A Walk in the Spring Rain

Plot

Libby Meredith and her husband Roger, a 52-year-old law professor, relocate from New York to a small Tennessee backwoods home during a snowy winter. Their neighbor, Will Cade, who is married, is drawn to Libby and proves exceptionally helpful and friendly. While Roger focuses on writing a book, Libby grows fond of rural life and becomes attracted to Will’s down-to-earth nature, leading to a short-lived affair. Her daughter Ellen unexpectedly arrives, asking Libby to return to New York to care for grandson Bucky while Ellen attends Harvard Law School.

Will’s troubled son, having witnessed his father and Libby embracing, assaults her during a walk. Will intervenes, accidentally killing his son in the rescue.

After the funeral, the disillusioned Merediths decide to go back to New York, having grown apart, with Roger’s book unfinished and Ellen needing help. When Libby says goodbye, Will says he will wait for her, but she replies she no longer believes in miracles. The final scene mirrors the first, showing Libby in the same clothes picking up Bucky from school.

Production

Stirling Silliphant, who wrote and produced the film, learned that Ingrid Bergman was interested in Rachel Maddux's 1966 novel, and she signed on. A creative clash between Silliphant and the intended director, Kevin Billington, led to Guy Green taking over; Green said he accepted the job to work with the stars.

The production originally planned for West Virginia, but shifted to the Tennessee side of the Great Smoky Mountains, mainly Cades Cove, with additional filming in Knoxville and Gatlinburg. Rehearsals began in April 1968, and principal photography started in April 1969. Shooting later moved to New York City, where a theft of $250,000 in equipment caused a one-day delay, with replacements flown in from Los Angeles.

Release

The film debuted on April 9, 1970, at Knoxville's Capri 70 theatre during the city's Dogwood Arts Festival. Its opening week earnings of $17,561 set a local record, leading to a wider release across the Southeastern U.S. Despite this, the American Film Institute Catalog described its critical reception as largely negative and its overall performance as a commercial failure. Later that year, the University of Tennessee Press released Fiction Into Film: A Walk in the Spring Rain, a volume containing the original novel, the screenplay, and production commentary by Neil D. Isaacs.