“Summer Storm” w/George Sanders, etc.

[Lance]

I have been trying to track down George Sanders'films. I didn't started to collect VHS/DVD movies until several years ago and promised myself I would be ultra-careful since I did not want to amass a collection of VHS tapes (thankfully, now that they are a thing of the past) or DVDs like I have LP records an audio CDs. I advanced considerably in my thinking with the development of DVDs believing it is important to have in one's own collection those films that I think truly worthy of having. I do believe DVDs will be around for a long while, longer than VHS tapes. So, I select certain favourite male and female actors and try to track down DVDs of them. (I'm not into Blu-Ray yet.) My primary interest is in old movies.

Well, George Sanders' movies are not all that in abundance as you may know. But one I discovered, Summer Storm is a B&W that was made in 1944. It is a Kit*Parker*Film distributed by VCI Entertainment. Summer Storm also was an Oscar nominee for best music in 1945.

Summer Storm is Douglas Sirk's work based on Anton Chekhov's drama, The Shooting Party. The work stars Linda Darnell, George Sanders, Anna Lee, Hugo Haas, Edward Everett Horton, and Lori Lahner. The screenplay is by Rowland Leigh. The film was produced by Seymour Nebenzal and directed by Douglas Sirk.

The film is a tale of power and passion, when a Russian siren (Linda Darnell), who wants the finer things in life, sinks her hooks into a judge (George Sanders), a decadent aristrocrat (Edward Everett Horton) and an estate superintendent (Hugo Haas), with surprising results.