Best Summer Flicks You've Never Seen

Julianne Moore stars in this eerie social drama about a suburban housewife who enters a dubious new-age retreat while suffering from undetermined illness from the environment. “Safe” was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 1995 and debuted that summer after being acquired by Sony Pictures Classics.

Spike Lee’s 1994 classic “Crooklyn” centers on the ups and downs of a family in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. In 2017, New York City residents selected this film in the “One Film, One New York” contest, and it was screened for free in parks and theaters across the city.

“Saving Face” tells the story of two young Chinese-American women who fall in love despite the stigmas of homosexuality in their culture. While the characters are fictional, director Alice Wu based the story on her own experience of coming out.

Philip Kaufman’s music-drama “The Wanderers” follows a gang of young Italian-American men in the Bronx as they struggle to find love and their place in the pecking order of local gangs. The underseen filmed given positive reviews by 89% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes and 87% of audiences.

Omar Epps, Richard T. Jones, and Taye Diggs star in this coming-of-age film that finds three childhood best friends gathering for a wedding and reliving stories of their youth. Director Rick Famuyiwa based some of the main characters’ childhood hijinks on stories from his own life.

This summer nail-biter stars a lesser-known cast and centers on a struggling writer with a dubious past. “Henry Fool” won the award for Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998. Despite the critical acclaim, this film has only grossed $1.34 million.

“The Stunt Man” stars Steve Railsback as Cameron, a war veteran masquerading as a stunt man on the set of a film as he hides out from the police. The picture’s “film within a film” storyline both delighted and confounded critics, with Roger Ebert giving it two stars, while the New York Times’ Pauline Kael praising its “slapstick metaphysics.”

Peter Fonda leads the cast of this 1997 drama about a beekeeper struggling to pull his broken family together. Fonda won the 1998 Golden Globe for Best Actor for his work in “Ulee’s Gold.” The film also stars a young Jessica Biel as Ulee’s granddaughter.

Hector Babenco’s 1985 drama “Kiss of the Spider Woman” tells the story of an imprisoned Brazilian revolutionary and the relationship he builds with his transgender cellmate. Burt Lancaster was initially attached to the transgender character but he was pulled from the project over creative differences and and other clashes with the producer.

“In the Company of Men” has become a sleeper summer classic since its 1997 release, but the film earned director Neil LaBute some harsh critics in the public. In a 2003 interview in the Daily Herald, LaBute claimed that strangers would approach him in the street to express their disgust at his main characters’ (Aaron Eckhart, Matt Malloy) manipulation of a kind-hearted deaf woman.

This 1968 thriller follows the paths of an aging horror film actor named Byron Orlok (Boris Karloff) and a mild-mannered insurance worker named Bobby Thompson (Tim O’Kelly). The latter goes on an unexplained killing spree, and their stories appear unrelated until they meet in a heart-pounding conclusion.

“Living in Oblivion” follows frustrated independent film director Nick Reve (Steve Buscemi) as he hits numerous roadblocks while making a low-budget film. Director Tom DiCillo won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for the film at the Sundance Film Festival in 1995.

Hayley Mills stars as an orphan with enough positivity to cheer up a whole town in 1960’s “Pollyanna.” The film marked the first of six Disney films for Mills between 1960 and 1965, including such beloved titles as “The Parent Trap” (1961) and “That Darn Cat” (1965).

In “The Man from Laramie,” James Stewart stars as Will Lockhart, a man on a quest to find vital information about his brother’s death. After traveling to the town of Coronado, New Mexico, Lockhart becomes embroiled in a dispute with a powerful local family. This was one of many collaborations between Stewart and director Anthony Mann.

Marlon Brando and James Mason star as Marc Antony and Brutus in this 1953 adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” There was initially some doubt about Brando’s casting in the role due to his famously poor diction, according to several sources, but he worked tirelessly on the dialogue, turning in one of his best performances to that point.

“Prince of the City” tells the story of Daniel Ciello, a hardboiled New York cop who chooses to expose police corruption at the expense of his own career. Treat Williams stars in the leading role. Robert DeNiro was initially slated for the part until director Sidney Lumet opted to go with a less-known actor, according to The New York Times.

Whit Stillman wrote, directed, and produced this witty look inside the lives of wealthy debutantes on New York’s Upper East Side. “Metropolitan” was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 63rd Academy Awards but lost to Bruce Joel Rubin’s hit “Ghost.”

Ang Lee’s 1993 romantic comedy “The Wedding Banquet” tells the story of a gay Taiwanese immigrant in the United States who marries a Chinese woman at his parents’ behest. Despite this film’s relatively low profile, it grossed $23.6 million at the box office and was the most profitable movie of the year based on a percentage of its costs, according to Variety.

