Baby the Rain Must Fall (1965)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Robert Mulligan

Writers:

Horton Foote (play)
Horton Foote (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 January 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The more he gets into trouble, the more he gets under her skin!

Plot:

Henry Thomas is out on parole in a small Texan town and, in the evenings, he is the lead singer in a band...

Plot Keywords:

Convict | Homecoming | Songwriter | Based On Play

Cast

Steve McQueen	...	Henry Thomas
Lee Remick	...	Georgette Thomas
Don Murray	...	Deputy Sheriff Slim
Paul Fix	...	Judge Ewing
Josephine Hutchinson	...	Mrs. Ewing
Ruth White	...	Miss Clara
Charles Watts	...	Mr. Tillman
Carol Veazie	...	Mrs. Tillman
Estelle Hemsley	...	Catherine, Miss Kate Dawson's Housekeeper
Kimberly Block	...	Margaret Rose Thomas
Zamah Cunningham	...	Mrs. T.V. Smith, Old Lady on Bus
George Dunn	...	Counterman at Restaurant
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Horvath
Wallace Schlemmer	...	Horse Boss Guarding Prisoners
Georgia Simmons	...	Miss Kate
Glen Campbell	...	Band Member (uncredited)
John Daheim	...	Tough Patron (uncredited)
Roy Jenson	...	Tough Patron (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Mulligan

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Horton Foote		play "The Travelling Lady"
Horton Foote		screenplay

Produced by
Alan J. Pakula	....	producer

Original Music by
Elmer Bernstein

Cinematography by
Ernest Laszlo

Film Editing by
Aaron Stell

Art Direction by
Roland Anderson

Camera and Electrical Department
Albert Bettcher	....	first assistant camera

Music Department
Bob Bain	....	musician: guitar (uncredited)

Other crew
Vance Jonson	....	title designer

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1965) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1966) (USA) (TV) (original airing)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (cut) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Sweden:15 | Spain:13

Filming Locations:

Bay City, Texas, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Horton Foote was a native of Wharton, Texas, where portions of this movie were filmed. The Texas premier of "Baby the Rain Must Fall" was held in Wharton on February 4, 1965 at the now-demolished Rio Theatre.

Quotes:

Georgette Thomas: [woken up from Henry's banging] Henry, what's the matter?
Henry Thomas: I dreamt I was back in the pen.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (2001) (V)

Soundtrack:

Baby, The Rain Must Fall

Let it pour.

I find this film quite fascinating because of its setting and style.

The credits on the road and the black and white photography are so striking and evocative of its time that if one in the year 2005 wants to get a real sense of the quiet 'sixties rural/suburban time, this film will do it for you. I find it a companion piece to BUS RILEY'S BACK IN TOWN and even THE STRIPPER all made around the same time, as if a set of films of a similar tone and look all made in the same US town. Where I lived in Australia in 1965 was exactly like all these films but this this one gives me the childhood recollection of hearing the sad adult conversations of neighbors. These 3 films deserve better awareness of lonely and changing 60s life before Vietnam horror and psychedelia took over and perhaps offer the best sense of time travel one could wish for. If you also want a bitter chaser with a wicked laugh, add KISS ME STUPID to the mix.