GP | 1h 38m | Drama, Romance | 1970
Once in a while, films come along that immerse me so much in their narratives and their characters that time rolls by, and I can’t believe it when the movie’s ending credits appear.
“A Walk in the Spring Rain,” directed by Guy Green, is one of those special films. The 1970 production was based on a book of the same title written in 1966. The film stars Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn as two middle-aged, star-crossed lovers who try to find true love again.
Libby Meredith (Bergman) lives in New York City with her intellectual, yet stuffy husband Roger (Fritz Weaver). Roger, a law professor, wants to take a year-long retreat to Tennessee to not only get away from the big city, but also work on his first book.
The Merediths rent a charming country home on the outskirts of the mountainous resort city of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Realizing that he isn’t that much of a handyman, Roger enlists the help of Will Cade (Anthony Quinn), a friendly local who lives nearby with his wife, Anne (Virginia Gregg).
Arriving one snowy winter night, the couple meet up with Will at his house. When Will sees Libby for the first time it looks like he’s been struck by a lightning bolt—he’s so smitten by her beauty.
One wintery day, Libby sees Will’s distinctive red jeep parked outside of a lumber mill and stops in the hopes of visiting with the backwoodsman. But she finds him watching a fight between two men, one of whom is his son (played by a young Tom Holland). After Will’s son beats the other man up (the boy was allegedly having extramarital relations with the man’s wife), Libby learns that their father-son relationship is very strained.
While Roger is perfectly cordial with Will and Anne, he’s also rather icy in his interactions with them at first. As the seasons change to a bright and warm spring, the chasm eventually melts between the Merediths and the Cades, due in no small part to Will’s affable, happy-go-lucky demeanor.
For example, when Libby and Roger agree that they'd like some animals to keep them company, Will helps out by giving the couple a pair of goats. Will then invites them on a frog-hunting trip into the backwoods, where he teaches Roger how to shoot frogs using a flashlight taped to a rifle. The evening ends on a joyous note, with the three of them singing one of Will’s old folk songs together.
But the weather isn’t the only thing that is getting warmer; Libby finds herself being drawn to Will because he pays her more attention than Roger does. His friendly advances are ambiguous enough to be interpreted as nothing more than simple manners or gentle come-ons. But since Roger frequently sits down to write but typically experiences writer’s block, Libby has plenty of opportunities to drift away from their house, and she eventually has an affair with Will.
Libby’s reason for getting involved with Will is partially because she feels neglected by her husband, and partly because she wants to know what it’s like to fall in love again.
Will and Libby are hugging each other in the woods one day, when his son spots them but remains hidden. Later, at the local fair, the son sees Will and alludes to his relationship with Libby, but the father leaves with no comment.
Eventually, the Merediths’ daughter Ellen (Katherine Crawford) shows up unannounced to deliver news to Libby that she’s been accepted to Harvard Law School. Ellen assumes her mother will be excited about her acceptance and future as an attorney. However, when Ellen asks her mother to help her by taking care of her little son Bucky (which would involve the Merediths moving back to New York immediately), Libby reveals that she has other plans. “Let me be somebody,” the disappointed daughter tells her oddly distraught mother.
The relationship that develops between Libby and Will seems natural because it builds up gradually over time; it’s enjoyable to see Will pursue Libby and show her the simple pleasures of Appalachian living. Ultimately, the film show the disastrous results of wandering hearts.
Seeing as talented an actor as Quinn in the role of a good-natured country bumkin is fun to watch. However, if there was one drawback, it would be that Quinn’s Southern drawl isn’t convincing in some of the film’s scenes.
