''Come September'' is a 1961 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by

Robert Mulligan Robert Patrick Mulligan (August 23, 1925 – December 20, 2008) was an American director and producer. He is best known for his humanist dramas, including ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' (1962), '' Summer of '42'' (1971), ''The Other'' (1972), '' Same ...

and starring

Rock Hudson Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob in the Golde ...

Gina Lollobrigida Luigia "Gina" Lollobrigida (born 4 July 1927) is an Italian actress, photojournalist, and politician. She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s, a period in which she was an international sex symbol. As o ...

Sandra Dee Sandra Dee (born Alexandra Zuck; April 23, 1942 – February 20, 2005) was an American actress. Dee began her career as a child model, working first in commercials, and then film in her teenage years. Best known for her portrayal of ingén ...

and

Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music. He started his career as a songwriter for Connie ...

Plot

Wealthy American businessman Robert Talbot owns a villa on the

Liguria it, Ligure , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

n coast, where he and his Roman mistress Lisa Fellini spend September each year. When Robert visits in July and calls Lisa en route from Milano, she cancels her wedding and rushes to meet him. Upon his arrival at the villa, Robert discovers that in his absence, his

major domo A majordomo is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, this is the highest (''major'') person of a household (''domūs'' or ''domicile'') staff, a head servant who acts on behalf of the owner of a large ...

Maurice Clavell has converted the villa into a hotel, currently hosting a group of teenage girls including Sandy and their chaperone Margaret Allison. Their departure is delayed when Margaret slips on the cork of a champagne bottle and is forced to spend a day in the hospital. Four teenage boys, led by Tony, who had irritated Robert on the drive to his villa, set up camp outside the villa and begin courting the girls. Robert chaperones the girls on a sightseeing tour and to a music club. He dances with each of the girls and appeals to their virtues, stressing the importance of chastity. A drunken Tony makes a failed romantic advance toward Sandy. When Sandy tells Lisa of the lecture that she had received from Robert, Lisa becomes infuriated over Robert's double standards. The next morning, she departs, hoping to reunite with her former fiancé Spencer. Accompanied by Maurice, Robert chases after Lisa, but she refuses to reconcile. Maurice decides to play matchmaker, telling the police that his employer is a notorious criminal wanted in Rome and that Lisa is his accomplice, but his plan fails. Lisa returns to her apartment, where she finds Sandy. Hearing Sandy's lament about lost love, Lisa experiences an epiphany and departs to reunite with Robert. On her way out, she meets Tony, whom she directs to her apartment, where he and Sandy reunite. At the train station, Lisa borrows a toddler to convince the conductor that the father is abandoning them. Taken off the train, Robert reconciles with her. As a married couple, they return to the villa, which Maurice has converted into a hotel again and which is now occupied by a group of nuns.

Cast

as Robert L. Talbot *

as Lisa Helena Fellini *

as Sandy Stevens *

as Tony *

Walter Slezak Walter Slezak (; 3 May 1902 – 21 April 1983) was an Austrian-born film and stage actor active between 1922 and 1976. He mainly appeared in German films before migrating to the United States in 1930 and performing in numerous Hollywood producti ...

as Maurice Clavell * Brenda de Banzie as Margaret Allison *

Rossana Rory Rossana Rory (born 7 September 1927) is an Italian retired actress best known for her performance as Norma in Mario Monicelli's caper film ''Big Deal on Madonna Street'' (1958). Career Rory began working as a model at the age of seventeen, po ...

as Anna * Ronald Howard as Spencer *

Joel Grey Joel Grey (born Joel David Katz; April 11, 1932) is an American actor, singer, dancer, photographer and theatre director. He is best known for portraying the Master of Ceremonies in the musical '' Cabaret'' on Broadway as well as in the 1972 fi ...

as Beagle * Ronnie Haran as Sparrow * Chris Seitz as Larry * Cindy Conroy as Julia * Joan Freeman as Linda * Nancy Anderson as Patricia * Michael Eden as Ron * Claudia Brack as Carol

Production

Screenwriters

Stanley Shapiro Stanley Shapiro (July 16, 1925 – July 21, 1990) was an American screenwriter and producer responsible for three of Doris Day's most successful films. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Shapiro earned his first screen credit for ''South Sea Woman ...