This 2003 coming-of-age film follows a New York City teen named Victor who sets out to woo the most beautiful girl in his neighborhood. In an interview with the BBC, director Peter Sollett explained he elected to shoot some of the film on smaller 16-millimeter film cameras due to the film’s cramped Lower East Side shooting locations.

Richard Burton and Ava Gardner lead this 1964 adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ romance-drama “The Night of the Iguana.” Burton plays Reverend Dr. T. Lawrence Shannon, an alcoholic priest who has been rejected by his congregation and falls in love with Ava Gardner’s Maxine Faulk.

Director Kogonada chose to base a film in the city of Columbus, Indiana, after hearing a public radio segment about the city’s famed architectural heritage, he told The Republic. The film tells the story of a young man who travels to Columbus from South Korea to care for his father, who has fallen into a coma after visiting the city to give a lecture on architecture.

Audrey Hepburn stars as a devout but spiritually conflicted nun named Sister Luke in 1959’s “The Nun’s Story.” The film is based on a novel of the same name by Kathryn Hulme, who met the inspiration for Sister Luke while providing care for European World War II refugees.

Steven Soderbergh directed and wrote the screenplay for “King of the Hill,” which follows a young boy living alone in a hotel after his mother is hospitalized and his father fails to return from a business trip. The movie appeared at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Palme d’Or award as the best film.

Director Carl Franklin scored a surprise critical hit with his 1992 crime thriller “One False Move.” The film is about three murderous Los Angeles drug dealers on the lam in a small Arkansas town where they cross paths with the tough local sheriff Dale “Hurricane” Dixon. Critics loved the film, with the Washington Post calling it “strikingly expressive.”

“Mister Roberts” follows the hijinks of Lt. Douglas Roberts (Henry Fonda) and his fellow crew members upon a rickety naval vessel in the South Pacific towards the end of World War II. Director John Ford clashed with co-star James Cagney throughout the shoot, nearly leading to a fist fight on the first morning of production, according to “James Cagney: The Authorized Biography.”

Director William Friedkin previously scored hits with “The Exorcist” and “The French Connection,” but 1977’s suspense thriller “Sorcerer” was a financial flop. It has gone on to achieve a cult following.

Stacy Keach stars in the lead role as aging boxer Billy Tully in director John Huston’s boxing drama “Fat City.” The film is based on a novel by author Leonard Garnder, who told Life Magazine that the film’s title was slang for “the good life” and meant to be ironic.

“Advise and Consent” is a political drama centering on the turbulent confirmation of Robert A. Leffingwell (Henry Fonda) as secretary of state. With the president on his deathbed, heated debates ensue and skeletons emerge from the closet. The film was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1962.

This 1973 fantasy comedy stars Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis, a coffee salesman who can’t break free of society’s backbreaking expectation on workers. To enhance the film’s surreal nature, director Lindsay Anderson cast several actors in multiple roles. At nearly three hours long, “O Lucky Man!” earned mixed reviews on its release.

Robert Mitchum leads the cast of Peter Yates’ 1973 crime drama “The Friends of Eddie Coyle.” Mitchum stars in the titular role as a low-level Boston gun runner who gets caught working as an informant. Though it wasn’t a blockbuster, this film has earned a loyal following with a 100% fresh rating and 88% audience score at Rotten Tomatoes.

“The Band Wagon” follows an aging Broadway star who is hoping for another hit show to bring him back to the top. Fred Astaire stars in the lead role of Tony Hunter, and the part was close to home for the dancing star, who was 54 when the film went into production.

While “The Music Man” isn’t considered a summer blockbuster, it did have box-office success and became the fifth highest grossing film of 1962. Robert Preston and Shirley Jones lead the cast in this tale of a musical con man planning to swindle the people of River City, Iowa.

“Johnny Guitar” is a classic summer Western starring Joan Crawford as a tough saloonkeeper named Vienna. She squares off against local rivals with the help of a shadowy newcomer, the title character, played by Sterling Hayden. Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge feuded throughout the production, and in her memoir, Crawford refers to McCambridge as “a mean, tipsy, powerful, rotten-egg lady.”

Aruthur Penn’s 1962 film “The Miracle Worker” tells the true story of Anne Sullivan (Anne Bancroft), the blind tutor who helped Helen Keller learn to communicate using sign language. Bancroft won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1963 for her performance, and Patty Duke also won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Keller.

Andy Griffith had his breakout role as Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes in Elia Kazan’s 1957 drama “A Face in the Crowd.” The film earned mixed reviews but has earned classic status and was added to the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.