Slowly paced, bleakly photographed, virtually plot-less, the 100-minutes is not everyone's cup of tea. There are compensations, however. That lonely clapboard house forlorn on the dreary prairie is a perfect metaphor for Henry (McQueen) and Georgette's relationship. He's all pent-up rage at his brutal upbringing, while she's clinging to hope and their little girl (Block). Together, their silences speak louder than words, the distance just too great. All this plays out in elliptical fashion that requires some patience, and I'm not surprised the movie was a flop, given what McQueen fans likely expected. There are moments of frantic action, as when Henry attacks his guardian's grave for the wrongs done him, especially now that she's left him nothing from her meagre assets. But the prevailing pace is contemplative, to say the least.I'm not sure McQueen was the best choice for the tormented Henry. The actor, of course, excelled in action pictures, nuance not exactly being his forte. Yet Henry's real tragedy calls for a sensitive range that's largely missing from his scenes with Georgette. We get the distance, but not the struggle, and without the inner struggle the tragedy is diminished. Certainly, no one can be accused of overplaying, especially Don Murray whose sheriff comes across as something of a well-meaning cypher. Somehow the movie reminds me of an episode typical of the old TV series Route 66 (1960-64). The bleak location photography, the downbeat dramatics, the forlorn characters, all typify that ground-breaking series. I wonder if there was some cross-over given the time period.Anyway, action fans should skip this McQueen feature. For others, patience with the slow- developing human interest should provide compensation.( In passing-- thanks to the reviewer who confirmed my glimpse—Henry does plant the hopeful cherry tree with the roots still in a tin can bottom. Is that act of sabotage intentional or just his usual carelessness.)

The movie had all of the components to be a great film: A list actors with McQueen, Remick, and Murray, legendary director and producer, a hit song, and a good screenplay. There were many problems but the glaring one was McQueen producing the worst lip-synching ever seen in a movie. Since McQueen could not sing and apparently had no feel for music it was decided to use Billy Strange to sing the songs and his voice is not a close match to McQueen's speaking voice.More puzzling is why the producers chose to use Strange's version of the title song over Glenn Yarbrough, who had a major hit with the title song, which plays over the credits of the movie.Since the major story line of the movie centered around the singing career of McQueen's character, the producers should have sought out an actor who could sing. The ironic back story of the film is Elvis Presley wanted to play Henry Thomas (McQueen) but he was never a consideration of the film's producers.However, Presley could have handled the music (the title song was in Presley's wheelhouse) and his best movie performances were playing characters like Henry Thomas. Despite McQueen's stature at that time, he was miscast in the film.Remick and Murray are the high points of the movie while a lot of McQueen's scenes were badly done. On top of the obvious lip-synching, the bar band scenes look awkward and unconvincing. Another problem area is the unrealistic fight scenes.A bright spot of the movie is capturing the bareness and weariness of rural Texas. Filming on location was a smart decision because it helped sell the futile feeling that Thomas felt while trying to escape his hopeless situation.It is an interesting film despite its flaws and has more strong points than weak points.

In 1962, producer Alan J. Pakula, director Robert Mulligan, composer Elmer Bernstein and screenwriter Horton Foote combined their considerable talents to create a film that has been a favorite of generations ever since: "To Kill a Mockingbird." Three years later, this quartet joined forces again to make another picture set in the Deep South, this one based on Foote's play "The Traveling Lady," and the result was 1965's "Baby the Rain Must Fall" (the lack of a comma after "Baby" is annoying). In this one, Lee Remick plays a pretty mother named Georgette Thomas, who travels with her young, shy, cute and fairly odd little girl, Margaret Rose, by bus from Tyler, TX to Columbus, TX, to meet her recently paroled ex-con husband, Henry (played by Steve McQueen, perennially cool even when his character, as here, is a neurotic mess). Henry's one ambition, now that he's on the outside, is to play in a rocking "string band" (called Henry Thomas and his Rockabillies!), write songs and become a big star, but the ancient old crone (one Miss Kate) who had adopted him as a boy, and who still dominates him psychologically by dint of long-ago beatings, insists that he give up his dreams, go to night school and just learn a trade. The advent of Henry's wife and daughter, as it turns out, does little to help him resolve this conflict...."Baby the Rain Must Fall" is a sweet, quiet, small, gentle and slow-moving film; more a slice-of-life character study of four lonely people: the three members of the Thomas clan AND Slim, a good-hearted widower deputy (played by Don Murray) who helps the family out. McQueen is just fine in the lead (he had just appeared two years earlier in another film directed by Mulligan, "Love With the Proper Stranger"), although his singing numbers have been terribly dubbed; still, these performances serve to show quite clearly that Henry DOES have talent and promise. Remick, whose motel scene in 1962's "Days of Wine and Roses" might be the saddest that this viewer has ever witnessed, is excellent, as usual, although the sad scenes in this film are nowhere near as devastating as the one I just referred to in "Days." Kudos also to little Kimberly Block, who gives a memorable performance in this, her only screen role; she is touching and adorable. "Baby" has been well shot in B&W by renowned cinematographer Ernest Laszlo, and although not a heckuva lot transpires during the film, it remains a pleasing glimpse at these four unhappy people. The picture concludes most strangely, however, and for the life of me, I cannot quite figure out what was going through Henry's mind when he despoiled Miss Kate's grave site toward the film's end. Was he trying to dig up her body or merely desecrate her resting place due to anger, frustration and resentment? Or maybe he misses her, now that she is gone? It's really impossible to say; a possible failure of the picture. And is Slim going off with Georgette and Margaret Rose in the last scene to start their own family, or is he merely giving the two gals a ride "to the Valley"? Another imponderable. Despite these ambiguities, however, "Baby the Rain Must Fall" is certainly a worthwhile film. Just don't expect speed....

The desperately hopeful wife (Lee Remick) wants to help establish a home by planting a tree on their lawn. She hooks the husband (Steve McQueen) into the project to help with their bonding, but he really isn't into gestures like that. They dig the hole; then, while she is distracted by a conversation, he drops in the sapling, STILL ROOTED IN THE #10 CAN IN WHICH SHE BROUGHT IT HOME, into the ground and covers it up, getting the chore over with and done.Thie one passage tells us where the story, and their lives, are going. Nothing reverses this omen. The frantic dash after the truck at the ending is also a good working symbol of their destiny.