Summer Flight (1963)

Mike, a famed racing driver and an old flame of hers, is worried that Laura may be ill. Tricking her into a doctor's examination, she discovers she is; a brain operation to remove a tumor ... See full summary »

Director:

Daniel Petrie (as Daniel M. Petrie)

Writers:

George Emerson Brewer Jr. (play), Bertram Bloch (play)

Stars:

Susan Hayward, Michael Craig, Diane Baker

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Susan Hayward	...	Laura Pember
Michael Craig	...	Dr. John Carmody
Diane Baker	...	Ellen
Edward Judd	...	Mike Bannerman
Paul Rogers	...	Dr. Eric McKenzie
Robert Bacon	...	Peter
Paul Stassino	...	Dalporto
Jerry Desmonde	...	Colonel
Ellen McIntosh	...	Miss Kendall
Gwen Nelson	...	Hospital Sister
Peter Madden	...	Reynolds
Joan Young
Joan Newell	...	Mrs. Hewitt
Chet Baker	...	Himself

Storyline

Mike, a famed racing driver and an old flame of hers, is worried that Laura may be ill. Tricking her into a doctor's examination, she discovers she is; a brain operation to remove a tumor is performed and her symptoms disappear. All isn't well, however, but she is unaware of it, and she and her doctor fall in love. Finding out she is not actually cured, Laura renounces her new love and goes back to her old "jet-set" ways wasting the time she has left until a racing accident shows her how important the hours she has left are.

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Plot Keywords:

automobile racing | terminal illness | melodrama | brain tumor | based on play | 

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Taglines:

Do you know what they say about Laura Pember...? They say she uses men like pep-up pills!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 October 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

Summer Flight

Filming Locations:

Fowey, Cornwall, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Barbican Films,The Mirisch Corporation

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Also titled "Stolen Hours"

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Goofs

In the garden scene with Laura, her sister Ellen, Mike & John, Ellen and Mike have a scene where they are looking at Laura and they move closely together, almost touching. The camera immediately changes to a distance shot with all four people in it, and now Ellen and Mark area almost 2 feet apart.

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Connections

Version of BBC Sunday-Night Theatre: Dark Victory (1956)

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Soundtracks

Stolen Hours
Music by Mort Lindsey
Lyrics by Marilyn Bergman (as Marilyn Keith) and Alan Bergman

User Reviews

A ironic foreshadowing

In an eerie foreshadowing of her own fate Susan Hayward plays a wealthy socialite with a fatal brain tumor in this reworking of Dark Victory.

The original is far superior but this has a lush production and some breath taking scenery of the Cornish coast, so beautiful you'll want to hop a plane and move there by the end of the picture, to recommend it.

Susie's customary strong performance is also a highlight but she doesn't get as deeply under the skin of the character of Laura Pember as Bette Davis did with Judith Traherne in the original.

Director Petrie doesn't have the artistic sensibilities of the original's Edmund Goulding so a certain tortured romantic feeling that was an underlying factor of the first film is missing from this.

Still for fans of Miss Hayward or plush dramas of the 50's-60's era this is an enjoyable way to pass a few hours.

In another ironic twist of fate Susan's next film was the tawdry but deeply satisfying Where Love Has Gone co-starring Bette Davis who was not pleased that Hayward had remade her personal favorite of her films. Bette stated before production had even begun "Some pictures SHOULDN'T be remade!!" surely stabbing the air with her omnipresent cigarette for emphasis. The two were cordial at the commencement of filming but soon set to squabbling over plot points and ended up more or less mortal enemies by the time the film was completed.