Miracle in the Rain

"Miracle in the Rain" is the sort of movie that would make a stone cry. It's also the sort of movie that's unlikely to see the light of day again: a middle-aged, virgin heroine; a squeaky-clean, hands-off hero who woos with the line, "I'll love you till the cows come home all over the world," then goes off to fight a war with just one chaste kiss; unabashed appeals to sentimentalism and invocations of the most literal, unreconstructed religion...it's a movie that sets out to bring out the handkerchiefs and makes no apologies for it. I can't decide whether it's a movie to lift the spirit (because its final message is one of hope) or whether it's so unrealistic that it's a downer, because today's equivalent of the heroine is likely to say, "Yeah, I really would need a miracle to find a man like that. I might as well pack it in!" If you're the type that can smile at corn instead of sneering at it, see this movie. It's as sweet and tender a confection as Hollywood ever produced.

It's a beautiful movie and yes, it will bring you to tears. She's shy and yet she has a brief miracle of a romance with a wonderful man who opens up the world for her. There are many miracles brought out in the movie. I've enjoyed this movie since I was young. Jane Wyman and Van Johnson are terrific actors and they don't disappoint. This was a "small" movie in Hollywood terms but it leaves a lasting message of hope. One message is that God brings people together in mysterious ways for good purposes. (I'm going to check if this movie is available to buy, it's worth it.) I loved Alan King's small but great role in this movie and all the supporting actors were great, too. By the way, the object she holds when she dies is an old coin that she and he bought at an antique shop and he gives it to her before he deploys to the war. I watched many Wyman films when I was young and they were all good. She wasn't an "A-list" beauty but she was beautiful and never disappointed me. Check out her film list and you're in for a treat if you watch them.

Miracle In The Rain is a good, but very strange film. You first start watching it and you think you're seeing a nice romantic film with a wartime setting. But it takes a very unexpected turn into the supernatural and in the end a miracle of sorts is actually performed. And right on the steps of New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Jane Wyman is a plain jane sort of girl whose life consists of going to work and then getting home to tend to her ailing mother Josephine Hutchinson. Years ago the man of the household, William Gargan, walked out on the family and left Hutchinson the cynical and sickly soul that she is. So when Jane meets soldier Van Johnson during wartime he proves almost too good to be true.

Their love is intense in the short time they have before Johnson ships out. After that the film turns, first tragic and then mystical.

Other members of the cast who aid and abet Johnson and Wyman are people like Fred Clark as Jane's boss at work, a rebound man from way back, Peggie Castle who is Clark's mistress on the job, Alan King and Barbara Nichols a soldier and his new bride who Johnson and Wyman meet in Central Park and making their big screen debuts are Eileen Heckart as Wyman's best friend from work and Arte Johnson who plays an office boy where the girls work. No fool he.

Warner Brothers shot this film in New York which is why Heckart and Johnson who were based in New York got to work in this. It would have been nice if we had some color, but the black and white cinematography was nice. No doubt that Francis Cardinal Spellman himself must have had script approval of the whole project in order to allow scenes inside St. Patrick's to be done.

Though dated somewhat Miracle In The Rain is still a fine piece of entertainment and its message about true love never dying is one for all generations.

It's been a long time since I've watched a movie and shed tears but this movie clinched it! What a beautiful film - it certainly plays with your emotions in such a poignant way. Jane Wyman's brilliant, grief-stricken performance makes your heart simply melt with sorrow and watching Johnson's impeccable performance made me forget that I have never been a Van Johnson fan; credit to him for a splendid, utterly emotive portrayal of the character he played in this film. These two leads and the supporting cast played their roles to perfection and I was so consumed that I failed to remember that they were actually acting.

The storyline of this film had me absorbed from the beginning through to its exquisite ending; it left me covered in goose bumps and literally I felt numb as the chills ran through me! Most significantly though, this film profoundly made me feel how important and precious my loved ones are to me as it helped nudge my dormant realisation that the uncertainty of life always surrounds us....we must not take anyone for granted and we must not take life and "faith" for granted.

As you have noticed I did not relate the plot of this movie as other reviewers have more or less done so. All I can say is that you should do yourself a favour and view this film - this is one film you need to watch at least once in your lifetime (and feel those chills and goose bumps!)....SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL.

Miracle in the Rain has just been screened here in the UK and I am so pleased that I recorded it as I intend to keep it along with my growing collection of classic movies from the forties and fifties and watch it again and again.

The performances of Jane Wyman and Van Johnson were very moving and the ending was magical and moved me to tears!