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The Rain People (1969) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
6.9/10   877 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Down 13% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Writer:

Francis Ford Coppola (writer)

Contact:

View company contact information for The Rain People on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

27 August 1969 (USA) more

Genre:

Drama more

Plot:

Having discovered that she is pregnant, Natalie Ravenna (Shirley Knight), a Long Island housewife panics... more | add synopsis

Awards:

1 win more

NewsDesk:
(4 articles)

Warner Archive: 'Don't Be Afraid of the Dark'
 (From Rope Of Silicon. 31 August 2009, 2:58 AM, PDT)

HuffPost Review: Coppola's Tetro
 (From Huffington Post. 10 June 2009, 1:09 PM, PDT)

User Comments:

Uneven film, although the performances shine more (10 total)


Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

James Caan ... Jimmy Kilgannon (Killer)
Shirley Knight ... Natalie Ravenna

Robert Duvall ... Gordon
Marya Zimmet ... Rosalie

Tom Aldredge ... Mr. Alfred
Laura Crews ... Ellen (as Laurie Crews)
Andrew Duncan ... Artie
Margaret Fairchild ... Marion
Sally Gracie ... Beth
Alan Manson ... Lou
Robert Modica ... Vinny Ravenna
more
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Additional Details

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | UK:AA (original rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Australia:M


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

Shirley Knight, who plays a pregnant woman in the film, was actually pregnant during the making of this movie. more

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Artifact from the Future: The Making of 'THX 1138' (2004) (V) more


FAQ

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful.
Uneven film, although the performances shine, 23 September 2009
4/10
Author: sdave7596 from United States

Just caught "The Rain People" on Turner Classic Movies late one night. The film was released in 1969. Shirley Knight stars as Natalie, a Long Island housewife who -- exact reasons unknown -- leaves her husband and embarks on a road trip, not knowing exactly where she is going. Natalie is also newly pregnant, which complicates things. Along the way, she picks up a brain-damaged ex-football player "Jimmy" (James Caan), who has been kicked out of his college and is hitchhiking. There are many twists and turns along the way between these two, as Natalie struggles to take care of Jimmy and she begins to realize he is mentally limited and cannot take care of himself. She is going through her own struggles, needless to say, and in no position to care for him. Natalie appears to be a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown at times; she makes some odd phone calls to her husband, who begs her to come home. Natalie tries to dump Jimmy several times, only to have him re-enter her life through circumstances. A young Robert Duvall plays a strange and troubled cop who befriends Natalie. You get the sense all along that this film is going to end badly, and it does. This film is certainly uneven at times, and the script is somewhat lacking. Francis Ford Coppola directed this, and of course he would soon become immensely famous in the next few years for directing "The Godfather." The actors are good ones, needless to say, as they all would have futures ahead of them in film. Shirley Knight is the least known of the three, although she is also underrated as an actor. James Caan is especially effective here and he seems to just inhabit this character. This film remains little more than a curiosity now, no doubt because it is an early movie of Coppola's, and I confess I had never heard of it. So God bless Turner Classic Movies for bringing it to a new audience.

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