Filming began in August 1969 at Twickenham Studios[5] and mostly took place in and around a country house in Hildenborough, Kent, belonging to diamond millionaire Richard Harris.

[6] The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Glum intimations of upper-bracket incest (plus a wisp of lesbianism) permeate this story of the kitten showing her claws.

John Mackenzie, whose direction is redolent of his TV training, proves to be too easily swayed by the picturesque qualities of the estate and the summer countryside.

His style is smooth and confident, but the script, whose downbeat emphasis somehow suggests that incest is an everyday family problem, needed a spark of real individuality to set it off, and that is precisely what One Brief Summer lacks.

[10] The New York Times called it "a rambling, tedious bore" despite good direction and acting, where "once the friction surfaces, the film goes nowhere, leaving the cast to mill around and stare at one another in disillusion, lust or both.