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 THE
SWIMMER. DVD. 1968.
Drama. 94 minutes. Rated PG. Ned Merrill (Burt Lancaster), a seemingly
energetic and popular middle-aged man, devises a sudden plan to swim his
way home via his neighbors’ pools. Running through the woods wearing
only swimming trunks, Ned jumps from pool to pool within his vast
Connecticut Valley neighborhood. Along the way, Ned realizes a lot about
himself, the people around him, and his life.
Ever watch a man slowly crumble to a near social and mental death
before your eyes? If not, you should check out The Swimmer. With every
step he takes, Burt Lancaster does a magnificent job taking Ned Merrill
from a high standing social pedestal to a dirty street gutter overflowing
with humiliation and desperation. Done in a very subtle way, The Swimmer
will have to feeling both outrage and pity towards ol’ Neddy. Yes, there
are a lot of unanswered question that may leave you scratching your head;
ie, where was Ned coming from at the beginning of the movie? The movie
starts with him running through the woods and showing up at a friend’s
house, but where in jeepers crow was he coming from? Along his way, Ned
runs into a twenty year old former baby sitter named Julie (Janet Landgard)
who is stunning. I only mention this because Janet Landgard didn’t do
much after The Swimmer, and I have to wonder why. If you look closely,
you’ll also notice a pre-facelift Joan Rivers (who looks exactly like
she does now, and you know it’s not genetics at work here), a skinny
Dolph Sweet (ugly father in the popular 80s sitcom Gimme a Break), and the
handsome, skinny Bernie Hamilton (sloppy chief in Starsky and Hutch).
Kim Hunter, who played Zira in Planet of the Apes, also
appears-without her monkey mask, of course. In what must have been one
hell of a risqué move in 1968, studly Burt Lancaster gives the audience a
nice long look at his naked bum-bum. Extras include trailers of various
Burt Lancaster movies. On a side note, if you want to check out a great
Lancaster film, watch the 1958 release Run Silent Run Deep. I was very
surprised, and entertained, by The Swimmer. – Denis Sheehan
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