IMDb > The Swimmer (1968)
The Swimmer
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The Swimmer (1968) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 2)
The Swimmer (1968) -- MyMovieScripts.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   2,255 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 3% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
John Cheever (story)
Eleanor Perry (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Swimmer on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
15 May 1968 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
The famed John Cheever short story appeared in the New Yorker and people talked. Now there will be talk again. When you sense this man's vibrations and share his colossal hang-up . . . will you see someone you know, or love? When you feel the body-blow power of his broken dreams, will it reach you deep inside, where it hurts? When you talk about "The Swimmer" will you talk about yourself? more
Plot:
Neddy Merrill has been away for most of the Summer. He reappears at a friends pool. As they talk, someone... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
User Comments:
Wonderfully Sad Portrait of Suburban Loneliness more (87 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Burt Lancaster ... Ned Merrill
Janet Landgard ... Julie Ann Hooper
Janice Rule ... Shirley Abbott
Tony Bickley ... Donald Westerhazy
Marge Champion ... Peggy Forsburgh
Nancy Cushman ... Mrs. Halloran (Nudist)
Bill Fiore ... Howie Hunsacker
David Garfield ... Ticket Seller (as John Garfield Jr.)

Kim Hunter ... Betty Graham
Rose Gregorio ... Sylvia Finney
Charles Drake ... Howard Graham
Bernie Hamilton ... Halloran's Chauffeur
House Jameson ... Mr. Chester Halloran (Nudist)
Jimmy Joyce ... Jack Finney
Michael Kearney ... Kevin Gilmartin Jr.
more
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Additional Details

Runtime:
95 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
West Germany:12 (f) (re-rating) | West Germany:16 (f) (original rating) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:Approved | USA:PG (re-rating) (1968)
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Frank Perry did not finish directing this film because of creative differences. more
Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: Shadow of light-rig clearly visible at the first pool party. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Donald Westerhazy: Where have you been keeping yourself?
Ned Merrill: Oh, here and there. Here and there.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Undercover X (2001) more
Soundtrack:
Send for Me in Summer more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
24 out of 27 people found the following comment useful.
Wonderfully Sad Portrait of Suburban Loneliness, 2 June 2006
8/10
Author: brocksilvey from United States

Frank Perry's screen adaptation of the achingly sad John Cheever short story gets the tone of Cheever's story just right, even if the movie itself doesn't have quite the same impact.

There have been countless strong and powerful films made around the theme of suburban loneliness, and this movie belongs to that genre. There's something so poignant about the idea that someone can exist in a world that's manufactured for the sole purpose of providing its inhabitants with luxury, pleasure and convenience, and still be miserable. You'd think people would have gotten the point by now, and figured out that privilege, wealth and materialism have virtually nothing to do with ultimate happiness, but if our own consumerist culture is any indication, they haven't.

What helps "The Swimmer" to stand out from other similarly-themed films is the way the story is told. It's only through the reactions of others that we begin to sense what's wrong with Burt Lancaster's character. To us, he looks the picture of middle-aged robustness and health. Lancaster became a much better actor as he aged, and he gives a wonderful performance here, as his bravado and macho virility (the strutting and preening of a man on top of the world) slowly dissolves into a lost insecurity, until the film's final devastating moments leave him as forlorn as a baby.

What a sad, sad movie.

Grade: A-

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Swimmer (1968)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
God Awful Hamlisch Soundtrack wrose-3
Film compared to original Cheever story mackjay2
Favourite names of en-route pools....... helenelisechat
Where did Ned come from? mike-2620
This film is so underrated TheGreatApplesauceCaper
What happened to ‘The Swimmer’ 2004 re-make with Alec Baldwin? john_s_wales
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