Baby, the Rain Must Fall (1965)

Atmospheric Mulligan production with effective McQueen and Remick.

Aided by crisp black and white cinematography, "Baby the Rain Must Fall" starts with Georgette(Lee Remick) traveling to Columbus, Tx on a Trailways bus with her infant daughter Margaret Rose(Kimberly Block) to join up with her husband Henry(Steve McQueen), a musician recently released from jail. At first, I was afraid she might be exaggerating their relationship, but thankfully that's not the case. It is just that he was not expecting her as she left before his letter could reach her.(Lack of communication is a big theme here.) He dreams of performing in San Antonio, Nashville and Los Angeles, and Georgette agrees to work at a local drive-in to facilitate his career. Those longshot dreams probably have more to do with the reality of him escaping the constant intervention into his life, not without reason in a small town, with a hint of gothic thrown in for good measure that includes a convenient local cemetery which could also stand in for the past. Now instead of Georgette being his anchor, he is her anchor. That central relationship is given full form by the superb chemistry between McQueen(never better) and Remick, as the movie answers the question emphatically as to whether or not Henry is mature enough for such responsibilities in an excellent climactic scene.

Beautiful performances from Steve McQueen and especially Lee Remick highlight this rather sad rambling film of the type Hollywood doesn't make anymore. A small personal drama that explores the lives of regular people just struggling to make a place for themselves in the world. Nothing blows up, it's all about emotions here. Something that you'd find either on the indie circuit on maybe on cable today certainly not in major markets and hardly with stars of this magnitude.