Summer Magic (1963)

Please don't spend money on this.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

"Summer Magic" is really strictly a younger kid's movie or a nostalgia for 1963 movie and I didn't think too much of it. The songs were silly, the snooty cousin was way way too cloyingly annoying, the supporting characters were just too stereo-typically Disney.It was fine seeing young Hayley Mills and Eddie Hodges and James Stacy and Peter Brown but the story , not so much.Then there's the odious Michael J. Pollard to consider. Why this guy is in so many pictures is a puzzlement!

After the death of her dad, destitute Hayley Mills (as Nancy Carey) and her ragtime musical family must move from Boston to a small town Beulah, Maine. The blonde, British-accented Ms. Mills looks and sounds nothing like dark-haired mother Dorothy McGuire (as Margaret Carey). To confuse matters, brother Eddie Hodges (as Gilly Carey) is a flaming redhead, while little Jimmy Mathers (as Peter Carey) looks like he's related to the lad on "Leave it to Beaver" - more so, after he loses the "sissy" wig.This is a fowl adaptation of "Mother Carey's Chickens".The family moves in to the "yellow house", with assistance from lovable old caretaker Burl Ives (as Osh Popham). Later, snooty cousin Deborah Walley (as Julia Carey) arrives, to show you where Mr. Hodges got his red hair. Mills attempts to hook up with handsome older men, like James Stacy (before "Lancer") and Peter Brown (before "Laredo"). Michael J. Pollard (as Digby Popham) provides comic relief. Worst song may be Mr. Ives' rendition of "The Ugly Bug Ball", which seems like it could be a Disney TV outtake.* Summer Magic (7/7/63) James Neilson ~ Hayley Mills, Burl Ives, Dorothy McGuire, Deborah Walley

I have just watched Summer Magic again,it has been many years since I first saw the film. I enjoyed the film when it first came out and I still enjoyed it again today. It was one of those enjoyable films with a story and sheer entertainment, no swearing and a delight to watch. Great names like Burl Ives, Hayley Mills, Peter Brown etc, well do I need to go on, they all made the film. I was much younger when the first came out and my friend and I thought how wonderful it would be to walk down some stairs and have the lovely Peter Brown waiting for you. As I said I was younger then, but when I saw Summer Magic again today, I still had not changed my mind about Peter Brown waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me! I would recommend this film to everyone to watch.

I adored this movie- I bought it because when I was on vacation I had seen all but the last half hour of it on TV and wanted to see the end. I bought it and have watched it at least 5 times. My 5 year old granddaughter also loves it. You should hear her sing Ugly Bug Ball! The songs are wonderful catchy tunes- especially the one's Burl Ives from an innocent time. How I long for the days when movies were made like this. So much better than what is considered acceptable today. The dresses were just beautiful. There are some hilarious scenes- such as when Burl Ive's character is looking for a picture of Mr. Hamilton's "Mother". If you listen to the comments from his wife about the woman in the picture. ( a prohibitionist) "Insisted on going down with the ship everyone else was saved- crew and captain"