La pluie de printemps

A Walk In The Spring Rain has Fritz Weaver and Ingrid Bergman as a college professor of political science going on sabbatical in the Great Smokey Mountains of Eastern Tennessee. Him for peace and quiet for a year so he can publish rather than perish, she for a little time away from being a mom, grandmother, and babysitter not necessarily in that order.

They take a cottage and the local handyman is Anthony Quinn doing a Smokey Mountain version of Zorba the Greek. He's married to psalm singing Virginia Gregg and she's no fun. Quinn has a son in Tom Holland who like his dad takes his action where he finds it.

The educated Bergman intrigues Quinn and he gives all kinds of hints as to his availability. But this one is doomed for all kinds of reasons.

I'm all for romantic stories with older protagonists and Quinn and Bergman fit the bill. The stars get good support from the rest of the cast. This is Bergman and Quinn's second film together and they acquit themselves well.

Still it won't be listed among the best for either.

How easy it is for the children to take their parents for granted? The key moment in the film is when the mother character(Ingrid Bergman) asks her daughter, if she has ever thought about her mother as a person. This is in response to her daughter's request that she leave her Smokey Mountains paradise(and new found love), so that she can take care of her grandchild while her daughter can be free to pursue her own law career. At the same time Anthony Quinn- Bergman's lover, is presented with a similar situation with his brutish son, who eyes the blossoming relationship with growing hostility. This is probably the main theme in this wonderfully shot and pleasantly paced drama. By todays standards the ending may be a little sad, but its far more realistic.

After Ingrid Bergman finally won a highly coveted Hot Toasty Rag award for her work in The Visit, she teamed up with Anthony Quinn again and earned another nomination for A Walk in the Spring Rain. They had such wonderful, intense energy together, and in this romance they both had the opportunity to play against type. Ingrid's character was a housewife who'd spent her life giving all of herself to other people. Tony played someone quiet, tender, and sweet.

Ingrid's husband, Fritz Weaver, is a professor, and for his sabbatical, they've decided to rent a cabin in the country so he can have the peace and quiet to write a book. Fritz is intelligent, opinionated, highbrow, and rather cold. Ingrid comes to life in her new country surroundings, and as she learns to love gardening, walking in nature, and caring for animals, she also develops a friendship with the cottage caretaker: Anthony Quinn. Tony is simple, earthy, and although he has passion, he isn't demonstrative. Both he and Ingrid are married, but they can't deny the deep feelings that continue to grow.

I know you're already out searching for a copy of A Walk in the Spring Rain, but there's a warning that comes with my recommendation. This is a drama. Yes, you'll see Ingrid looking cuter than she's ever looked, frolicking with baby deer and sheep, and Tony picks flowers for her; but something happens in this movie that's very upsetting. I won't tell you what it is or when it happens, but there is a "too good to be true" aura that surrounds the story. And when something seems too perfect. . . Well, just don't go into this movie thinking it's another Indiscreet. I loved the movie, and as a member of the Hot Toasty Rag board, I cast my vote for Ingrid, but I'm not sure I'd be able to sit through it again.

Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to adult content, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

Libby Meredith (Ingrid Bergman) is the dutiful wife of college professor Roger Meredith. They are traditional and do not approve of their daughter's personal pursuit away from her family obligations. Roger is on sabbatical writing a book. The couple leaves New York City for the country where Libby finds flirtatious neighbor Will Cade (Anthony Quinn).

There is a promise of an epic romance. It has the great pairing of Bergman and Quinn. It should be incredible. Libby as a conservative matriarch is set up to join the sexual revolution. I like the conflict between mother and daughter. I don't buy Anthony Quinn as an American, let alone a southerner. This should be a battle for Libby's heart and mind by the two men. There is a sudden twist that short-circuits the confrontation. In short, I don't like the twist which comes out of nowhere. Otherwise, the two leads and the premise provide interesting viewing.

Admirers of classic films will no doubt enjoy seeing Anthony Quinn reunited with Ingrid Bergman, his co-star from 1964's "The Visit"; they're an interesting screen match, but here, in 1970, with handyman Quinn talking in a southern drawl and matronly Bergman playing a professor's wife living on a farm in Tennessee, one cannot help but feel a sense of central dislocation. Bergman's husband (American actor Fritz Weaver) takes a year off from teaching to write a textbook, but instead stares at his typewriter, pipe firmly stuck between his teeth (his wife isn't frigid, but he is). It's no wonder then that Bergman enjoys Quinn's advances, but since they're both married--and have problems with their selfish children besides--it's hardly a December-age romance. Dreary melodrama, adapted from the book by Rachel Maddux, with clumsy exposition and even clumsier attempts to modernize an old formula. Charles Lang's cinematography is a visually jarring mix of location shots, back projection and ugly sets, while miscast Quinn is overly-friendly and solicitous (he makes the audience as uncomfortable as Ingrid's chilly spouse). While it's good to see the two stars together again, this Smoky Mountains scenario is a drag: colorlessly staged, poorly-conceived, predictable and depressing. ** from ****