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The Swimmer

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02:42

The Swimmer

Name: The Swimmer
Director: Frank Perry
Genre: Drama
Released: 1968
Duration: 1 h 31 min
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Janet Landgard, Janice Rule, Tony Bickley, Marge Champion

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Drama

1968
Frank Perry
91 mins
PG

Summary

Drama starring Burt Lancaster. On a summer's day in Connecticut, Ned Merrill begins a journey of self-discovery when he decides to swim home via the pools of various neighbours.

IMDB

Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Adrian Turner

Remember the Levi jeans advertisement where a hunk took a dip in a dozen pools to the strains of Mad about the Boy? This is the film that inspired it. Based on a short story by cult writer John Cheever, it stars Burt Lancaster as a washed-up suburban man who decides to swim home, using all the pools in his neighbourhood en route. This is not only healthy - and Lancaster looks terrific in his trunks - it's a metaphor for alienation from affluence, sexual desire, Vietnam - you name it, it's all at the bottom of the deep end. Not to everyone's taste, this weird picture now seems an oddly powerful companion piece to The Graduate.

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7.6/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameNed MerrillBurt LancasterJulie HooperJanet LandgardShirley AbbottJanice RuleDonald WesterhazyTony BickleyPeggy ForsburghMarge ChampionMrs HalloranNancy CushmanHowie HunsackerBill FioreTicket sellerJohn Garfield JrBetty GrahamKim HunterSylvia FinneyRose GregorioJoanJoan RiversHoward GrahamCharles DrakeChauffeurBernie HamiltonCynthiaDiana MuldaurHenry BiswangerDolph SweetHelen WesterhazyDiana Van Der Vlis