Miracle in the Rain
Need a good cry? A real fistful-of-Kleenex, cathartic, "Oh (sob) my (sob) God (sob)" weeping jag? The deft and lovelyMiracle in the Rainis exactly what the love doc ordered. The 1956 classic stars Jane Wyman as Ruth, that long-lost movie heroine type: a working-girl spinster caring for her ailing mother, toiling at her mundane job and feeling life's passing her by. Well, life has a little surprise up its sleeve, in the form of a random meeting on the streets of New York, with a soldier named Arthur (Van Johnson), who's on temporary leave during World War II. The streets are dingy and the rain is pounding, but the mood is changed; two lost souls connect. What follows is a believable, heart-wrenching tale with a great script (courtesy of Ben Hecht), and terrific performances by the two leads and a brassy Eileen Heckart as Ruth's best pal (and chaperone on the couple's first date!). The film presages the later weepySomewhere in Time, with its echoes of fate, chance, and even the role of a tiny coin. Fans of romance of all eras, who believe what Arthur says--"Love never dies"--should wrap themselves in the cocoon ofMiracle in the Rain--and never stop believing in miracles.--A.T. Hurley