The Yearling (1947) Review

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(More customer reviews)This wonderful film is one of a handful that has the power to call me back to my childhood days and wrap me in warm memories of my Mom, Dad and little brother sitting around the television on Saturday night, watching the late show.
From the opening scenes of this beautifully photographed movie I found myself caught-up in the intriguing post Civil War story of a boy and his pet faun and their fantastic adventures on a scruffy Florida Everglades farm. The film stars Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman and Claude Jarman in the lead roles, with some of Hollywood's best character actors in the colorful supporting roles.
Peck gives an Oscar caliber performance as the warmhearted father who tries his best to make a better life for his family, with absolutely no help from the elements, which surround them. Jane Wyman plays his wife Orry, the hardened mother and wife who is so embittered by past tragedies in her life that she refuses to show any love for her one remaining child for fear of losing him too. And Claude Jarman plays Jodie the wistful young son who is just one summer away from adolescence and all the hardships that come with growing up.
This story is chock-full of excitement and adventure sure to please the kids, and each of those adventures is also a great lesson on life that will stay with them for years to come. Just watching Jodie romp with his pet faun for that one fleeting summer is a joyous site to behold and the touching scenes where Orry finally begins letting herself love her son will bring tears to your eyes. And of course the heart-rending scenes of Jodie trying his best to get the yearling to run away so he won't have destroy it, all come together to make this movie one of the most emotional experiences of my childhood and I must say I believe I'm a better person for the values I learned from this timeless story.
Experience this film with your children, you won't be sorry you did.

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Life abounds in the 1870s Florida scrubland that's home to young Jody Baxter. There are bears to hunt, cash crops to plant, evenings of storytelling with Pa and Ma... and there are timeless lessons of love and letting go that Jody learns from Flag, the orphaned pet fawn that follows him around with devotion.

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Miracle in the Rain (1956) Review

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(More customer reviews)"I love you as if I'd always known you. I'll be back as if I'd never left you." -- Van JohnsonJane Wyman is wonderful as a lonely woman brought to life by the unexpected attention of soldier Van Johnson in this tender soaper. Though it doesn't have quite the charm of "The Clock" with Garland and Walker, there is something very real and ultimately moving about this bittersweet story of falliing in love during wartime.
Ruthie (Wyman) lives in New York where she takes care of her heartbroken mother, still shell-shocked years after Ruthie's father called one night to say he was leaving. It has not allowed the sweet Ruthie much of a life outside her job and mother. When she meets a soldier in an elevator named Art (Val Johnson), his warm and friendly manner is just the right medicine for Ruthie, who's never really been noticed.
Johnson really shines in a role tailor-made for his boyish charm. He is lonely too, and masks his need with constant chatter so that Ruthie can't tell him to go away. Art sort of invites himself to dinner and over the next two days they paint a picture of love's transforming magic, which does not always take huge amounts of time. It is a picture painted on a canvas of fresh grass in Central Park, boat races, and a city made for falling in love.
When Art's 153rd is slated to pull out, however, their happiness is interrupted. It is the small touches, such as Ruthie's pride in a story Art gets publised in the paper, and a truck full of soldiers yelling goodbye to Ruthie when Art leaves that make this film rise above its soap opera origins. Ben Hecht's script, based on his own story, doesn't hurt either. A lovely and subtle score by Franz Waxman adds just the right mood to this special film.
Writing Art every day until he can write her back, a letter finally arrives for a lonely Ruthie, waiting for the voice and words which will make her heart live again. To reveal more would be unforgivable to anyone with a romantic heart who hasn't seen this yet. I can only say that a scene in the rain is a poignant moment never forgotten by those who have seen it, either recently or years ago.
A great cast gives Johnson and Wyman the room they need for two lost souls to find each other. Those with a romantic heart will find much to enjoy with this film, finally available on DVD.

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MIRACLE IN THE RAIN - DVD Movie

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