Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring

I was a senior in high school when I saw this and I loved it. I wrote a term paper comparing/contrasting this to "Pilgrim's Progress" (which we had just studied in my English class) and got an "A" from my "hippie" teacher then. I longed to join the "hippie trail" then but didn't because I felt responsible for my younger siblings stuck in an abusive situation with my alcoholic dad. We only had each other. I used to read bus schedules with the dream of leaving.

Everyone is great in this movie. Sally Fields shows growth as an actress from her "Gidget" and "Flying Nun" days. Plus, it really portrays the frustration her parents feel and the difficulties the whole family had in relating to each other.

The ABC Movie of the Week was still pretty new in 1970 (I think they started in 1969?) and this was not typical for them as it was not a mystery or supernatural thriller. I too saw this as a child and it left an impression on me as it did for the other posters on here. What none of the other posters mentioned however was that one of the things that gave this movie a special touch of reality was that it was filmed on location is a real suburban home! This made some scenes claustrophobic yet intimate as well. (Many of the TV movies were shot on sterile studio sets). So yeah, I guess the house becomes one of the characters in the movie too. I think with a bigger budget and possibly more "adult" themes or nudity or course language ; this would have made a nice theatrical feature. If you like "Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring" you should check out another movie called "The People Next Door" made the same year. Similar plot yet more gritty and down-beat--it was an "R" rated feature film. As stated above; what a shame that this did not win an Emmy Award that year.

I was six years old when I saw this on TV. I know that for a fact because I was in the first grade and Mom and Dad let me stay up to watch a movie on our new color TV, which had cost Dad a small fortune. First, I remember the hitch-hiking scene because it was common in those days to see kids hitch-hiking everywhere, and my parents would constantly tell me to never do that (and I never did); I also remember the theme song, although I didn't know who sang it. The rest of the movie today is fairly predictable once one understands what it is about, and our familiarity with the young Ms. Field was also a curiosity factor with my parents and a good reason to watch this movie. The incredible thing is that I have not seen this movie since! Honestly, I have never come across it anywhere and I had to jog my memory by reading the reviews but it has all come back to me, and had obviously stayed with me. This should be proof that, as young as I was, it made an important impression on me and had influenced my subsequent closer relationship with Mom and Dad, which is still the case today...thus making this film truly unforgettable. I hope to see it on DVD somewhere and will gladly purchase it. To me it's just another glimpse into the amazing talents of the still-adorable Sally Field. And little did I know that a mere couple of years later I would be taking martial arts lessons, due to the influence of Kwai Chang Caine (David Carradine)...another passion for the rest of my life.

A TV movie with excellent acting and a still timely message. Although the clothes and attitudes are dated the basic dilemma of misunderstanding between the generations is as true today as it was when this is made. Sally is strong in the lead, she was working hard at this time to leave Gidget and the Flying Nun behind which would take a few more years when Sybil moved her to the next level of respect, and captures the difficult transition period between teen rebellion and adult responsibility. Eleanor Parker and Jackie Cooper give good performances even though their characters are drawn in one dimensional tones. Not a great movie but a good one from when network TV tried to tackle controversial topics. Added bonus the soundtrack is by Linda Ronstadt, a rare occurrence.

I remember watching this made for TV movies back in the early 70's when I was about 11 years old. See, at that time I was too young to be a hippie but was old enough to think hippies were "cool", I liked the hair, clothes, etc. Watching this strange little movie made me rethink that position. Sally Field plays "Dennie", a young woman who has run away from home due to the wildly dysfunctional family she has. Eleanor Parker and Jackie Cooper play her screwed up parents who live in a nice house and drink too much. She has a younger sister who wants to be just like Dennie and to escape the weird family dynamics she too starts doing drugs. The movie is hard to watch at times, there are weird "flashback" scenes of when Dennie and her boyfriend, numbly played by David Carradine,out on the road, doing drugs, making love, protesting the war and eating food left on a table at a drive-in (believe it or not, that scene stuck in my mind for years, yuck-eating some strangers left over garbage!!!!!)The film maker tried too hard to be hip and cool with unusual lighting and a weird scene of Dennie writing "Happy" in the air (that scene is truly surreal and has to be seen to be believed), but the message is overall a good one, that drugs and unhappiness just don't happen to people living in the hood, but also to middle class white people.