Watch Summer Magic For Free

Too much of everything

Brilliant and touching

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

I wanted to watch this movie because I had read that Walt Disney had said it reminded him of his childhood. One of my favorite parts of the the Disney World Resort is Main Street U.S.A., and I also read that this movie had some connection to what they tried to create in the park. The story is about a widower who moves from Boston to a small rural town with her three children. They fix up a big yellow house and adapt to country life. My family enjoys Little House on the Prarie and Pollyana, and we thought this would be along those lines. As we watched Summer Magic, we became increasingly mystified. Rather than progressing through a linear narrative, this movie piles on things that make no sense into a larger and larger pile, like a misshapen heap of gunney sacks. Most of the songs were terrible and poorly placed. None of them added to the story. There were moments when it felt like the movie might work, and some sequences were enjoyable as separate vignettes, but we ended up turning it off before it was finished. I watched the rest of it myself later and didn't care about any of it. I would have liked a better story and characters I could care about.

this is such a beguiling little film that i'm aware i have a tendency to overrate this. it's not really about much of anything in particular, and it's far too cozy to be profound or very deeply thoughtful. it also isn't the legitimate work of great cinema that Disney's 'So Dear to My Heart' was. but there's something about it that is so simplistic, genuine and delicately feminine that it wins over the sentiments completely.this could be one of the best made "girl" movies ever. it focus and appeal seems primarily aimed at a target audience of young girls, and it's basically a story of female maturation. however, there are enough varying elements here to make it watchable and even appeal to other viewers. there is enough of the fab (and fat) Burl Ives here to make any nostalgia buff go for broke. and even though males here seem mostly perceived through the eyes and mind of the feminine, like as in the brothers are perceived of as siblings and not entirely autonomous, the males are masculine enough as not to scare away male viewers. i mean hey, one of the brothers is former Hollywood bad boy Michael J. Pollard. you don't get much meaner than that.the 'Ugly Bug Ball' musical moment is also quirky and weird (if not a little creepy) enough to be amusing to little kids.the production design, photography and other elements are delivered with accomplished professionalism that it often seemed only Disney could pull out of a modest budget like this.i grew up watching this film at the movies and then again on the 'Wonderful World of Disney' television show. it still hasn't lost it's basic sentimental charm for me. and yes i know this film is gooey and icky, but it's done with more panache and level headedness, and a sense of comic fun, than movies like the old time, original 'Cheaper by the Dozen' film, were usually instilled with. as a matter of note, this film is a lot better made than these kind of films usually are.this will always remain one of classic Disney's sweetest and sentimental films. and there is so much of Walt'sensibilities in it. if you love old school Disney, you gotta delight in this airy fluff.

This 1963 Disney film is a delight. Hayley Mills is a delightful girl with a charming personality. This story of the downturn in family circumstances and a fanciful letter turn a lost mansion in Boston to a delightful home in rural Maine.Burl Ives is marvelous as a small town store proprietor, and his stores and singing enliven the film.Dorothy McGuire is wonderful as the mom, and the other characters fit in well.The visit of Aunt Julia, who is not well-liked by the children, turns into an opportunity for mischief.This is an old-fashioned family film. It is not suitable for jaded sophisticates.

I was searching for decent movies for my 3yr. old granddaughter,when I came upon this,and I am so glad that I did. I remembered it and it was such a delight seeing it again when I watched with her. She loved it,and especially the Burl Ives part singing"Ugly Bug Ball". Who wouldn't love that? The whole movie,is fun,entertaining and totally "non-objectionable",which would take a miracle to say that about a film made today! I would not let small children watch and learn the monstrous behavior of the hateful,smart-mouth brats that are in today's films! I thank God so much that old classics like this are available on VHS/DVD so I do not have "settle" for the worthless, valueless, garbage that makes up most of the majority of today's films. Turner Classic Movies makes up the majority of my own film-watching,and I am delighted to see via Forums how many young folks feel the same way,about the offerings of TV/films today. Anyone looking for a delightful film that the whole family can sit down and watch together without having to worry about embarrassing/offensive scenes or language,here is a perfect choice. Wonderful family values lessons as well. How easy is it to find those in a film made today?