ridiculous rating

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

6.4 on IMDb is very little to "Baby, the rain must fall" certainly a great film by Robert Mulligan. I watched for the first time when it was released and I confess that it is impressed. Everything seemed very real. In fact, the little girl Margaret Rose (the little actress Kimberly Block) has an interpretation so close to reality that only lacked exit the screen. It is an intriguing story regarding the character played by Steve McQueen (Henry Thomas) believe very close to the real McQueen, whose life also before he became a first magnitude star was not the most regular and happy. Poor Henry, tortured by her foster mother, which led him to never understand the world, placing itself always against everything violently. Her reaction was nothing more than what you have learned with his mother in punishment for no reason he received a lifetime. I think it was not bad. But the damage was done to her was too large relative to the well he saw. McQueen was a truly magnificent actor. Plays his part very secure and even in scenes where it appears as a singer is very well (your image because the voice is not his). The song he sings to his wife and daughter is very beautiful, exciting. Lee Remick (Georgette Thomas)was a gorgeous actress and extreme competence. The early part of the film in which she appears only with Margaret Rose, his daughter, is of high quality. High level of interpretation. And throughout the film she keeps huge regularity. Never fails. And Don Murray appears discreetly as police Slim, symbolizing balance, calm and tranquility that Henry could never afford to be with him. If there was a continuation of this wonderful movie, there would be great opportunity to Georgette, Margaret Rose and Slim being together, but that would be another story... and, please, where is Kimberly Block?

Slowly paced, bleakly photographed, virtually plot-less, the 100-minutes is not everyone's cup of tea. There are compensations, however. That lonely clapboard house forlorn on the dreary prairie is a perfect metaphor for Henry (McQueen) and Georgette's relationship. He's all pent-up rage at his brutal upbringing, while she's clinging to hope and their little girl (Block). Together, their silences speak louder than words, the distance just too great. All this plays out in elliptical fashion that requires some patience, and I'm not surprised the movie was a flop, given what McQueen fans likely expected. There are moments of frantic action, as when Henry attacks his guardian's grave for the wrongs done him, especially now that she's left him nothing from her meagre assets. But the prevailing pace is contemplative, to say the least.I'm not sure McQueen was the best choice for the tormented Henry. The actor, of course, excelled in action pictures, nuance not exactly being his forte. Yet Henry's real tragedy calls for a sensitive range that's largely missing from his scenes with Georgette. We get the distance, but not the struggle, and without the inner struggle the tragedy is diminished. Certainly, no one can be accused of overplaying, especially Don Murray whose sheriff comes across as something of a well-meaning cypher. Somehow the movie reminds me of an episode typical of the old TV series Route 66 (1960-64). The bleak location photography, the downbeat dramatics, the forlorn characters, all typify that ground-breaking series. I wonder if there was some cross-over given the time period.Anyway, action fans should skip this McQueen feature. For others, patience with the slow- developing human interest should provide compensation.( In passing-- thanks to the reviewer who confirmed my glimpse—Henry does plant the hopeful cherry tree with the roots still in a tin can bottom. Is that act of sabotage intentional or just his usual carelessness.)

It seems that every, single time I see Steve McQueen in any movie (be it from the beginning, the middle, or the end of his career), I always end up asking myself - "How the hell did this dull, non-charismatic bloke ever become a big-name star?" I find McQueen to be one of the blandest, insincere and unconvincing actors of his (or any) generation. Far from being what I would consider a "cool" dude, McQueen really had a tendency to grate on my nerves with his blah character portrayals.And if having to endure McQueen's dreary screen-dynamics was bad enough, I think that when it came to the depressing and absurd nature of this film's story, the viewer would have to be pretty dense and mighty gullible to take its utter nonsense at face value.From my point of view, this film's only really worthwhile moments were the unintentionally hilarious scenes where McQueen (who was unconvincingly playing an ex-con with a mean, hair-trigger temper who's now trying to make it as a rockabilly singer) lip-syncs during his live performance on stage at the town's local hot-spot.Man, you wouldn't believe how really bad McQueen was at lip-syncing. Not only could he not get his mouth in sync with the words, but the voice of the real singer did not suit McQueen at all.Ha! What a laugh-and-a-half! McQueen was so pathetically bad that I couldn't help but burst out laughing.Set in the town of Columbus, Texas - This clichéd "rebel-without-a-cause" story really sucked. I thought that its title "Baby, The Rain Must Fall" was very unfitting, since all of the troubles (rain) that fell on McQueen's character were clearly brought on by his own stupid actions.P.S. - Had this film not starred McQueen, then, yes, I might have actually rated it somewhat higher.

In 1962, producer Alan J. Pakula, director Robert Mulligan, composer Elmer Bernstein and screenwriter Horton Foote combined their considerable talents to create a film that has been a favorite of generations ever since: "To Kill a Mockingbird." Three years later, this quartet joined forces again to make another picture set in the Deep South, this one based on Foote's play "The Traveling Lady," and the result was 1965's "Baby the Rain Must Fall" (the lack of a comma after "Baby" is annoying). In this one, Lee Remick plays a pretty mother named Georgette Thomas, who travels with her young, shy, cute and fairly odd little girl, Margaret Rose, by bus from Tyler, TX to Columbus, TX, to meet her recently paroled ex-con husband, Henry (played by Steve McQueen, perennially cool even when his character, as here, is a neurotic mess). Henry's one ambition, now that he's on the outside, is to play in a rocking "string band" (called Henry Thomas and his Rockabillies!), write songs and become a big star, but the ancient old crone (one Miss Kate) who had adopted him as a boy, and who still dominates him psychologically by dint of long-ago beatings, insists that he give up his dreams, go to night school and just learn a trade. The advent of Henry's wife and daughter, as it turns out, does little to help him resolve this conflict...."Baby the Rain Must Fall" is a sweet, quiet, small, gentle and slow-moving film; more a slice-of-life character study of four lonely people: the three members of the Thomas clan AND Slim, a good-hearted widower deputy (played by Don Murray) who helps the family out. McQueen is just fine in the lead (he had just appeared two years earlier in another film directed by Mulligan, "Love With the Proper Stranger"), although his singing numbers have been terribly dubbed; still, these performances serve to show quite clearly that Henry DOES have talent and promise. Remick, whose motel scene in 1962's "Days of Wine and Roses" might be the saddest that this viewer has ever witnessed, is excellent, as usual, although the sad scenes in this film are nowhere near as devastating as the one I just referred to in "Days." Kudos also to little Kimberly Block, who gives a memorable performance in this, her only screen role; she is touching and adorable. "Baby" has been well shot in B&W by renowned cinematographer Ernest Laszlo, and although not a heckuva lot transpires during the film, it remains a pleasing glimpse at these four unhappy people. The picture concludes most strangely, however, and for the life of me, I cannot quite figure out what was going through Henry's mind when he despoiled Miss Kate's grave site toward the film's end. Was he trying to dig up her body or merely desecrate her resting place due to anger, frustration and resentment? Or maybe he misses her, now that she is gone? It's really impossible to say; a possible failure of the picture. And is Slim going off with Georgette and Margaret Rose in the last scene to start their own family, or is he merely giving the two gals a ride "to the Valley"? Another imponderable. Despite these ambiguities, however, "Baby the Rain Must Fall" is certainly a worthwhile film. Just don't expect speed....