There was quite a lot to want to see 'The Rains Came'. Beautiful source material, with Louis Bromfield's source material being a great read. Clarence Brown as director, while he was not a consistent director and not all his films were great or even good at his best he was great. The cast is a very talented one, George Brent has always been one of those take or leave actors for me but Tyrone Power did prove more than once that with the right material he could act and Myrna Loy is always watchable.
While not a great film, and one of those films that may be easy to criticise for some, 'The Rains Came' to me was actually not bad at all and has a lot to recommend. Quite the opposite of bad really in my view, it is easy to see why some may not and do not like 'The Rains Came' but it is just as easy to see why others may like and do like it. It is easy perhaps to see why it is overlooked, considering that it was released in such an iconic year in film history.
It is by no means a perfect film. The story is not always involving, with the Brenda Joyce subplot and role being underdeveloped, at times tedious and at times silly and there are scenes that veer on the overwrought.
A lot of the dialogue is very soapy and talk-heavy and could have gone into a lot more depth and had more nuance. Personally found Power miscast, have made it clear many times about having nothing against him but he looks out of place, is rather bland and a few of his later scenes are overacted.
However, Brent to me was just great and gives one of his best performances. Was not expecting him to be this noble or commanding, things he not always was and he is a good deal more relaxed than usual. Loy is class and sensuality personified, nothing melodramatic or sickly sweet here which were things considering the role she could have been. Her chemistry with Power fares a lot better and is the far more interesting of the subplots. Nigel Bruce has a ball as an unusually repellent character, never did he have a character this loathsome and he relishes it. Maria Ouspenskaya has a brave character worth identifying with and she brings scene stealing dignity to it. Most of the cast are very good actually, only Power to me didn't work.
Clarence Brown's direction didn't bowl me over but enough of it is sensitive and forceful. Alfred Newman's score is beautiful and stirring. 'The Rains Came' is a great looking film, with exotic scenery and quite stunning photography at its best. The best thing about the film is the special effects, which are still astonishing today and unlike anything seen in any film at this point in film history. Flood special effects have possibly never been equalled.
Overall, worth the look but didn't quite come together for me. 6/10
