This is one of the only films directed by Sir David Lean (The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia) I've seen with not much Britishness to it, and the start for his appetite of location filming. Basically a lonely slightly naive spinster traveller, Jane Hudson (Katharine Hepburn) from Akron, Ohio, has finally made it to Venice, Italy, for her long-awaited dream vacation. The only thing she has with her and constantly used is her movie camera for the most inanimate and not particularly exciting sites, and she does eventually see even a city as beautiful can make you lonely. All that changes with a brief encounter of Renato Di Rossi (Rossano Brazzi) and they start quite a close relationship, but it ends sadly when she discovered he was married with some kids, and she chose to go home. Hepburn has an interesting role, the sites are beautiful, and Lean's direction certainly doesn't disappoint. Katharine Hepburn was number 38 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars, she was number 1 on 100 Years, 100 Stars - Women, and she was number 9 on The World's Greatest Actor. Very good!
Review of Summertime
