David Lean Filmstruck S Director Of The Week Has More To Offer Than Just Lawrence Of Arabia

British filmmaker David Lean is the current Director of the Week on the streaming-video channel FilmStruck, which offers almost all of his films for viewing. Tucked between his celebrated Charles Dickens adaptations from the 1940s and his later, grandiose epics are four more unassuming films from the 1950s, leading up to the classic Bridge on the River Kwai.

Summertime Katharine Hepburn, a lonely spinster on a European vacation, is seduced by the charms of Venice in this expert 1955 melodrama by David Lean. Two years before the fateful Bridge on the River Kwai, Lean still shows some sense of subtlety, and Summertime contains some glowing moments. The film shifts to mechanical manipulation, though, shortly after Rossano Brazzi makes his appearance as Hepburn’s swain. Recommended, with hesitations. 100 min. —Dave Kehr