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5.5/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.5/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Spring Is Here remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Honestly, unless you really love the smell of mothballs and old film stock, Spring Is Here might be a tough sit. It’s for the folks who find charm in the awkward transition between silent films and talkies. 🌸
If you want fast pacing or logic, just keep scrolling. If you like seeing people in huge hats singing about their feelings, stay put.
It’s basically a movie about a girl named Betty who can’t decide between a nice guy and a guy who looks like he spends way too much time on his hair. Her dad is team 'Nice Guy,' which of course makes Betty want the other one even more.
The whole thing feels like it was filmed inside a giant, slightly dusty greenhouse. Everything happens in that garden.
Bernice Claire plays Betty, and she has this voice that could probably shatter glass in the next room. It's very much that 'high-society soprano' style that hasn't been popular for about ninety years.
Lawrence Gray is the guy she thinks she wants. He looks like he’s trying very hard to be charming, but mostly he just looks like he’s posing for a suit catalog.
There’s a moment early on where they are standing near a fountain, and you can almost hear the actors waiting for the director to wave a hand. The silence before they speak is just a second too long.
The audio is a bit of a mess, to be fair. It has that crackly, underwater sound that early sound films have, where every time someone moves their feet, it sounds like a landslide.
Ford Sterling plays the dad, and he is loud. Like, he’s still acting for the back row of a silent movie theater even though there's a microphone right there.
He does this thing with his eyes where he bulges them out when he’s mad. It’s supposed to be funny, but it’s mostly just a bit stressful to look at.
The Brox Sisters show up to do some harmonies, and honestly, they are the best part of the whole thing. Their voices actually blend together instead of just competing for who can be the loudest. 🎶
They have this energy that the rest of the movie is missing. They feel like they actually want to be there, unlike some of the extras who look like they’re thinking about what they want for lunch.
I kept thinking about Betty Sets the Pace while watching this, mostly because of the name Betty. But that movie feels like it has a bit more direction than this garden party gone wrong.
There is this one reaction shot of a guy in the background that lingers for way too long. He’s just standing there, holding a drink, looking like he forgot his next line. It becomes funny if you stare at him long enough.
The songs are by Rodgers and Hart, so the bones of the music are actually good. 'With a Song in My Heart' is a classic, but hearing it here is... an experience.
They sing it while standing very still. It’s like they were afraid that if they moved an inch, the microphone would explode. 🎙️
It lacks the grit you see in something like The Unknown. Obviously, it's a musical comedy, but it feels so lightweight it might just float away if you opened a window.
The sister, Mary Jane, and the mom, Emily, spend a lot of time trying to fix Betty’s love life. It’s that classic 'we know what’s best for you' vibe that would be annoying in real life but is standard for 1930.
Louise Fazenda is in this too. She’s usually great at being the funny one, but here she’s kind of stuck in the background noise.
I found myself looking at the sets more than the people. The hedges are so perfectly trimmed they don't even look real.
It’s a very polite movie. Even when people are 'angry,' they’re still wearing pristine suits and holding themselves like they’re at a debutante ball.
If you’ve seen Queens Up!, you know how these staged-feeling comedies can go. They either have a spark or they just sort of sit there.
Spring Is Here mostly just sits there. It’s pleasant enough if you’re doing laundry or something and need background noise.
One weird thing—the lighting in the night scenes is so bright it looks like high noon. I guess 'night' back then just meant 'turn on one slightly dimmer lamp.'
The plot doesn't really matter anyway. You know exactly who she’s going to end up with from the first five minutes.
It’s Terry. It’s always the guy the family likes in these old movies, unless the other guy is a secret prince or something. (He isn’t.)
There’s a scene where they’re all in a car, and the background projection is so obvious it’s kind of charming. The road behind them is moving at about 20 miles per hour, but they’re bouncing around like they’re hitting potholes at eighty.
It’s those little mistakes that make these old flicks watchable for me. The 'perfection' of modern movies is boring sometimes.
I wouldn't call this a 'lost gem' or anything. It’s more like a lost button you found under the couch—interesting to look at for a second, but you don't really need it.
Compared to something like The Americano, it feels very small and static. It’s a stage play that got caught on film.
I did like the dresses, though. Natalie Moorhead has some outfits that are just... a lot of fabric.
If you're looking for a deep story about the human heart, look elsewhere. If you want to see how people in 1930 thought a romantic 'complication' looked, give it a go.
It ends exactly how you think it will, with everyone singing and the dad finally stopping his yelling for five seconds. It’s fine. It’s just... fine. 🌳
IMDb —
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