Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring

A TV movie with excellent acting and a still timely message. Although the clothes and attitudes are dated the basic dilemma of misunderstanding between the generations is as true today as it was when this is made. Sally is strong in the lead, she was working hard at this time to leave Gidget and the Flying Nun behind which would take a few more years when Sybil moved her to the next level of respect, and captures the difficult transition period between teen rebellion and adult responsibility. Eleanor Parker and Jackie Cooper give good performances even though their characters are drawn in one dimensional tones. Not a great movie but a good one from when network TV tried to tackle controversial topics. Added bonus the soundtrack is by Linda Ronstadt, a rare occurrence.

The ABC Movie of the Week was still pretty new in 1970 (I think they started in 1969?) and this was not typical for them as it was not a mystery or supernatural thriller. I too saw this as a child and it left an impression on me as it did for the other posters on here. What none of the other posters mentioned however was that one of the things that gave this movie a special touch of reality was that it was filmed on location is a real suburban home! This made some scenes claustrophobic yet intimate as well. (Many of the TV movies were shot on sterile studio sets). So yeah, I guess the house becomes one of the characters in the movie too. I think with a bigger budget and possibly more "adult" themes or nudity or course language ; this would have made a nice theatrical feature. If you like "Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring" you should check out another movie called "The People Next Door" made the same year. Similar plot yet more gritty and down-beat--it was an "R" rated feature film. As stated above; what a shame that this did not win an Emmy Award that year.

Sally Field as an older teen named Denise who has run away from her upper-middle class home to be with her hippie boyfriend. This no-holds-barred television movie begins with "Dennie" returning home in the middle of the night: she walks up her block, enters her house while her family is asleep, and climbs into her old childhood bed. Why did she leave in the first place? Her parents and younger sister (drawn as neurotics oblivious to their own family dynamic) are a society-party dream but dysfunctional after the guests have gone home. Despite an odd sequence midway through that has Field running down the street drawing ribbons in the air (she's free!), this is a fairly realistic portrait of life in '70s suburbia. The nature of the relationships is interesting, and the uncompromising ending thoughtful. One of the first films (TV-made or otherwise) to rip the lid off suburban/station-wagon living and its false sense of comfort and security. Field, though overwrought on occasion, is very good, and the well-realized piece has been sharply photographed (by crack cinematographer Russell Metty) and edited. Linda Ronstadt performs two songs on the soundtrack, the title track and "Different Day". *** from ****

Wow, I thought I was the only who one was affected by this movie and had some of its scenes stay in my head for 35 years as well. I am referring to Sally Field eating garbage, cutting her hair, the doll house.. those parts must have disturbed me a child and made me remember this for life. I happened upon this on a 6 disc movie compilation, the only other movie I know on it is John Travolta's Boy in the Plastic Bubble. Just seeing this movie again is so amazing since I have had scenes from this movie in my head since I was a kid. This movie is a product of its times and Sally Field is always a pleasure to watch. It's funny how she made two movies, the other Sybil that seem to have disturbed me so much when I was a child. Glad I read these reviews!

I remember watching this made for TV movies back in the early 70's when I was about 11 years old. See, at that time I was too young to be a hippie but was old enough to think hippies were "cool", I liked the hair, clothes, etc. Watching this strange little movie made me rethink that position. Sally Field plays "Dennie", a young woman who has run away from home due to the wildly dysfunctional family she has. Eleanor Parker and Jackie Cooper play her screwed up parents who live in a nice house and drink too much. She has a younger sister who wants to be just like Dennie and to escape the weird family dynamics she too starts doing drugs. The movie is hard to watch at times, there are weird "flashback" scenes of when Dennie and her boyfriend, numbly played by David Carradine,out on the road, doing drugs, making love, protesting the war and eating food left on a table at a drive-in (believe it or not, that scene stuck in my mind for years, yuck-eating some strangers left over garbage!!!!!)The film maker tried too hard to be hip and cool with unusual lighting and a weird scene of Dennie writing "Happy" in the air (that scene is truly surreal and has to be seen to be believed), but the message is overall a good one, that drugs and unhappiness just don't happen to people living in the hood, but also to middle class white people.