The Truth About Spring (Universal Pictures) (1965)

Grown-Up Hayley Mills Has Ist Adult Film Romance In ‘The Truth About Spring” (Review) “The Truth About Spring,” Universal’s happy release, can best be summed up as The Truth About Hayley. That Mills girl has definitely grown up. And this happenstance is all to the good for the moviegoer. The adult Hayley (she’s now 18) is even more charm ing than the adolescent Hayley or little girl Hayley, as was evident at the opening yesterday in iG eS eee Theatre. In “The Truth About Spring,” a Quota Rentals Limited Production made in Technicolor off the scenic coast of Spain, Miss Mills achieves her first full-fledged screen romance, and even matri mony. The lucky fellow is James MacArthur. Hayley plays the seagoing daughter of a Caribbean fishingboat skipper with a penchant for adventure, portrayed by her actual father, John Mi£ills, in resplendent red beard. MacArthur is cast as a wealthy scion. It seems that the elder Mills, or Captain Tommy Tyler, has discovered an old Spanish treasure trove on an isolated island. Then, there is this gang of cutthroats — in another day, they would have been called pirates— led by Lionel Jeffries, also out to get the loot. With the aid of the robust young MacArthur, who poses as his lawyer, Captain Tommy and his daughter, Spring, outwit the robber band. The treasure hunt produces not gold or coin of the realm, but discovery of more lasting things — true love between father and daughter, and, eventually, between the two youngsters. John Mills, as the conniver who brings the couple together, has one of his warmest film roles. The seasoned British actor is wily, whiskery and winning as a modern seadog. Young MacArthur turns in one of his strongest characterizations in films and displays a physique entirely adequate to the demands of the strenuous role. As for Hayley—Well, she’s still winsomely cute, as talented as ever, and, without doubt, a mature young lady. To her credit, even dungarees and a sloppy shirt cannot hide the fact that she is blossoming into a beautiful young lady. “The Truth About Spring” shows the fine craftsmanship of the veteran director Richard Thorpe earned through more than 40 years of making motion pictures, and directing more than 200 of them. Producer Alan Brown, who has been handling all the Bronston productions in Madrid in recent years, has deftly handled his assignment for the maximum screen enjoyment. A fine script by James Lee Barrett is based upcn a story by Henry de Vere Stacpoole. Others in the cast include David Tomlinson, Niall MacGinnis, Lionel Merton and Harry Andrews. For the first time together on the screen as father and daughter, John Mills plays the role of a sea adventurer who has raised his daughter Hayley Mills on the ocean in ‘‘The Truth About Spring,” a Universal release photographed in Technicolor. (Still No. 1951-1) Copyright 1965 — Universal Pictures Co., Inc. International Group Of Automobiles For Cosmopolitan Crew (Advance) An international group of motion picture players were equipped with an international set of motor vehicles when they locationed on the Spanish Costa Brava for filming in Technicolor of “The Truth About Spring,’ a Universal reTeaSesGOMING -3. 22a to the ahead Berea eee ee Theatre. British stars Hayley and John Mills, v7ho spend half of their lives in the United States, drove a German Mercedes, while their co-star, American James MacArthur rode in a French Renault Dauphine. Producer Alan Brown, from America, travelled in an English “RY’-Type Jaguar, while another American, director Richard Thorpe, went to and from work in a Seat 1500, the Spanish licensed Fiat. The only American car in S’Agaro, Spain, where the company headquartered, was driven by the most English-looking Englishman of the cast, Lionel Jeffries. He drove a sleek Buick station wagon and pointed out that the British do not build a car big enough to take his family and baggage. His family consists of wife, three children, mother-inlaw, maid and cook, with a correspondingly large amount of baggage. THE TRUTH ABOU With mop in hand, Hayley Mills aided by James MacArthur, has just repelled an invasion of her fishing smack in Universal’s romantic comedy adventure, ‘‘The Truth About Spring,’’ photographed in Technicolor. (Still No. 1951-17) Mediterranean Fails To Be Cooperative (Current) After two days’ shooting scenes for “The Truth About Spring” in an improvised studio because the sea was too rough to allow photography, director Richard Thorpe took his stars Hayley Mills, John Mills and James MacArthur out to sea—but had to make them wait for a full hour while the crew manufactured a make-shift wave machine. The Mediterranean had _ suddenly gone as calm as the proverbial mill pond and stubbornly refused to match previous shots without assistance from an army of prop men, “The Truth About Spring,” Universal’s romantic comedy adventure in Technicolor, is now at {ul GS ea ee aa tea ae Maile ee Theatre. RING {16} Hayley Mills who started in motion pictures as a child of 12, and progressed through roles as a teenager, now, six years later, has her