User reviews

I saw this film when I still had a crush on Halley Mills (I was 14,in 1964) So what if I'm a romantic? It was a nice Feel good Movie, set it the Caribbean when even pirates seemed a little less lethal. It was a clean right of passage / Baby leaves the nest film. Cleverly written not overdone, while showing the acting talents of Halley and her father John. When I finaly made my way to the Caribbean where this film was shot ten years later,I found I wasn't alone in my love for this film. Now I which I had this film on DVD.

Small-budget Universal film stars John Mills as the salty skipper of his own ramshackle fishing vessel whose teenage daughter finds romance for the first time with a law-school graduate on vacation; all three coast into trouble when modern-day pirates vie for a treasure map Mills has in his possession. Sub-Disney nonsense is brash and frantic, yet the high adventure we anticipate never quite arrives. Hayley Mills as Spring isn't allowed to act her age--she's too old to still be playing the kissless teenager--however her quieter moments with James MacArthur are sweetly done, and the film is certainly airy and lively, if not especially memorable. ** from ****

During the 1960s, a Caribbean sailor and his likeable daughter search for a buried treasure throughout the perilous Caribbean sea, being full of unsavory pirates. A tolerable agreeable juvenile adventure romp which cast a beautiful teen, Hayley Mills, as a tomboy daughter of a rogue sea drifter performed by her actual daddy John Mills. Along the way Hayley Mills falls for a cute young advocate at law, James MacArthur. Here hurricane Hayley whirling her way through a tropical romantic adventure. Kiss her and she will make your head swim... If she does not knock of you block..Hayley a tomboy.. With delicious curves..

Freely based on a novel titled : Satan , a romance of the Bahamas, written by Henry Vere and enjoyable script by James L Barret . Well paced in Walt Disney style and competently starred by the sympathetic Hayley Mills as the obstinate daughter , John Mills as the roguish old sea dog and James MacArthur who is after romance with Hayley. All stars providing fine interpretations while working holiday in the Spanish sun. The film boasts such English stalwarts as Lionel Jeffries, Harry Andrews, Nial MacGinnis, all of them pretending to be peculiar pirates and have a high old time rolling their eyes. Most actors have all been in Walt Disney movies, including Hayley Mills, John Mills, David Tomlinson. In fact, Hayley Mills and John Mills performed 7 films together : So well remembered, Tiger bay, The parent trap, The chalk garden, The family way, The truth about Spring and a Tv episode of Love Boat. Furthermore, John Mills and James MacArthur starred as daddy and child in Swiss Family Robinson 1960 by Ken Annakin and produced by Walt Disney. In spite of being set in the Caribbean, this picture was actually shot off the coast of Spain, Brava Coast, Girona.

It displays a colorful and sunny cinematography by Edward Scaife, filmed on location in Costa Brava, Mediterranean coast, Spain . And adequate, evocative production design by Gil Parrondo, Oscar winner for Patton and Nicholas and Alexandra. As well as a rousing and thrilling musical score by Robert Farnon. This motion picture, The truth about Spring, was professionally directed by Richard Thorpe. The Hollywood veteran director Thorpe made all kinds of genres such as, Tarzan adventure : Tarzan finds a son, Tarzan escapes, Tarzan secret creature, Tarzan in NY. Musical : Athena, The student prince . Romantic comedy : On an island with you, Thrill of a romance, A date with July, Horizon lieutenant. Elvis Presley Movies :Fun in Acapulco, Jailhouse rock . Western : Vengeance valley. Adventures : Challenge to Lassie, The prodigal, All the brothers were valiant, Ivanhoe, Prisoner of Zenda, Malaya, Knights of the Round Table. Noir and intrigue : Above suspicion, Black hand, The tin man goes home. Rating 6/10. Nice film for the whole family.

