10:30 P.M. Summer
Encyclopedia
10:30 P.M. Summer is a 1966 American drama film
directed by Jules Dassin
, husband of star Melina Mercouri.
), a younger woman. The couple's daughter is also part of the trip. On their way to Madrid
, they stop in a small town and are told by police that a local man who has killed his wife and her lover is on the loose in the area. There is a massive thunderstorm and the group has no choice but to stay in the town's only hotel, which is jammed beyond capacity with other travelers in the same situation. Maria, an out of control alcoholic who lives most of her life in a walking, booze-fueled dream state, seems to be subtly encouraging her husband Paul to have a sexual relationship with Claire as a way to reintroduce sexuality into their situation. While the thunderstorm is still raging, Maria secretly steps out of the crowded hotel onto a low balcony to down a bottle of booze and accidentally sees Paul and Claire kissing on a higher balcony. She is simultaneously excited and devastated. While out in the rain Maria discovers the fugitive hiding on a nearby rooftop and decides to help him escape. She then hides the murderer, a young man, in an outcropping of rocks out in lonely stretch of highway in the desert. She eventually tells Paul and Claire about the man, but when they go out to the desert they find that the fugitive has committed suicide with the same gun he'd killed his cheating wife with. Maria, Paul and Claire decide to keep quiet and simply travel on to Madrid as planned. While in Madrid, Maria tells Paul and Claire that she’d had hopes of adding the fugitive to the odd situation as a "fourth player" in the game, but that her true desire was to sleep with Paul once again. Maria drinks herself unconscious and scenes of Paul and Claire making love were shown while we hear Maria’s voice saying how she’d been envisioning the pair making love ever since she’d first seen Claire naked. It is never made clear whether this sequence is a dream or something Maria actually observed while massively drunk. But the next day she tells Paul about it and it seems to excite him. They start to make love, but she can’t. She tells him she doesn’t love him anymore. He tells her he doesn’t believe her. Later, the trio goes to a club to watch flamenco dancers. Maria, who seems to be having a good time, slips out during the performance and disappears into the city. Paul and Claire search for her, but they cannot find her.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Jules Dassin
Jules Dassin
Julius "Jules" Dassin , was an American film director, with Jewish-Russian origins. He was a subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, and subsequently moved to France where he revived his career.-Early life:...
, husband of star Melina Mercouri.
Plot
Maria and Paul, a couple in their forties, travel through Spain with a new friend, Claire (Romy SchneiderRomy Schneider
Romy Schneider was an Austrian-born German film actress who also held French citizenship.-Early life:Schneider was born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach in Nazi-era Vienna, six months after the Anschluss, into a family of actors that included her paternal grandmother Rosa Albach-Retty, her Austrian...
), a younger woman. The couple's daughter is also part of the trip. On their way to Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, they stop in a small town and are told by police that a local man who has killed his wife and her lover is on the loose in the area. There is a massive thunderstorm and the group has no choice but to stay in the town's only hotel, which is jammed beyond capacity with other travelers in the same situation. Maria, an out of control alcoholic who lives most of her life in a walking, booze-fueled dream state, seems to be subtly encouraging her husband Paul to have a sexual relationship with Claire as a way to reintroduce sexuality into their situation. While the thunderstorm is still raging, Maria secretly steps out of the crowded hotel onto a low balcony to down a bottle of booze and accidentally sees Paul and Claire kissing on a higher balcony. She is simultaneously excited and devastated. While out in the rain Maria discovers the fugitive hiding on a nearby rooftop and decides to help him escape. She then hides the murderer, a young man, in an outcropping of rocks out in lonely stretch of highway in the desert. She eventually tells Paul and Claire about the man, but when they go out to the desert they find that the fugitive has committed suicide with the same gun he'd killed his cheating wife with. Maria, Paul and Claire decide to keep quiet and simply travel on to Madrid as planned. While in Madrid, Maria tells Paul and Claire that she’d had hopes of adding the fugitive to the odd situation as a "fourth player" in the game, but that her true desire was to sleep with Paul once again. Maria drinks herself unconscious and scenes of Paul and Claire making love were shown while we hear Maria’s voice saying how she’d been envisioning the pair making love ever since she’d first seen Claire naked. It is never made clear whether this sequence is a dream or something Maria actually observed while massively drunk. But the next day she tells Paul about it and it seems to excite him. They start to make love, but she can’t. She tells him she doesn’t love him anymore. He tells her he doesn’t believe her. Later, the trio goes to a club to watch flamenco dancers. Maria, who seems to be having a good time, slips out during the performance and disappears into the city. Paul and Claire search for her, but they cannot find her.
Cast
- Melina MercouriMelina MercouriMelina Mercouri , born as Maria Amalia Mercouri was a Greek actress, singer and politician.As an actress she made her film debut in Stella and met international success with her performances in Never on Sunday, Phaedra, Topkapi and Promise at Dawn...
as Maria - Romy SchneiderRomy SchneiderRomy Schneider was an Austrian-born German film actress who also held French citizenship.-Early life:Schneider was born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach in Nazi-era Vienna, six months after the Anschluss, into a family of actors that included her paternal grandmother Rosa Albach-Retty, her Austrian...
as Claire - Peter FinchPeter FinchPeter Finch was a British-born Australian actor. He is best remembered for his role as "crazed" television anchorman Howard Beale in the film Network, which earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Actor, his fifth Best Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and a...
as Paul - Julián MateosJulián MateosJulián Mateos was a Spanish actor and film producer. He appeared in 48 films and television shows between 1960 and 1980. He starred in the film The Robbers, which was entered into the 12th Berlin International Film Festival.-Selected filmography:* The Robbers * 10:30 P.M...
as Rodrigo Paestra - Isabel María Pérez as Judith
- Beatriz Savón as Rodrigo's Wife