The Dove

Artist: Lyn Paul

LP: The Dove
Song: "Sail the Summer Winds"
[ listen ]

Here's a pretty little bit of saccharine from the soundtrack of the 1974 film, THE DOVE. The film was produced by Gregory Peck, directed by Charles Jarrett, cinematography by Sven Nykvist, has a run time of 105 minutes, is rated [PG] and stars Joseph Bottoms, Deborah Raffin, John McLiam, Dabney Coleman and John Meillon. I'd never heard of THE DOVE before finding this soundtrack LP a few weeks ago, so I decided to look it up in all my movie and video guides. I've listed the reviews below, along with some more pictures of the film from the back of the LP. I'm going to rent THE DOVE from the video store this weekend, though all the critics seem to agree that the film is exceptionally mediocre. It will at least be interesting to see what cinematographer Sven Nykvist can do with a family adventure film about a teenage boy sailing around the world on a sloop.

1994 Leonard Maltin Movie and Video Guide
[ **½ ]
Pleasant round-the-world adventure based on true story of 16-year-old
who sails to every imaginable port. Produced by Gregory Peck.
Filmed on location in Panavision.

1991 8th Edition of Halliwell's Film Guide

Yachtsman Robin Lee Graham makes a five-year voyage around
the world. Bland, rather stolid adventure story for boatniks,
based on real incidents; good to look at. "Postcard views flick by
to the strains of a saccharine score." --David McGillivray

2004 Video Hound's Golden Movie Retriever
[ **½ ]
The true story of a 16-year-old's adventures as he sails
around the world in a 23-foot sloop. The trip took him five years
and along the way he falls in love with a girl who follows him
to exotic locales. Photography and scenery are magnificent.

1999 7th Edition of Time Out Film Guide

The five-year, round-the-world voyage of teenage
Californian yachtsman ("I just had to get out and see what
else was going on") Robin Lee Graham, produced by Gregory
Peck as a chaste romance in picturesque locations for the
family film market. Boring as hell, with even cinematographer
Sven Nykvists's invention sorely taxed by the
tedious succession of seascapes.