Hayley was 18 years old when she filmed The Truth About Spring. They had to cut her hair to make her appear grown up. Hayley plays Spring Tyler. She has spent her entire life on a boat growing up away from civilization. Her real life Father Sir John Mills plys Tommy Tyler her Dad. All is well on the small boat until she meets Ashton. Ashton is the handsome young lawyer who spends a week on the boat with Spring and Tommy. Tom boyish Spring does not understand the new emotions she feels for Ashton. Ashton is played by James McArthur. A delightful movie which should be on DVD and video. Unfortunately it rarely is aired on television anymore. It was last seen on A&E.

This film should be available in DVD format everywhere in this day and age! WIth all the re-copied story lines thrown out on film,ad nauseum these days, this is a very refreshing, family film that can only add greatly to one's library of home entertainment! It has not even been televised in 10 years! Shame on networks and syndicators for thumbing their noses at what viewers want to see! The entire cast is worth seeing in a bad film, but this is an excellent escape from the usual genre of film from this era. The Mills family shines along with another Disney stock player, James MacArthur! Talent, clean story line, a girl growing up before he father's eyes, all make for a great time spent for viewers. Hurry to DVD this one!!

During the first half of the sixties Hayley Mills was perhaps the most successful teenage actress in Hollywood, appearing in a series of family comedies, including "The Truth about Spring". Spring Tyler is an eighteen-year-old girl living with her father Tommy aboard an old sailing boat. Tommy is played by Hayley's real-life father John Mills; this was the third movie the two had made together after "Tiger Bay" and "The Chalk Garden". It is implied that Spring's mother is dead and that she was the "Sarah Tyler" after whom the boat is named. The action officially takes place in the Florida Keys and the Caribbean, but the film was actually shot in Spain. There are two strands to the plot. One concerns two gangs of modern-day pirates who are trying to get hold of an old treasure map which they believe is in Tommy's possession. The other deals with a romance between Spring and William, a young law graduate from a wealthy Philadelphia family.

In some of her early films, such as "Tiger Bay" or "Whistle Down the Wind", Hayley had revealed herself to be one of Britain's most remarkable child actresses, but as an adult her films were generally unremarkable. The transition from child star to adult star, or even to teenage star, is often a difficult one, and in Hayley's case the difficulty was exacerbated by the fact that she did not really look like an adult, or even a teenager.

In 1965, the year when "The Truth about Spring" was made, Hayley would have been nineteen, a year older than her character, but her petite figure and elfin face made her seem several years younger. Things were not made any easier by the way the character of Spring is written. She is supposed to be a tomboy, surprisingly childish and immature for someone who is supposed to be a legal adult. This makes it difficult for us to believe in the romance between her and William. Twenty-something boy- James MacArthur was 27 at the time- loves eighteen-year-old girl is one thing, twenty-something boy loves girl who comes across as about fourteen quite another. (Hayley's youthful appearance was also to prove a handicap in "Sky West and Crooked", a later film in which her character becomes romantically involved with a young man.

The "buried treasure" part of the plot does not generate any real excitement either. This is a film which even its stars found difficult to like: David Tomlinson (who plays William's uncle) called it "truly dreadful" and John Mills later wrote that "if the picture had turned out to be half as good as the food, the wine, the time and the laughs we had on that location it would have been a sensation - unfortunately it wasn't." It is only Hayley's irrepressibly loveable personality, which could shine through even in a weak film, which saves it from a lower mark. 5/10.

I have been looking for this movie for a long time. I told my Daughter about it when she was growing up,but I never caught it when it was on T.V. Now I would like my Grand Daughter to see it because she is now a pre-teen. It is one of those movies that just stays with you. A good clean enjoyable family movie, and I would love to see it again.

