''Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams'' is a 1973 American

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Gilbert Cates Gilbert Cates (né Katz; June 6, 1934 – October 31, 2011) was an American film director and television producer, director of the Geffen Playhouse, a member of Cates/Doty Productions, and founding dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Te ...

, starring

Joanne Woodward Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward (born February 27, 1930) is an American actress. A star since the Golden Age of Hollywood, Woodward made her career breakthrough in the 1950s and earned esteem and respect playing complex women with a charact ...

Martin Balsam Martin Henry Balsam (November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996) was an American actor. He had a prolific career in character roles in film, in theatre, and on television. An early member of the Actors Studio, he began his career on the New Yo ...

, Sylvia Sidney, and

Tresa Hughes Tresa Hughes (September 17, 1929 – July 24, 2011) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She was nominated for Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 1961 for her role in '' The Devil's Advocate''. Her film and televisio ...

, and written by Stewart Stern. It tells the story of a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

housewife who rethinks her relationships with her husband, her children, and her mother. ''Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams'' garnered

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Joanne Woodward) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Sylvia Sidney).

Plot summary

Rita Walden is a depressed, middle-aged New Yorker. Always tired, Rita is prone to nightmares, and when she does dream more pleasant thoughts, they are of her childhood on the family farm. In her mind, she settled for second best when she married her ophthalmologist husband, Harry, as she still thinks about what life would have been like with the older farm boy on whom she had a crush at age 12½. She is constantly bickering with her mother, her sister Betty, and her grown-up daughter Anna, who has issues of her own. Rita is estranged from her son Bobby; she is in denial about his homosexual orientation. After Rita's mother dies suddenly, Rita is on the verge of a nervous breakdown in dealing with her mother's estate, especially when the family talks about selling her beloved farm, which she still intends to pass on to Bobby. Harry thinks that a European vacation would help Rita clear her mind, with the possibility of visiting Bobby, who is currently living in Amsterdam. Although Rita faces some crises on the trip, many of her conflicts do ease after she sees Harry revisit

Bastogne Bastogne (; nl, Bastenaken, ; german: Bastnach/Bastenach; lb, Baaschtnech) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Bastogn ...

for the first time since his days in World War II.

Cast

as Rita Walden *

as Harry Walden * Sylvia Sidney as Mrs. Pritchett *

as Betty Goody * Dori Brenner (in her screen debut) as Anna * Ron Rickards as Bobby Walden * Win Forman as Fred Goody * Peter Marklin as Joel * Nancy Andrews as Mrs. Hungerford * Minerva Pious as Woman in Theatre * Sol Frieder as Man in Theatre * Helen Ludlam as Grandmother * Grant Code as Grandfather * Gaetano Lisi as Student in Theatre * Lee Jackson as Carl

External links

* * * * 1973 films 1973 drama films 1973 LGBT-related films American drama films American LGBT-related films Columbia Pictures films Films about dysfunctional families Films about marriage Films about vacationing Films directed by Gilbert Cates Films scored by Johnny Mandel Films set in Belgium Films set in New York City Films shot in Belgium Films shot in London Films shot in Massachusetts Films shot in New York City Films with screenplays by Stewart Stern 1970s English-language films 1970s American films {{1970s-drama-film-stub

Plot summary

Cast

See also

External links