CLASSIC FILM YOU'VE NEVER SEEN: THE SWIMMER

John Cheever's short story about one man's idylic suburban sham

The Swimmer, based on the short story by John Cheever that appeared in the July 18, 1964 issue of The New Yorker, takes place over the course of a single afternoon in a wealthy Connecticut enclave. The film traces the eight-mile journey home that Ned Merrill embarks on – by swimming in every pool on his route back from a friend’s house.

Ned, played by the statuesquely handsome Burt Lancaster, at first appears childlike as he embarks on his picaresque journey, enjoying the afternoon sunshine while visiting with neighbors – some of whom he hasn’t seen in years. As we follow Ned, however, we start to question his character. Slowly the brash, self-assured, and charismatic qualities of a New York City ad executive emerge, and we begin to wonder if Ned Merrill is who he says he is.

On his journey, Ned encounters quite a few characters to help fill in the complete picture. There is his daughters’ former babysitter, now an attractive young woman, who used to fantasize about him when she was a teenager. An older, wealthy nudist couple. A lonely boy, ignored by his parents, whom he tries to teach how to swim. He crashes a party populated with a group of nouveau superficial elite until finally arriving at the home of his former mistress, who is less than happy to see him. Each meeting is stranger than the last and more revealing.

By the end of The Swimmer, which grows darker and darker with each stroke Ned takes, we learn that the charade Ned is living is becoming less and less opaque to those around him. Ned isn’t fooling anyone as he fruitlessly battles middle age and preoccupies himself by recapturing his lost youth and social status.

When released in 1968, Variety wrote that “a lot of people are not going to understand this film; many will loathe it; others will be moved deeply. Its detractors will be most vocal; its supporters will not have high-powered counter-arguments.” And 54 years later, The Swimmer still holds up as a condemning character study and biting commentary on how we handle our journey to middle age and the struggle to keep up with the Jones’s.