Considering how cheap it is to make DVD's-and how much of a market there is out there for family films- why this is not out is truly puzzling. If they did a bare bones without commentary, etc, it probably would not cost more then a few thousand to produce it. Charge 9.99 for each and I bet you would sell 10,000 easy right off the bat, and a steady sale for years after. There are a lot of grandfathers and grandmothers out there that remember Hayley Mills, and would love to give something like this to their grandchildren. She was just growing up in this film, and fit it just right. James McCarthur fit right in; and what can one say about John Mills that has not already been said. The collection of English character actors also enrich this film- a separate delight all their own. The innocence and fun that this film displays so beautifully is not something you will ever see again. To say no one makes 'em like this anymore is a gross understatement.

I would happily pay $20.00 US for this movie.

I fondly recall watching "The Truth About Spring". Sir John Mills and Hayley are two of my favorites. This movie is entertaining and the scenery is spectacular. When I watched it the first time I was but 12 years old, and I can still recall scenes from the movie. I watched the movie again when I was a young man with my daughter, we both enjoyed a cold rainy afternoon in Michigan, able to escape in a wonderful movie. I only hope that I can watch "The Truth About Spring" again with my four Granddaughters. The movie successfully paired Hayley Mills with James Mac Arthur in a delicate developing young romance that, in the beginning, James Mac Arthur is really quite unsure of. Add to this mix, the seasoned common sense of John Mills, and the cast just take off with the plot from there on. I do recommend this movie to any age audience.

We have watched this movie several times and it still is a fun movie to watch any Hayley Mills or James McAuthur fan will love it and John Mills really plays his part to the hilt. It really deserves to be on DVD....

I, like most others in this forum, happen to love this little movie. There's something about its good-naturedness that is captivating, and its open-air-and-sea setting that gives it a timeless quality. The idea of being a capable young woman who travels around the Caribbean on a boat with a genial parent, leading an unstructured life with plenty of little adventures, must be quite attractive to young female viewers. And then there is Hayley Mills, the effortlessly charming English actress who forever inspires crushes. And why? Perhaps because she's pretty but not too pretty, English but not too English, quite lively but not brassy, and quite natural without the child actor show-offiness or affectations. Truly the girl you want to have next door. For fans of Hayley (note "HAYLEY": for some reason many in this forum can't spell her name correctly) this film has an air of poignancy about it because this is the last of her teen parts. After this she moved on to young adult parts ('That Darn Cat,' her next film, dolled her up and gave her a boyfriend right from the start --- and it was also her last Disney film). Here she'd just turned eighteen and co-star James MacArthur (son of Helen Hayes and famed screen & stage writer Charles MacArthur) was about 27. There had been a contest held by Hayley fans at the time as to who should co-star with her in this film and MacArthur (a Disney alumni) was given the top vote. He was married at the time so no off-screen romance developed. But they are cute together. In my opinion the scene where a trapped Hayley is teased with a rope that MacArthur drops down to her is a small showcase of Hayley's natural and economic comic timing: a kind of ability that Disney could never find again. And one of the pluses of this film is that it is NOT a Disney production, meaning that it has more of a laconic, low-key English flavor to it. It certainly could be mistaken for Disney, and might have made a bigger splash at the box office (it was a dud) and be easily available today on DVD or VHS if it had been, but as a trade-off, it has an easygoing charm without the Disney tendency to offer explosive, slapsticky finishes, or cartoony musical flourishes (e.g. 'In Search of the Castaways' or 'That Darn Cat'). There's also the pleasure of watching outstanding English character actors like Lionel Jeffries and Harry Andrews clearly enjoying themselves. And there's the obvious pleasure of watching the real father-daughter team of John and Hayley playing off each other. John Mills recounted how enjoyable it was making this movie because it was like one long holiday. And note that although the film's story takes place in the Caribbean, in fact, the movie itself was filmed along the southern coast of Spain. In addition, it was released in the UK as 'The Pirates of Spring Cove' and is available on video from England under that title (unfortunately, England uses the PAL video format, thus you have to have a video player that can play that format to view it). I agree that Universal Home Video has foolishly let this movie slip through the cracks, but sometimes movies have copyright problems, so it's possible that Universal would like to release this film but some rights issue is snagging things. Certainly this is not a lost masterpiece worthy of mass petitions or Congressional action, but I think it should be brought to Universal's attention that there ARE buyers out there waiting for a chance to own this little gem.

