Way past time for props to Sandra Dee

Yeah, Sandra had a great run from the late 50s to the early 60s. Some of her mid to late 60s performances (especially on television) were excellent. 1959 is considered by many to be the greatest year in her career - the release of this film, Imitation Of Life, Gidget, Romanoff and Juliet and A Stranger In My Arms - really cemented her as a pop culture icon and the teen queen of the 50s. Her marriage to Bobby Darin in 1960 didn't hurt her popularity either. Sadly, when the studio system collapsed and her personal problems overwhelmed her (she was anorexic from her early teen years as a model, developed a drinking problem, was forced at an early age to support her mother and herself through acting and modelling, her divorce and troubled marriage to Darin, having to raise her son on her own) it caused her career to go into a slump which it never really recovered. She was reclusive for years before finally emerging in the public eye again in the early 90s. The book her son wrote about his famous parents sparked interest in her again. Her revelations in her 1991 People Magazine article helped people to see past her status as a pop culture icon and see the real woman behind it. She made some commercials and did some stage work but sadly all her health problems caused by drinking and eating disorders caught up with her when she died in 2005.

Her image of a carefree young girl was something that the studios created, and something her persona seemed to exude onscreen, but was far from the life that she actually had. That's not to say that she didn't have happy times in her life but it was not what the movie magazines tried to have the public believe. Her parents divorced when she was five, she never saw her father again, her mom was a stage mother who controlled her and lived vicariously through her, her stepfather sexually abused her, Darin was tormented by the fact that his heart condition would cause his life to be short, so Sandra had all that to deal with on top of her other problems. Hard to imagine how such a young person could be dealt such a harsh hand. To me, it makes her performances even more poignant. She was underrated as an actress but I think she showed flair for both comedy and drama. And A Summer Place is a great example of that.

I agree Dee is particularily good in this film and never received much credit for displaying some solid acting chops in it. She was only around fifteen at the time of filming and certainly possessed a maturity beyond her years, which suited her portrayal of Molly.