Very nice family drama with the rural Arkansas 1920s setting believably depicted in a non-stereotypical fashion. The biggest joy for me was seeing two Hollywood veterans, in what turned out to be the final phase of their careers (both died too young) playing completely against type. Ann Sheridan as the wisecracking gal with a tough exterior but a heart of gold livened many great Warner Brothers movies of the '30s and '40s, playing opposite the likes of Bogart, Cagney, and Raft. She was also a hardboiled dame in several noirs. In Come Next Spring she's wonderful as a strong willed farm woman, and I'm guessing she really enjoyed this different kind of role, since she's on record as hating her "Ooomph Girl" studio moniker. Cochrane was never a star, but played his usual cocky tough guy role in a few major movies (Best Years of Our Lives and White Heat) and in many B crime pictures. He produced Come Next Spring, and in Hollywood I guess that's what you needed to do to get a part far outside of your image. What other producer would've cast Steve Cochran as a reformed, small town drunk who wants to get his family back?
If I have a quibble with the movie it's how little anger the Sheridan character shows towards her husband for walking out on her with a 2 year old daughter, leaving her to raise 2 young children alone (the second comes after he's gone) and run the farm.) Well, we're shown that she reads the Bible, so I guess she must've really taken to heart some of its teachings on forgiveness. Though her husband deserted her she never got a divorce, making it simpler in the story for him to move back in and pick up where things left out. In "real life" would she have not likely gotten a divorce so she could get on with her life, even given the slim pickings of eligible suitors around? Well, because this is a family movie, it doesn't deal with the fact that she must've been very lonely all those years, if you get my drift. Nor does she ask him about other women he's been with over the years, no doubt quite a few given Cochrane's looks and charm. (By the way, the IMDB summary next to the title says that he's been away 12 years. I just watched this movie and 9 years is clearly stated. That would make the daughter 11 and the son 9, more realistic ages for then than 14 and 12. No way is Sherry Jackson in this movie playing a 14 year old).
A couple of reviewers indicated they weren't fans of the fight between Cochrane and Sonny Tufts. Just wanted to point out that the official poster for this movie likens it to The Quiet Man, which was Republic Pictures biggest commercial and critical hit ever, and featured the longest and most famous brawl in movie history, between John Wayne and Victor McGlaughlin So the fight in Come Next Spring is clearly meant to bring back memories of that one. It's similarly staged, with many stops and starts, and the two combatants surrounded by cheering, whooping locals, and both getting soaking wet. It's not as well directed as in Quiet Man, but thankfully it doesn't go on nearly as long! As for injecting violence into a family movie, as soon as the fight starts, the upbeat, raucous music cues us that no one is going to get really hurt.
Speaking of the music, in the score by Max Steiner I immediately recognized a recurring motif from his score for Sergeant York 14 years earlier, another movie with a rural southern setting. It was a musical motif that I've always associated with Sergeant York, so every time I heard it I couldn't help but think of the other movie. Well, I guess you can't accuse Steiner of plagiarism when he's stealing from himself.
If I have a quibble with the movie it's how little anger the Sheridan character shows towards her husband for walking out on her with a 2 year old daughter, leaving her to raise 2 young children alone (the second comes after he's gone) and run the farm.) Well, we're shown that she reads the Bible, so I guess she must've really taken to heart some of its teachings on forgiveness. Though her husband deserted her she never got a divorce, making it simpler in the story for him to move back in and pick up where things left out. In "real life" would she have not likely gotten a divorce so she could get on with her life, even given the slim pickings of eligible suitors around? Well, because this is a family movie, it doesn't deal with the fact that she must've been very lonely all those years, if you get my drift. Nor does she ask him about other women he's been with over the years, no doubt quite a few given Cochrane's looks and charm. (By the way, the IMDB summary next to the title says that he's been away 12 years. I just watched this movie and 9 years is clearly stated. That would make the daughter 11 and the son 9, more realistic ages for then than 14 and 12. No way is Sherry Jackson in this movie playing a 14 year old).
A couple of reviewers indicated they weren't fans of the fight between Cochrane and Sonny Tufts. Just wanted to point out that the official poster for this movie likens it to The Quiet Man, which was Republic Pictures biggest commercial and critical hit ever, and featured the longest and most famous brawl in movie history, between John Wayne and Victor McGlaughlin So the fight in Come Next Spring is clearly meant to bring back memories of that one. It's similarly staged, with many stops and starts, and the two combatants surrounded by cheering, whooping locals, and both getting soaking wet. It's not as well directed as in Quiet Man, but thankfully it doesn't go on nearly as long! As for injecting violence into a family movie, as soon as the fight starts, the upbeat, raucous music cues us that no one is going to get really hurt.
Speaking of the music, in the score by Max Steiner I immediately recognized a recurring motif from his score for Sergeant York 14 years earlier, another movie with a rural southern setting. It was a musical motif that I've always associated with Sergeant York, so every time I heard it I couldn't help but think of the other movie. Well, I guess you can't accuse Steiner of plagiarism when he's stealing from himself.