Come Next Spring


Come Next Spring is a 1956 American Trucolor drama film directed by R. G. Springsteen and starring Ann Sheridan, Steve Cochran and Walter Brennan. It was produced and distributed by Republic Pictures. The theme song, "Come Next Spring", with music by Max Steiner and lyrics by Lenny Adelson, was performed by Tony Bennett. It was covered by Scott Walker on his 1968 album Scott 2. Steiner wrote the score for the film, reusing much of his work from Sergeant York.

Plot

Alcoholic Matt Ballot abandoned his wife Bess and mute daughter Annie in Arkansas nine years ago. Now sober, he returns to discover Bess gave birth to a son, Abe, after he left. Bess grudgingly hires him as a handyman. Hytower wants to marry Bess and tries to make Matt jealous and picks a fight with him. Matt endears himself to his kids by defending them from wild pigs and a group of local bullies. He risks Annie's love by admitting that she was in the car when he drunkenly wrecked it. Although she was unhurt, she never spoke again. Annie embraces him. Matt later saves a child and Annie during an approaching tornado.
Bess is upset when Matt has a single drink at a dance to prove he can stop at just one drink. Matt rescues her when, overcome by emotion, she accidentally drives her truck into a river. Annie falls into an old mine shaft, but Matt rescues her. Bess finally admits she is back in love with Matt.

Cast

Steve Cochran formed Robert Alexander Productions after his actual first two names. Come Next Spring was his first film, written by Cochran's friend Montgomery Pittman and featuring Pittman's stepdaughter Sherry Jackson. Filmed in locations around Sacramento, Republic promised Cochran an "A Picture" release but released it as the lower half of a double feature.

Critical reception

Writing in The Village Voice, Farran Smith Nehme noted that "Both give lovely performances; their first reunion, delivered with clean sincerity, is a marvel of things left unsaid," adding that "the movie is sentimental in a way that shouldn’t be taken as a pejorative." A review of the film by Gina Telaroli for Mubi described it as "quite a frank film that deals with some pretty rough stuff, like how devastatingly hard it can be to trust someone who has betrayed you," and having "a great Walter Brennan performance" with a "terrifying cliff-bound scene at the end."