Baby the Rain Must Fall (1965)

Henry Thomas is out on parole in a small Texan town and, in the evenings, he is the lead singer in a band. He is being pressured by his foster mother to give up his singing and go back to ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Mulligan

Writers:

Horton Foote (screenplay), Horton Foote (play)

Stars:

Steve McQueen, Lee Remick, Don Murray

Cast

Credited 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

Storyline

Henry Thomas is out on parole in a small Texan town and, in the evenings, he is the lead singer in a band. He is being pressured by his foster mother to give up his singing and go back to school. His wife, Georgette, and young daughter unexpectedly come to town to live with him. However Henry's hot temper leads him into knife fights, and jeopardizes his parole.

---

Plot Keywords:

singer | homecoming | mother daughter relationship | planting a tree | death | 

---

Taglines:

Don't call him no damn good .... not in front of her!

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 January 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Lady und der Tramp

Filming Locations:

Bay City, Texas, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Solar Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

---

Goofs

Near the end of the film, right after Slim seats Georgette and Margaret Rose in his car, he closes the door and the camera along with the head of the camera operator can be briefly glimpsed in the rear passenger-side window; then in the next shot, as Slim is backing the car out, the entire crew, as well as their equipment, can be seen reflected on the driver side of his car.

---

Quotes

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

---

Connections

Featured in Viktor Vogel - Commercial Man (2001)

---

Soundtracks

"Baby, The Rain Must Fall"
Music by Elmer Bernstein
Lyric by Ernie Sheldon
Sung by Steve McQueen (dubbed by Billy Strange)

User Reviews

Ungovernable Temper

The team that brought you To Kill A Mockingbird has also given us Baby The Rain Must Fall another southern based drama though the protagonist is hardly as admirable as Atticus Finch. Steve McQueen and Lee Remick star in this film as a married couple trying to make a new start in life after McQueen is released on parole from prison.

McQueen is a musician/singer of sorts and while I doubt he could have a career in big time country music, he doesn't have the talent to make the really big time. You won't see McQueen at the Grand Ole Opry, but he could make a respectable living doing the honky-tonks if it weren't for an ungovernable temper. In the few instances we see it displayed we never do see exactly what sets him off, the film might have been better if we had, we might understand McQueen more.

But the temper is a given and he's on parole. A wife and a daughter who the people of his Texas home town have never met and don't know the existence of, have come to join him. Lee Remick is the patient and loving wife, but she's coming slowly to the realization that this just isn't going to work.

Don Murray plays the local sheriff and a childhood friend who does what he can for McQueen. It's interesting to speculate whether Remick and Murray will get together afterward. Paul Fix has the same kind of part he did in To Kill A Mockingbird as a kindly judge.

If James Dean had lived this would have been a perfect role for him. But McQueen who had a background of foster care, who was a product of the social welfare system raising him, had a lot to draw on for his performance.

Steve McQueen did his own vocals though country singer Glenn Yarborough had a hit from the title song. Better that way then to have a real singer doing it lest the viewer think this guy has the talent to make it big.

Although this is not as good as To Kill A Mockingbird, writer Horton Foote and director Robert Mulligan did a bang up job in Baby The Rain Must Fall.