David Lean is justly regarded for his epic romances (Dr. Zhivago), epic adventures (Lawrence of Arabia), his epic war film The Bridge On The River Kwai and his famous literary adaptation of Oliver Twist. All great films, but this means that a modestly scaled work like Summertime starring Katherine Hepburn sometimes gets lost in the mix.

Lushly photographed, it's hard for "Summertime" to go wrong when its set among the canals of Italy and famous Roman sites like the Colosseum, and the photography and scenery enchant the eye and the heart. Teaming with Lean, Katherine Hepburn tones down the mannerisms and turns in a performance of warmth and quiet desperation -- hence the "romantic" part of the category "romantic drama". Never married but quietly aching Jane Hudson meets two-children-in-a-marriage-long-devolved-into-convenience -- Renato De Rossi. The two talk about myths of love ("you come here expecting to be swept off your feet by a handsome Italian man, and you meet a shopkeeper.") and hopes for happiness, all the while exuding a worn and easy charm. While I love Bringing Up Baby, Pat and Mike et al, the unforced un-hijinxed charm of Summertime does Hepburn and Rossi well.

FFWD moment: about the 55 minute mark where Jane buys a white flower and accidentally drops it into the canal. Rossi chases after it but even at the low shallow point the flower is just out of his reach. The moment slips past. Sweet and bittersweet all in one.