A Separate Peace *** (1972, John Heyl, Parker Stevenson, William Roerick) – Classic Movie Review 5972

Larry Pearce’s 1972 coming-of-age drama film A Separate Peace films the 1959 novel by John Knowles that tells the delicate, trail-blazing tale of the special friendship of two schoolboy roomies (John Heyl, Parker Stevenson) in Forties New England.

Director Larry Pearce’s 1972 coming-of-age drama A Separate Peace films the 1959 best-selling novel by John Knowles that tells the delicate, touching, trail-blazing tale of the special friendship of two schoolboy roomies (John Heyl as Finny, Parker Stevenson as Gene) at Devon School, a New England private academy, in wartime Forties America.

Tragedy enters the story when the school court wrongly condemns Stevenson’s Gene for injuring Heyl’s Finny after the introverted, jealous Gene apparently shakes the branch of a tree overhanging a river, causing the athletic Finny to fall to the ground, breaking his leg and turning him into a cripple.

It starts with Gene narrating the story as he travels back to Devon School some years later. Devon is a thinly veiled portrayal of Knowles’s alma mater, Phillips Exeter Academy, and based on his experiences and friends there, including his membership of a secret society and a foot injury while he jumped from a tree during society exercises.

Gore Vidal acknowledged that he and Knowles attended Phillips Exeter Academy with Vidal two years ahead. Vidal said Knowles told him the character of Brinker was based on him. Vidal said: ‘We have been friends for many years now, and I admire the novel that he based on our school days, A Separate Peace.’

The film may have its hesitancies, and you could say that it is dated, but it is also very sensitive, appealing and affecting. It is certainly a surprise film from a major studio like Paramount. It is the kind of film you only get as an indie movie now.

Also in the cast are William Roerick as Mr Patchwithers, Peter Brush as Leper, Victor Bevine as Brinker, Scott Bradbury as Chet, John E A Mackenzie as Bobby, Mark Trefethen as John, Frank Wilich Jr as Quackenbush, Elizabeth B Brewster as Mrs Patchwithers, Edward Echols as M. Ludsbury, Don Schultz as Dr Stanpole, and Paul Sadler as Naval Officer.

John Knowles (September 16, 1926 – November 29, 2001) addressed the idea of a possible homoerotic interpretation of his most celebrated novel: ‘If there had been homoeroticism between Phineas and Gene, I would have put it in the book, I assure you. It simply wasn’t there.’

A Separate Peace runs 104 minutes, is written by Fred Segal (brother of actor George) and John Knowles, shot by Frank Stanley, produced by Robert Goldston and scored by Charles Fox.

It is shot at Phillips Exeter Academy, 20 Main St, Exeter, New Hampshire; Newfields, New Hampshire; Exeter, New Hampshire; and Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts.

It was remade for TV in 2004 by Peter Yates as A Separate Peace.

Parker Stevenson (Richard Stevenson Parker Jr, born 4 June 1952) makes his film debut here but later became a TV star playing Frank Hardy on The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries and Craig Pomeroy on Baywatch. The names Richard Parker and Richard Stevenson were already taken at the Screen Actors Guild.

Leonard Maltin attacked the film: ‘This supposedly sensitive story, from an overrated novel, is morbid enough to make anyone gag. The acting is incredibly amateurish, and the direction has no feeling at all for the period. A Total Bummer is more like it.’ Rex Reed defended it in the Daily News as ‘one of the best films about youth ever made.’

Parker Stevenson married Kirstie Alley on 22 December 1983. After a miscarriage, the couple adopted son William “True” one week after his birth on 5 October 1992 and then in 1995 adopted daughter Lillie. The marriage ended in divorce in 1997.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5972

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

Parker Stevenson with Shaun Cassidy as TV’s The Hardy Boys