Gene remembered it all. That Summer during World War II, the friendships at school, and most of all, THE TREE, which changes their lives forever.



Seven teenage prep-school students become young men as they face the realities of WW II in this drama set in 1942. Much of the tale centers on two roommates who seem exceptionally close, but whether or not they are homosexually involved is never made clear. But when one feels betrayed by the other, he acts out of anger and ultimately causes the other to become a cripple.

A Separate Peace is a 1972 film directed by Larry Peerce. It was adapted by John Knowles and Fred Segal (brother of George and father of Nick), from the former's best-selling novel of the same name. It starred Parker Stevenson, who would later rise to fame as "Frank Hardy" on The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, and as "Craig Pomeroy" on Baywatch.

Vincent Canby of the New York Times was impressed: "Larry Peerce's film version of A Separate Peace is so good and true in small, subsidiary details of costume, music, weather and such that the ultimate banality of what it's all about is just that much more apparent, and just that much more difficult to accept without seeming unnecessarily ill-tempered. ...Peerce is very good with his almost completely nonprofessional cast, especially with John Heyl, a stocky, handsome young man whose face reflects the profound cheerfulness of someone who' will never grow old. Parker Stevenson has the more difficult role (perhaps an impossible one) and I'm not sure I'd have had much idea of what was going on in his mind had I not ready the book. As he displayed in Goodbye, Columbus, Peerce has a positive talent not only for period detail, but also for knowing when and how to cut around and away from the performances of non-actors so that Heyl, Stevenson and a large proportion of the Exeter student body manage to come up trum

Set in a school called Devon, it follows the friendships of two young teens, Finn and Gene. Both of them share both good times and bad times as they attempt to go through the teen process towards adulthood, along with studying in school: they also consider being drafted, if that should come. The film is set in 1943, during World War II, and is told by an older Gene. The film was shot at the Philip Exeter Academy, where the real John Knowles went to school.

Release Date: September 27, 1972


Distrib: Paramount