwriter (1897–1953)

Herman Jacob Mankiewicz was an American screenwriter who, with Orson Welles, wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane (1941). Both Mankiewicz and Welles went on to receive the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film. Mankiewicz was previously a Berlin correspondent for Women’s Wear Daily, assistant theater editor at The New York Times, and the first regular drama critic at The New Yorker. Alexander Woollcott said that Mankiewicz was the "funniest man in New York".

<i>Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle</i> 1994 American film

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle is a 1994 American biographical drama film directed by Alan Rudolph from a screenplay written by Rudolph and Randy Sue Coburn. The film stars Jennifer Jason Leigh as writer Dorothy Parker and depicts the members of the Algonquin Round Table, a group of writers, actors and critics who met almost every weekday from 1919 to 1929 at Manhattan's Algonquin Hotel.

<i>The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman</i> 1971 novel by Ernest J. Gaines

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is a 1971 novel by Ernest J. Gaines. The story depicts the struggles of Black people as seen through the eyes of the narrator, a woman named Jane Pittman. She tells of the major events of her life from the time she was a young slave girl in the American South at the end of the Civil War.

Herman Raucher was an American author and screenwriter who penned the autobiographical screenplay and novel Summer of '42, which became one of the highest-grossing films and one of the best selling novels of the 1970s. Raucher began his writing career during the Golden Age of Television, when he moonlighted as a scriptwriter while working for a Madison Avenue advertising agency. He effectively retired from writing in the 1980s after a number of projects failed to come to fruition, though his books remain in print and a remake of one of his films, Sweet November, was produced in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Mulligan</span> American director, producer (1925–2008)

Robert Patrick Mulligan was an American director and producer. He is best known for his sensitive dramas, including To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Summer of '42 (1971), The Other (1972), Same Time, Next Year (1978), and The Man in the Moon (1991). He was also known for his extensive collaborations with producer Alan J. Pakula in the 1960s.

<i>Summer of 42</i> 1971 film by Robert Mulligan

Summer of '42 is a 1971 American coming-of-age film directed by Robert Mulligan, and starring Jennifer O'Neill, Gary Grimes, Jerry Houser, and Christopher Norris. Based on the memoirs of screenwriter Herman "Hermie" Raucher, it follows a teenage boy who, during the summer of 1942 on Nantucket Island, embarks on a one-sided romance with a young woman, Dorothy, whose husband has gone off to fight in World War II. The film was a commercial and critical success and was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning for Best Original Score for Michel Legrand.

<i>It Came from Outer Space</i> 1953 US science fiction film directed by Jack Arnold

It Came from Outer Space is a 1953 American science fiction horror film, the first in the 3D process from Universal-International. It was produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold. The film stars Richard Carlson and Barbara Rush, and features Charles Drake, Joe Sawyer, and Russell Johnson. The script is based on Ray Bradbury's original film treatment "The Meteor" and not, as sometimes claimed, a published short story.

<i>Ode to Billy Joe</i> (film) 1976 film by Max Baer, Jr.

Ode to Billy Joe is a 1976 American drama film, directed and produced by Max Baer Jr., with a screenplay by Herman Raucher, and starring Robby Benson and Glynnis O'Connor. It is inspired by the 1967 hit song by Bobbie Gentry, titled "Ode to Billie Joe."

<i>Watermelon Man</i> (film) 1970 film by Melvin Van Peebles

Watermelon Man is a 1970 American comedy film directed by Melvin Van Peebles and starring Godfrey Cambridge, Estelle Parsons, Howard Caine, D'Urville Martin, Kay Kimberley, Mantan Moreland, and Erin Moran. Written by Herman Raucher, it tells the story of an extremely bigoted 1960s-era white insurance salesman named Jeff Gerber, who wakes up one morning to find that he has become black. The premise for the film was inspired by Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis, and by John Howard Griffin's autobiographical Black Like Me.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">That Old Feeling (song)</span> Song

"That Old Feeling" is a popular song about nostalgia written by Sammy Fain, with lyrics by Lew Brown. It was published in 1937.

<i>A Glimpse of Tiger</i> Book by Herman Raucher

A Glimpse of Tiger is a 1971 novel by Herman Raucher. It was his first original novel; his previous novel, Summer of '42, was based on his own screenplay of the same name, and written at the request of Warner Bros. as a means of promoting the film.

<i>Class of 44</i> 1973 US film by Paul Bogart

Class of '44 is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film based on the memoirs of screenwriter Herman Raucher. Directed by Paul Bogart, it is structured as a sequel to the 1971 film Summer of '42 which recounted the events in the earlier portion of Raucher's memoirs.

<i>Bloody Mama</i> 1970 film

Bloody Mama is a 1970 American exploitation crime film directed by Roger Corman, and starring Shelley Winters in the title role, with Bruce Dern, Don Stroud, Robert Walden, Alex Nicol and Robert De Niro in supporting roles. It was very loosely based on the real story of Ma Barker, who is depicted as a corrupt, mentally-disturbed mother who encourages and organizes the criminality of her four adult sons in Depression-era southern United States.

<i>The Wiz</i> (film) 1978 film by Sidney Lumet

The Wiz is a 1978 American musical fantasy adventure film directed by Sidney Lumet. Adapted from the 1974 Broadway musical of the same name, the film reimagines the classic children's novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum with an African-American cast. Dorothy, a 24-year old teacher from Harlem, finds herself magically transported to the urban fantasy Land of Oz. On her travels seeking help from the mysterious Wiz, Dorothy befriends a Scarecrow, a Tin Man, and a Cowardly Lion.

<i>Pioneer, Go Home!</i> 1959 novel by Richard P. Powell

Pioneer, Go Home! is a satirical novel by Richard P. Powell, first published in 1959. The novel follows a New Jersey family, The Kwimpers, who move to Columbiana, a fictional state that resembles Florida, and squat on the side of a highway where a new bridge is being built, outraging local officials. The book was adapted into a play by Herman Raucher and also an Elvis Presley film, Follow that Dream (1962).

The phrase Summer of __ can refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raising Kane</span> 1971 essay

"Raising Kane" is a 1971 book-length essay by American film critic Pauline Kael, in which she revived controversy over the authorship of the screenplay for the 1941 film Citizen Kane. Kael celebrated screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, first-credited co-author of the screenplay, and questioned the contributions of Orson Welles, who co-wrote, produced and directed the film, and performed the lead role. The 50,000-word essay was written for The Citizen Kane Book (1971), as an extended introduction to the shooting script by Mankiewicz and Welles. It first appeared in February 1971 in two consecutive issues of The New Yorker magazine. In the ensuing controversy, Welles was defended by colleagues, critics, biographers and scholars, but his reputation was damaged by its charges. The essay and Kael's assertions were later questioned after Welles's contributions to the screenplay were documented.

Sources for <i>Citizen Kane</i> 1941 film

The sources for Citizen Kane, the 1941 American motion picture that marked the feature film debut of Orson Welles, have been the subject of speculation and controversy since the project's inception. With a story spanning 60 years, the quasi-biographical film examines the life and legacy of Charles Foster Kane, played by Welles, a fictional character based in part upon the American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and Chicago tycoons Samuel Insull and Harold McCormick. A rich incorporation of the experiences and knowledge of its authors, the film earned an Academy Award for Best Writing for Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Park, Louis Hillary (May 2002). "Herman Raucher Interview (extended)". TCPalm. Archived from the original on 2006-02-06. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  2. Intralink Film Graphic Design. "Summer of '42 Movie Poster". IMPawards.com. IMP Awards. Retrieved 24 November 2018.