''The Long Days of Summer'' is a 1980 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

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 ...

and a sequel to ''

When Every Day Was the Fourth of July ''When Every Day Was the Fourth of July'' is a 1978 American television film, made-for-television drama (film and television), drama film about a Jewish-American family in 1937 Bridgeport, Connecticut. Narrated in first person flashback, the stor ...

'' (1978). Taking place one year later, the story follows now 13-year-old Danny (

Ronnie Scribner Ronnie Scribner (born July 23, 1966) is an American former actor. Beginning his career as a professional child actor and model at the age of 11, Scribner is perhaps best known for his role as the child vampire Ralphie Glick in the 1979 CBS mini ...

, taking over the role played Chris Peterson in the 1978 film) and the Cooper family in 1938, as they begin to experience the effects of growing

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

in their small

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

town, parallelling what is happening overseas in Hitler's Germany. The film was produced and directed by

Dan Curtis Dan Curtis (born Daniel Mayer Cherkoss; August 12, 1927 – March 27, 2006) was an American director, writer, and producer of television and film, known among fans of horror films for his afternoon TV series ''Dark Shadows'' (1966–1971) and ...

and stars Dean Jones,

Donald Moffat Donald Moffat (26 December 1930 – 20 December 2018) was a British–American actor with a decades-long career in film and stage in the United States. He began his acting career on- and off-Broadway, which included appearances in ''The Wild D ...

and Louanne.

Plot

In the summer of 1938 in Bridgeport, Connecticut,

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

13-year-old, Daniel Cooper finds himself tangling with the bigoted playground bully, Freddy Landauer. As the talk of Bridgeport centers around the pending rematch between boxing heavyweight champ Joe Louis and his

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

challenger Max Schmeling, Danny is challenged to a

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

match with the Landauer boy, to which he feels he has no choice but to accept. Paralleling his plight, Danny's father, Ed, also begins to experience

when he takes in a Jewish boarder from Germany, Josef, who has come to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

to warn of the increasing menace overseas in the form of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. As Danny and his family are faced with their own pressures from within their small-town community, they must each make difficult decisions about standing up for what is right in the face of discrimination and intimidation.

Cast

Production

'' originally aired on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

network and was intended to be a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

for a potential series. However, when the series was not picked up,

Curtis Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin from the Old French ''curteis'' ( Modern French ''courtois'') which derived from the Spanish Cortés (of which Cortez is a variation) and the Portuguese and Ga ...

made ''The Long Days of Summer'' as a sequel, but this time airing on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

network instead. Although a few of the original actors did return to reprise their roles, including Tiger Williams and Gloria Calomee, Dean Jones was the only lead to reprise his role, with the rest of the Cooper family portrayed by different actors for the sequel. Veteran film and television actor,

Charles Aidman Charles Leonard Aidman (January 21, 1925 – November 7, 1993) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Early life Aidman was born in Frankfort, Indiana, the son of George E. and Etta (Kwitny) Aidman. Aidman graduated from Frank ...

also returned to narrate as the voice of adult Danny, but was uncredited in both films. Child actress Louanne was cast to take over the role of Sarah for the sequel, becoming her very first role before rising to stardom in such films as ''

Oh, God! Book II ''Oh, God! Book II'' is a 1980 American comedy film and a sequel to the film '' Oh, God!'' (1977). It was directed by Gilbert Cates, and stars George Burns, Suzanne Pleshette, David Birney and Louanne Sirota. Joyce Brothers and Hugh Downs als ...

'' and '' A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon''. As with the first film, the decision was made to shoot " Bridgeport, Connecticut" in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Curtis returned to the same neighborhood in

Echo Park, Los Angeles Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake to the west and Chinatown to the east. The culturally diverse neighborhood has become known f ...

, and shot many of the outdoor scenes for the sequel in the same locations that were used in the original film.

Awards

References

External links