The Truth About Spring recounts the adventures of Tommy Tyler, a lazy sailor and his tomboy daughter, Spring, as they meet William Ashton, a young lawyer cruising the Caribbean. They soon join forces and engage in the search of a buried treasure also coveted by menacing pirates. This film, shot off the Costa Brava coast in Spain in the spring of 1964, is an excellent entertainment for the whole family and arguably one of Hayley Mills' best movies. Indeed, the 18 year-old British actress delivers one of her finest performances. Her on screen chemistry with both her father (John Mills) and James MacArthur is delightful. Most of the scenes are funny, witty, sweet and moving. Even our heroes' encounters with the competitive pirates are amusing rather than really violent. It's a shame this little gem of a movie has not been officially released on DVD. Nevertheless, if you happen to find it in any other format, do not hesitate! Enjoy it! And that's the truth about it!

This is really a fun movie. The character interaction is cute. It's a great Haley Mills movie. It has suspense, action, romance, love, and a coming of age, pirates, and tickles your fancy quite well. I've seen a lot oh Haley Mills movies and this one of my favorites. I've been searching for this movie for years, really, and after coming to IMDb I was able to use the information I found here and locate it on DVD. Because I have several friends who were also looking for this movie I purchased more than one copy to give as presents. If any one is interested in purchasing this movie it can be found at VIDEORETRO http://stores.warplowmerchandising.com/StoreFront.bok. Believe me this is a great movie. If you get I hope you like it, I KNOW SEVERAL PEOPLE WHO DO.

I saw this on tv many times while growing up in the 70s. Strange it has never been released on home video of any kind and even stranger it doesn't show up on tv or cable or satellite much these days. The film stars father and daughter John and Haley Mills about a crusty old 'sea captain' with a teen daughter whose plum for leaving the nest. The girl has grown up basically as a Tomboy crew cut and all, plying the sea lanes in and around the Florida Keys and living a sea-going nomads life with her father, but is now physically looking more like a woman. She's rounding out and is about 17 or 18 years old, Mills's true age in 1964. A young man called Ashton(played by James MacArthur) comes into their lives and he is taken with and falls in love with Spring(Haley's character). As all birds do young Spring must leave the nest which means Spring and Tommy(John Mills) have to separate. This is touching as the only life this girl has known has been living on one derelict boat after another in and out of the Florida Keys. After pondering her decisions, Spring decides to accept Ashton's marriage proposal and Tommy gives his blessing as he approves of Ashton.

The movie is well photographed with bright rich easy colors and could almost pass off as any of the Disney movies Haley Mills is best remembered for. Very family friendly even though modern day pirate action is supposed to denote a touch of menace to the picture. Tommy and his cohorts are much too lovable for any 'Yo Ho Ho'. A cast of well-known British character actors add to the fun of this 'pseudo' pirate adventure ie: Harry Andrews, Niall MacGinnis, Lionel Jeffries as Tommy's cronies. This is a fun-for-all tale of a girl coming of age and for me it reminds of the tv show Flipper. It takes place in the same area that Flipper does(Florida Keys vicinity) and was released around the same time Flipper premiered on t.v. in the mid-60s. Yep a good fable about coming of age for the children to sit down and watch.

This is a wonderful movie. It was played frequently during my teenage years and I always watched it. It is one of my favorite movies. Unfortunately, I haven't seen it on TV in years.

There is something for all audiences in this movie. It might not have all the flashy special effects we find today, but is so entertaining. It is funny, romantic, and wholesome. Pirates add some action scenes for those who need to see battles. Also, most of the film takes place outside and the scenery is beautiful.

