L'aventure est au large

Small-budget Universal film stars John Mills as the salty skipper of his own ramshackle fishing vessel whose teenage daughter finds romance for the first time with a law-school graduate on vacation; all three coast into trouble when modern-day pirates vie for a treasure map Mills has in his possession. Sub-Disney nonsense is brash and frantic, yet the high adventure we anticipate never quite arrives. Hayley Mills as Spring isn't allowed to act her age--she's too old to still be playing the kissless teenager--however her quieter moments with James MacArthur are sweetly done, and the film is certainly airy and lively, if not especially memorable. ** from ****

Hayley was 18 years old when she filmed The Truth About Spring. They had to cut her hair to make her appear grown up. Hayley plays Spring Tyler. She has spent her entire life on a boat growing up away from civilization. Her real life Father Sir John Mills plys Tommy Tyler her Dad. All is well on the small boat until she meets Ashton. Ashton is the handsome young lawyer who spends a week on the boat with Spring and Tommy. Tom boyish Spring does not understand the new emotions she feels for Ashton. Ashton is played by James McArthur. A delightful movie which should be on DVD and video. Unfortunately it rarely is aired on television anymore. It was last seen on A&E.

During the 1960s, a Caribbean sailor and his likeable daughter search for a buried treasure throughout the perilous Caribbean sea, being full of unsavory pirates. A tolerable agreeable juvenile adventure romp which cast a beautiful teen, Hayley Mills, as a tomboy daughter of a rogue sea drifter performed by her actual daddy John Mills. Along the way Hayley Mills falls for a cute young advocate at law, James MacArthur. Here hurricane Hayley whirling her way through a tropical romantic adventure. Kiss her and she will make your head swim... If she does not knock of you block..Hayley a tomboy.. With delicious curves..

Freely based on a novel titled : Satan , a romance of the Bahamas, written by Henry Vere and enjoyable script by James L Barret . Well paced in Walt Disney style and competently starred by the sympathetic Hayley Mills as the obstinate daughter , John Mills as the roguish old sea dog and James MacArthur who is after romance with Hayley. All stars providing fine interpretations while working holiday in the Spanish sun. The film boasts such English stalwarts as Lionel Jeffries, Harry Andrews, Nial MacGinnis, all of them pretending to be peculiar pirates and have a high old time rolling their eyes. Most actors have all been in Walt Disney movies, including Hayley Mills, John Mills, David Tomlinson. In fact, Hayley Mills and John Mills performed 7 films together : So well remembered, Tiger bay, The parent trap, The chalk garden, The family way, The truth about Spring and a Tv episode of Love Boat. Furthermore, John Mills and James MacArthur starred as daddy and child in Swiss Family Robinson 1960 by Ken Annakin and produced by Walt Disney. In spite of being set in the Caribbean, this picture was actually shot off the coast of Spain, Brava Coast, Girona.

It displays a colorful and sunny cinematography by Edward Scaife, filmed on location in Costa Brava, Mediterranean coast, Spain . And adequate, evocative production design by Gil Parrondo, Oscar winner for Patton and Nicholas and Alexandra. As well as a rousing and thrilling musical score by Robert Farnon. This motion picture, The truth about Spring, was professionally directed by Richard Thorpe. The Hollywood veteran director Thorpe made all kinds of genres such as, Tarzan adventure : Tarzan finds a son, Tarzan escapes, Tarzan secret creature, Tarzan in NY. Musical : Athena, The student prince . Romantic comedy : On an island with you, Thrill of a romance, A date with July, Horizon lieutenant. Elvis Presley Movies :Fun in Acapulco, Jailhouse rock . Western : Vengeance valley. Adventures : Challenge to Lassie, The prodigal, All the brothers were valiant, Ivanhoe, Prisoner of Zenda, Malaya, Knights of the Round Table. Noir and intrigue : Above suspicion, Black hand, The tin man goes home. Rating 6/10. Nice film for the whole family.

I, like most others in this forum, happen to love this little movie. There's something about its good-naturedness that is captivating, and its open-air-and-sea setting that gives it a timeless quality. The idea of being a capable young woman who travels around the Caribbean on a boat with a genial parent, leading an unstructured life with plenty of little adventures, must be quite attractive to young female viewers. And then there is Hayley Mills, the effortlessly charming English actress who forever inspires crushes. And why? Perhaps because she's pretty but not too pretty, English but not too English, quite lively but not brassy, and quite natural without the child actor show-offiness or affectations. Truly the girl you want to have next door. For fans of Hayley (note "HAYLEY": for some reason many in this forum can't spell her name correctly) this film has an air of poignancy about it because this is the last of her teen parts. After this she moved on to young adult parts ('That Darn Cat,' her next film, dolled her up and gave her a boyfriend right from the start --- and it was also her last Disney film). Here she'd just turned eighteen and co-star James MacArthur (son of Helen Hayes and famed screen & stage writer Charles MacArthur) was about 27. There had been a contest held by Hayley fans at the time as to who should co-star with her in this film and MacArthur (a Disney alumni) was given the top vote. He was married at the time so no off-screen romance developed. But they are cute together. In my opinion the scene where a trapped Hayley is teased with a rope that MacArthur drops down to her is a small showcase of Hayley's natural and economic comic timing: a kind of ability that Disney could never find again. And one of the pluses of this film is that it is NOT a Disney production, meaning that it has more of a laconic, low-key English flavor to it. It certainly could be mistaken for Disney, and might have made a bigger splash at the box office (it was a dud) and be easily available today on DVD or VHS if it had been, but as a trade-off, it has an easygoing charm without the Disney tendency to offer explosive, slapsticky finishes, or cartoony musical flourishes (e.g. 'In Search of the Castaways' or 'That Darn Cat'). There's also the pleasure of watching outstanding English character actors like Lionel Jeffries and Harry Andrews clearly enjoying themselves. And there's the obvious pleasure of watching the real father-daughter team of John and Hayley playing off each other. John Mills recounted how enjoyable it was making this movie because it was like one long holiday. And note that although the film's story takes place in the Caribbean, in fact, the movie itself was filmed along the southern coast of Spain. In addition, it was released in the UK as 'The Pirates of Spring Cove' and is available on video from England under that title (unfortunately, England uses the PAL video format, thus you have to have a video player that can play that format to view it). I agree that Universal Home Video has foolishly let this movie slip through the cracks, but sometimes movies have copyright problems, so it's possible that Universal would like to release this film but some rights issue is snagging things. Certainly this is not a lost masterpiece worthy of mass petitions or Congressional action, but I think it should be brought to Universal's attention that there ARE buyers out there waiting for a chance to own this little gem.

Hi, I'm wondering why this film was never released on vhs video? This is, by far, one of Hayley Mill's best films ever. The story is great with humor, romance, adventure, and suspense! If it ever comes on television, be sure not to miss this over-looked classic!