I first saw this picture when it was released and was so impressed I had to go back several times. I thought that it was a biography played as an autobiography. McQueen seemed to be playing his actual life on the screen. His formative years without a fathers guidance, his detention in a youth reformatory, a hit-or-miss education, and a spotty work record, all of this is covered in one form or another during the film. Steve is a great actor and an actors job is to convince the audience but here the viewer can almost see Steve's thoughts as he says his lines; you can hear the phrases '...this is my life, I've been through this all before...' The script shows him as a person who is forever controlled by someone else and indeed at one time he really was. Lee Remick and Don Murray are good, as they usually are, and are the only romantic interest in the entire film. The final scenes can make the viewer say 'god! Steve McQueen can really act!' but was he?

"Baby the Rain Must Fall" is a film about a super-dysfunctional family. The husband is a screw-up who seems to be determined to destroy his life. Although married to a pretty and amazingly long- suffering wife who has put up with him, he doesn't seem to appreciate her in the least. And, time and time again throughout this film he knows what choices to make and yet he chooses the wrong path. Although on parole and recently out of prison, he just seems determined to be sent back...all the while trying to make it big in a tiny town by singing with his rockabilly band.

If you are looking for a fun film, this sure ain't it!! But, if you are looking for good acting and an interesting portrait of a jerk and his young family, it's worth seeing. Well made...just not exactly a pleasant viewing experience.

By the way, if you do see it, in the opening portion where they show Steve McQueen singing the title song, look for a young Glen Campbell on the left. Also, it's pretty obvious by the voice that it ain't McQueen singing...and they should have at least chosen a singer whose voice was closer to his.

Also, the summary on IMDb says that the child is an infant. Nope. She appears to be about 4 years-old...not an infant at all.

This is another one of those good old southern sagas that shows how the old southern decadence and certain tradition was truly falling apart by the mid 20th Century. Writers like Tennessee Williams, William Inge and here Horton Foote developed strong character and family studies about troubled individuals dealing with long-lasting resentments and hidden secrets. Here, Steve McQueen's Henry is coming to terms with being a paroled convict sent up by his only living relative, now a dying old lady who considers him no good. He's married to Lee Remick and has a young daughter and rather than go to night school to find a trade like his old relative wants, he becomes involved in a band, singing and making an effort to be as honest as he can.

The film starts with Remick on a bus heading out to meet her husband after he gets out dealing with an old woman on the bus who has nothing good to say about the prison farm workers. This puts ideas in a little girl's head that remix doesn't want her to have, and when she finally reconciles with her husband, it's obvious that they are doing their best in spite of the odds to make things work. But McQueen is still troubled greatly, dealing with local prejudice and the reputation he has gotten thanks to his past and family gossip.

Strong supporting performances by Don Murray, Estelle Helmsley and Josephine Hutchinson add to the strengths of this drama ably directed by Robert Mulligan of "To Kill a Mockingbird". You want to root for McQueen, but the troubles two faces are deeply embedded into his psyche, and while he's making a grave effort to adapt to a new life, the odds throughout the film seem to be against him. That creates good drama and good material for Remick and McQueen to work off of. However, it is often a bit depressing even though the musical sequences including the often her title song do live in things up. Glen Campbell is among the members of the band he performs with.