AceShowbiz - On Sunday, May 3rd, New York’s Paris Theater will host a rare screening of Last Summer, the intense and poetic 1969 teen drama directed by Frank Perry. This event marks one of the most significant film restorations of recent years, as Last Summer has long been considered a hidden gem that deserved proper recognition. While rough copies of the film have circulated before, no official DVD or Blu-ray release existed until Warner Archive announced a home video release for later this year. Additionally, an old 16mm print discovered in Australia has surfaced over time, but the film had remained “spiritually lost” due to the lack of a proper, high-quality version widely available.

My interest in Last Summer began around 2008, during an exploration of the collaborative works of Frank Perry and his screenwriter wife Eleanor Perry. Their partnership yielded several remarkable films, starting with the Oscar-nominated David and Lisa (1962), followed by the tense children’s nuclear disaster drama Ladybug Ladybug (1963), and the touching Truman Capote adaptations A Christmas Memory (1966) and The Thanksgiving Visitor (1967). They also created the John Cheever adaptation The Swimmer (1968), starring Burt Lancaster, which is perhaps their best-known work, and the raw, emotionally charged Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970), made amid their personal separation.

The Perrys’ films were critically acclaimed in their era but eventually faded from mainstream attention, possibly because their style did not align with the experimental, edgy trend dominating American cinema at the time. Frank Perry, coming from a theater background, employed a classical approach to acting and mood, while Eleanor Perry brought her expertise in social work and psychology to capture extreme human behaviors in both children and adults. Their films possess a delicate balance of subtlety and emotional impact, drawing viewers in with understated elegance before delivering powerful, often unsettling revelations.

Last Summer perfectly showcases the strengths of the Perrys’ collaboration. The film bathes in a nostalgic, warm light, even as it exposes a dark, twisted reality beneath the surface. Adapted from Evan Hunter’s 1968 novel, the story centers on three teenagers spending a summer on Fire Island. Peter (played by Richard Thomas) and Dan (Bruce Davison) are longtime friends who meet the free-spirited Sandy (Barbara Hershey), who enlists their help in caring for an injured seagull she finds on the beach. The trio bonds through playful flirtation and shared secrets in a series of games, but when Sandy cruelly ends the seagull’s life, the boys largely dismiss the act, enchanted by her presence and caught in a shared illusion.

The dynamic shifts when a shy, melancholic girl named Rhoda, portrayed by Catherine Burns (whose performance earned her an Oscar nomination), joins the group. Unlike the others, Rhoda lacks their sun-kissed confidence and carefree demeanor. The teens initially draw her out of her shell but ultimately turn against her in a harrowing climax. What begins as an evocative summer memoir gradually reveals a haunting and disturbing truth beneath its surface.

Hunter’s novel includes more direct narrative and symbolic dream sequences, along with brief glimpses of the parents and adults in the beach community. However, the Perrys stripped away most of these elements, choosing to focus almost entirely on the teens. Adults are rarely seen, and when they appear, they are largely ignored—almost as if they speak in the unintelligible “wah-wah” voice from the Peanuts cartoons. Eleanor Perry seemed to understand that this approach emphasized the film’s core theme: a universal, timeless horror expressed through adolescent actions rather than a simple cautionary tale about youth behavior. Although fleeting references to the wider world emerge—such as the teens experimenting with the then-novel idea of “computer dating”—these moments serve as reflections rather than defining factors.

Last Summer lingers in the mind because of the stark contrast between its serene exterior and the unsettling darkness at its core. This restoration allows audiences to appreciate not only its compelling narrative but also its artistic craftsmanship. For years, the film’s elements seemed incomplete due to a missing original camera negative for the ending. Screenwriter Larry Karaszewski (known for Ed Wood and The People vs. Larry Flynt), who has championed the restoration, explains that the ending was reconstructed using three different surviving sources. Following this effort, a Q&A featuring Karaszewski and Richard Thomas is scheduled after the screening, offering further insights into the film’s history and revival.

This restoration also contributes to renewed recognition of Frank Perry’s legacy. His 1972 adaptation of Joan Didion’s Play It As It Lays, produced shortly after his separation from Eleanor Perry, received a rerelease last year, further highlighting his distinct voice in American cinema. Ultimately, the return of Last Summer to proper circulation is a welcome revival of a quintessential American masterpiece that has long deserved to be seen and appreciated in its intended form.