Haley Mills is so charming and innocent. She is also quite humorous without trying to be. James MacArthur was also very entertaining. He was a gentleman. James portrayed someone so out of his element yet happy to be there.

So many people are waiting for this movie to be released on DVD. Why hasn't Universal made this movie available? Come on Universal ... what gives?

I have the DVD of this movie. I found it on the internet. The case appears to be the original but the DVD is a copy. Full length movie from start to finish with full opening and credits. This is an excellent production and I have been searching for it (just like those who have commented here) for a long time at video stores. Apparently some company actually made a recording of this film. I have it now and it plays very clearly. jpowell923@msn.com

I enjoyed this film at its original release and remembered it as a good film to show my family. I especially like it because her real life father - John Mills - plays her father here too. He was best remembered in Swiss Family Robinson by Disney.

This is a family oriented movie with romance, coming of age, adventure, pirates and comedy all rolled into one. My wife, 2 teenage daughters and my first grade son all enjoy this one as much as I do.

I loved this movie when I saw it as a teenager. I wish they would come out with it on DVD. Haley Mills had the "movie life" I wanted to live and loved every movie she was in. Her father John Mills was a special man and actor who always added to all of his roles, especially his characters. Too bad there aren't more movies like these for all of us to dream about. After all, movies should be entertainment and an escape from the boring, bad parts in life. This was a great movie and the idea of living on a boat going everywhere is such an adventure!!! James MacArthur was at his best too. I miss all these actors and movies like these.

I first saw this movie as a young teen and loved it then. It would be great if mca would release it for distribution/sale in DVD format. It is a rare occasion when you get a film that is entertaining without the violence, nudity and language these days. Hayley and John Mills are great together as father and daughter. This is a great story about a daughter and father realizing that it is time to let go of each other with a little romance thrown in with pirates and the hunt for buried treasure. Appealing to all ages but especially to young teens in my generation. I keep watching the TV guide hoping that it will be programmed so that I can sit down with my grandchildren to watch it again. What about a sequel " The truth about fall"!

I was teenager when I saw that movie. Actually I was always dreaming this movies and I still remember some parts. Now I am 54 and unfortunately nowadays teenagers do not have possibilities to watch this kind of bright pictures. All new pictures are having violence, blood,terror, fear.....and all similar. The children grow anti - social and are trained only for harming the others. I would like to know if I can find the DVD of this picture? I really want to watch it again and want to show all teenagers and ever younger ones. Can anyone inform me about the availability of it's DVD. I will be thanking for those who informs me.

This was my favorite movie when I was growing up. Even now, as a middle-aged mom, every time it's on I try to catch it.

I haven't seen it on the tube or cable in years and my old VHS copy that I managed to tape the last time it was on (in the middle of the week at 2:00 a.m.) is deteriorating. There are some really good lines - the comic relief provided by Cark & Cleary is very well done - Lionel Jeffries was excellent. But on the cable showings, they put in so many commercials that some of the most memorable lines / clips are ruined by the crappy editing. Last time I saw it, there were 7 minutes of commercials and 7 minutes of movie in the two hour slot. Some of my favorite remembered lines were missing.

I've got a bunch of James McArthur's and Hayley Mills' DVDs - I buy them all - whether they are produced by Disney or someone else - JM was my favorite actor as a teen - what's taking so long to issue this The Truth About Spring? We need more old family movies / classics to be available!

Karen Davie, FL

Hi, I'm wondering why this film was never released on vhs video? This is, by far, one of Hayley Mill's best films ever. The story is great with humor, romance, adventure, and suspense! If it ever comes on television, be sure not to miss this over-looked classic!

This is an excellent movie/ good clean movie that is well suited for the average pre teem and early teen years. young girls will enjoy the comedy and the romance.The acting is good and the story interesting and entertaining/ if you are able to locate this movie i highly recommend it as a gift for young girls