Customer Reviews

Miracle in the Rain

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"I love you as if I'd always known you. I'll be back as if I'd never left you." -- Van Johnson


Jane 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.

Wonderful classic tear jerker. The movie is filmed in New York City in the 1940's. Jane Wyman is a spinster who works for a small shoe company. Her life consists of going to work and caring for her insecure mother. Her father left for another woman and the mother never got over it. One rainy day, she meets a soldier, played by Van Johnson. There first date is chaperoned by her best friend, Eileen Hackett. While walking around in the city, they are drawn to an auction. For some strange reason, Jane feels she must buy an old Roman coin. This coin, will be the miracle of the story. After a few dates, they begin to fall in love and he is called off to war. Ladies, make sure you have tissues when watching this movie.

to call this particular film a 'tearjerker' is an extreme understatement. it is not a 'tearjerker' but a 'heartbreaker'. normally i avoid hokey love stories like the plague. this one is different, however. it doesn't gently tug at the heartstrings but pulls them unmercifully. Wyman gives perhaps the greatest performance of her career, possibly rivaling her performance in "Johnny Belinda" (for which she won the coveted oscar). she is such a cutie. you cannot resist falling in love her with.

as for the DVD, the transfer is excellent and the sound adequate, though on some player you may have to adjust the volume higher than normal.

When they say, "they don't make 'em like that anymore", this is what they mean, for all the good and the bad that implies. A sincere, beautifully acted and photographed melodrama in the classical style, "Miracle in the Rain" should please fans of these things. Jane Wyman is wonderful, and her prayer scene in St. Patrick's cathedral, after her lover departs, is a gem. That the film wanders for a while and takes too many side roads is forgivable, considering the impact and mysticism of the final scene, which fans will remember fondly and which I won't spoil here. The print on this DVD is fine, and the image crisp and sharp (though it looks as if they've used the Lucille Ball "Mame" filter on all of Wyman's close-ups). Perhaps it's not all you've heard it to be, but still well worth a look for its unabashed sentiment and stylish presentation. Fans of Wyman's other glossy '50's soap operas should seek this out: it gives the same feeling as "All that Heaven Allows".

I came across the title while cruising the Amazon web site. I had never heard of Miracle in the Rain before, and decided to purchase it based on the many favorable reviews. I just love old 1940's movies, romance especially, and I was not disappointed with the movie. I also sobbed my eyes out!! It is truly an inspiring, beautiful love story.

I just love the weepers. You know, the stuff that Bette Davis and Joan Crawford seemed to have a patent on in the early to mid-40's. I am continually telling my like-minded friends that Hollywood stopped making 3+ hanky movies after 1949. (Not a completely true statement on my part, but def. a heart felt one as I really like the oldies the best).

Well, I somewhat reluctantly settled back with this dvd and a bowl of popcorn on a snowy day in Chicago and the flood gates just opened up. I yanked the box of Kleenex out and cried through at least half the movie. As wonderful as Jane Wyman was in Johnny Belinda, I really think this is as good or possibly even better a movie because of her sensitive performance. Wyman just seems to have this innate ability to act with her expressive face. She doesn't need a lot of dialogue or hysteria. Wow, what a scene stealer! As for the other players, Van Johnson delivers his usual stellar performance as the nice, 'gee whiz' sort of young man that he seemingly had the corner on in all the old MGM movies he was in and Eileen Heckert is great as Wyman's friend. Still this is a Wyman movie, no doubt about it.

As for the quality of the print, it was very good. My only question was why did this movie languish in an underground vault (apparently unviewed for so many years)? I have to assume that the powers-that-be knew they were sitting on a gold mine that was just waiting for the advent of home video.

Anyway, make sure you have a full box of Kleenex before you sit down to watch this one so you won't have to stop it midway into the movie.

I had never heard of this movie before, but as I love World War II dramas and the film's main stars, Jane Wyman and Van Johnson, I decided to watch it. This is a truly beautiful film in every sense of the word. It is so nice to watch films of this calibre that celebrate true and pure love and the belief in the power of miracles. At a time when we have so few examples of these things in today's cinema, and in much of the media at large, it's comforting to curl up with a nice mug of hot cocoa and a box of soft tissues and enjoy a film that brings a good feeling in your heart. We need more of these powerful films that spend more time honoring love and faith, and less time praising violence and hollow versions of romance.

This is my favorite movie of all time--I first saw it on TV as a teenager and have never forgotten it. I can't add anything more to the reviews already posted that outline the plot. Just buy it--you'll want to watch it over and over. It is the saddest happiest weepiest sweetest movie you will ever see. I promise.

Miracle in the Rain is the story of a typical girl from New York. Ruth (Jane Wyman) works in an office and lives with her mother. Her father ran away when she was younger, and her mother desperately hopes for his return. As a result, she warns Ruth away from men, but they prove to be unavoidable. A solider on leave, Art Hugenon, stumbles upon her in the rain one day. He tags along to her home for dinner and spends the next few days taking her to the park, out to dinner, and anywhere else she wants to go. He is called to battle sooner than he had hoped, but leaves an engagement ring with Ruth and a promise of his love for her.

This is not your typical wartime romance; it is much more realistic than a film like The Clock with Judy Garland. However, it retains the classic movie touch that makes it a million times more emotional and memorable than any movie made today. The two stars are wonderful in their parts. Wyman says so much without uttering a word, and Johnson's boyish charms leave no one guessing as to how Ruth could fall so quickly.

There are some wonderful extra features included here like a short about how film is processed and another that visits the set of this movie and interviews its stars. They are sparse, but worthwhile.

I first saw this movie the night of the funeral of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. The story was wonderful and I never forgot it. (I was only 15 at the time). I have tried to find in on VHS or DVD over the last ten years and was very happy to find it on Amazon. It's a wonderful love story and one that can and should be watched by all ages.