Miracle in the Rain
Directed by Rudolph Maté
Written by Ben Hecht from a novel by Hecht
1956/USA
Warner Bros.
First viewing/Netflix Rental
Ruth Wood: How can there be a God when things like this happen, people getting killed?
The plot of this romantic drama sounds very corny. I cried and loved it. Jane Wyman is perfect in her part.
The setting is 1942 New York City. Ruth Wood (Wyman) is a shy office worker. She spends most of her free time caring for her mother who became an invalid after Ruth’s father abruptly left her for another woman. What little fun she has is with her co-worker Grace Ullmann (Eileen Heckart). One day, she is walking to the bus and gets caught in the rain. PFC Art Hugenon (Van Johnson) takes the opportunity to chat her up. The relentlessly cheerful Art talks non-stop. But that only makes him a perfect match for Ruth.
Art more or less talks himself into having dinner with Ruth and her mother. He takes Ruth and Grace to the movies the next night. After dinner, he takes them to a fancy French restaurant. The piano player there just happens to be Ruth’s father who hasn’t seen Ruth since the day he left her mother. He flees before she can know he is there.
The courtship proceeds and in short order the couple is in love. But the romance is short-lived because Art is shipped overseas. I’ll stop here.
I didn’t know anything about this film before I watched it and had fairly low expectations. It looked like a real melodrama and in some ways it is. The screenplay is so strong though and the acting is so good that it was a total joy. Despite the plot framework the people and details seemed very real. Jane Wyman plays Ruth with a simplicity that is really winning. The large cast of supporting characters is very strong and Eileen Heckart earned her crown as my favorite actress of 1956. Recommended if the genre appeals in the least.
Trailer
My memories of MIRACLE IN THE RAIN are both faint and strong. I can hear Van Johnson chattering away and feel Jane Wyman’s quiet, hopeful reserve. The big bonus — Eileen Heckart. Ben Hecht proved, once again, how talented and versatile he was. It has gone on the “must-revisit-soon” list.
This movie will be a bright spot amid some dreck I’m approaching in the very near future.
1956 seems like a strangely weak year. Thoughts?
Well, I’ve got 15 films rated 9/10 or better for my favorites list so far. The majority of those are foreign – though I’m thinking that an American film will end up in first place. It’s just that I have … And God Created Woman and The Ten Commandments coming up next and I’m not looking forward to either of them. After that, it’s a mixed bag with at least a couple of winners near the end. The random method has worked out OK. I’ll be done within a couple of weeks and will have watched over a hundred films for the year probably. I never could have lasted so long if I had watched in descending order.
Very interesting. The ebb and flow of Hollywood as it struggles against new enemies — television and post-war foreign film. And least we forget, Commies.
1957 is one of the really great years and it is just around the corner!