and

Maurice Richlin Maurice Richlin (February 23, 1920 – November 13, 1990) was an American screenwriter. He received two Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay nominations for '' Pillow Talk'' and ''Operation Petticoat'' in the same year. For the first ...

began work on the script in late 1959. While the film was in preproduction, Shapiro said in an interview: "I write all day at my office from 8:30 until 6:00, then have dinner and go home and spend two or three hours fixing, polishing or rewriting the day's output." In early 1960, it was announced that

and

were set to star.'' Anderson Daily Bulletin'' - January 21, 1960, Anderson, Indiana. p.23: ''Hudson-Lollobrigida To Be Teamed In New Film Comedy'' Before Lollobrigida's participation was confirmed,

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

was rumored to be cast. It was also announced that production was to be delayed until Hudson completed work on '' The Last Sunset'' (1961). Lollobrigida also had commitments to the films ''

Go Naked in the World ''Go Naked in the World'' is a 1961 American drama film written and directed by Ranald MacDougall and co-directed by an uncredited Charles Walters and produced by Aaron Rosenberg. The film stars Gina Lollobrigida, Anthony Franciosa, and Ernest B ...

'' (1961) and ''

Lady L ''Lady L'' is a 1965 comedy film based on the novel by Romain Gary and directed by Peter Ustinov. Starring Sophia Loren, Paul Newman, David Niven and Cecil Parker, the film focuses on an elderly Corsican lady as she recalls the loves of her ...

'' (1965). In June 1960,

signed on as the film's director. A month later, it was announced that singer

was to make his film debut in ''Come September''. He and Sandra Dee met while on location, fell in love and married on December 1, 1960. The making of ''Come September'' is portrayed in the 2004 Darin biopic '' Beyond the Sea, s''tarring

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolade ...

as Darin and

Kate Bosworth Catherine Anne Bosworth (born January 2, 1983) is an American actress. Following minor roles in the films '' The Horse Whisperer'' (1998) and ''Remember the Titans'' (2000), she rose to prominence with her role as a young surfer in the box-offi ...

as Dee. Lollobrigida was initially reluctant because she was not enthusiastic about returning to Italy, where the film was shot. In an interview, she mentioned accepting the role because it allowed her to work with Hudson and explained: "It's a comedy that can only be made in Italy."

Music

composed the ''Come September'' theme as well as the song "Multiplication" that he performs in the film.

Novelization

In advance of the film's release, a paperback novelization of the film written by crime and mystery novelist Marvin H. Albert was published by

Dell Books Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and so ...

Reception

With

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, ''Come September'' has an 80% score based on five critics' reviews.

Remakes

''Come September'' has been remade as the

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

-language films ''

Kashmir Ki Kali ''Kashmir Ki Kali'' () is a 1964 Indian Hindi-language romance film directed by Shakti Samanta. The film stars Shammi Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore in her Hindi movie debut role, Pran, Dhumal, Nazir Hussain and Anoop Kumar. The music was compose ...

'' (1964) and ''

Mere Sanam ''Mere Sanam'' (English: ''My Lover'' hi, मेरे सनम) is a 1965 Hindi film starring Biswajeet, Asha Parekh, Mumtaz, Pran and Rajendra Nath. The film was a hit at the box office, especially because of the musical score by Majroo ...

'' (1965) and as the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language film ''

Anbe Vaa ''Anbe Vaa'' () is a 1966 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran and B. Saroja Devi, with S. A. Ashokan, Nagesh, T. R. Ramachandran, P. D. Sambandam, Manora ...

'' (1966). The 1980 Hindi film ''

Ek Baar Kaho ''Ek Baar Kaho'' () is a 1980 Indian Hindi-language film produced by Tarachand Barjatya and directed by Lekh Tandon. The film stars Shabana Azmi and Navin Nischol in main roles. The climax is inspired from that of the 1957 movie ''An Affair to R ...

'' was also loosely based on ''Come September''.

References

External links

* * * {{Robert Mulligan 1961 films American romantic comedy films 1961 romantic comedy films 1960s English-language films Films set in Italy Films directed by Robert Mulligan Universal Pictures films Films set in country houses Films scored by Hans J. Salter 1960s American films