first adult romance on the screen with handsome James MacArthur in the romantic comedy adventure, ‘““The Truth About Spring,” a Universal release. Photographed in Technicolor, it was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Alan Brown. (Still No. 1951-83AA) Hayley Mills Growing Up On Screen; Has First Romance In The Truth About Spring’ (Advance) Growing up is a snip, according to Hayley Mills—probably the world’s most famous teenager. “A snip of the scissors,” she hastily qualified, poking her blonde head out from under the dryer to make her point. This new Hayley Mills of the short blonde tresses is a very different person from the longhaired schoolgirl of a short time ago. She needed the new look for her role with her father, John Mills and James MacArthur in “The Truth About Spring,” a Universal release in Technicolor CONMN S32 fe ee eee to the With her long locks went about eight pounds in puppy fat and a distressing but recurring desire to bite her finger nails. “Td always thought long hair made me look older so I absolutely refused to have it cut,” Hayley confessed between sips of orange juice. ‘Then this absolutely super part in Universal’s ‘The Truth About Spring’ came along and Alan Brown, the producer, said I had to have my hair cut. I argued like mad, but it did no good. No short hair, no role. So I had no choice. “Once I’d had it done I felt really good about it. You know, it actually started waving by itself. My hairdresser said it was only the weight of all that hair that had kept it straight. “T was really terrified to look at myself once it was done, then Mummy came in and said how sophisticated I looked, and I suddenly felt years older. “T decided to lose some weight and went on an absolutely filthy diet of lettuce leaves and raw carrots and spent all my spare time steering myself away from cooking smells and restaurants — which is pretty difficult to do in Spain. By the end of three weeks I was a nervous wreck. Still I’d lost eight pounds, so it was worth tie How about her wardrobe? Was Hayley changing that to suit her butterfly emergence from. the cocoon? “Well, not exactly changing it, enlarging is really a better word. I bought an absolutely super black suede evening coat that’s so fine it looks like silk. It’s really very slinky and very elegant. And I’m wearing more high-heeled shoes than I used to. “This picture is sort of special for me. Always before I’ve known I was going back to school after the picture was over and so school was always the really important part of my life. Films came and went, and they were great fun to do, and I loved every minute of making them. Now school’s over and for the first time I feel really professional. “TI can’t imagine any other way of life. As long as I can remember, Daddy’s gone to the studios or to the theatre to work, Mummy’s been writing plays or a new book and at weekends our friends have come down to the farm to visit us and they’ve all been theatre or film people. On school holidays we’ve gone to all sorts of queer places to visit Daddy where he’s been filming. Any other kind of life is just inconceivable.” Hayley Mills keeps house aboard their fishing schooner for her screen father, her real-life father John Mills, as they both roam the Caribbean in a carefree life until James MacArthur shows up in the romantic comedy adventure, ‘‘The Truth About Spring,” a Universal release photographed in Technicolor. (Still No. 1951-5) Page 2 Hayley Mills Learns Sailing The Hard Way For “Truth” Filming (Advance) Wap! The sail hit the back of her head, and she started to go over the side of the boat. He ran to the other rail, and pulled her back by the seat of her jeans. This unglamorous scene—for a movie star—occurred during the filming of “The Truth About Spring,’’ a Universal release com Theatre. And still another accident turned into a delightful episode. The stars involved were Hayley Mills, her father, John, and James MacArthur. The screen story takes place almost entirely on sailing ships. And that’s where the trouble began. The scene started when John Mills decided to jibe the small fishing boat on which he lives with his daughter in the romantic comedy adventure. To jibe is to let the main sail shift suddenly from one side to the other. When it happened, Hayley was standing at the railing looking away. MacArthur, who also was involved in the maneuver, let the Sail--c0, sand... Well Hayley. came up with a face full of water and a funny frustrated look. The look was so perfect on the Technicolor film, director Richard Thorpe let the scene remain in the finished picture. “That’s when I learned how to sail—fast,’”’ Hayley remarked. Her latest role adds two “firsts” to her career; the opportunity to portray her real-life father’s daughter on the screen, and the realistic screen romance with costar James MacArthur. Hayley Mills, who made her first film at the age of 12, now at the age of 18, and a beautiful young woman, has her first adult screen romance in “The Truth About Spring,” a Universal release in Technicolor. (Still No. 1951-102) Hayley Mills Wears "Swingingest Jeans (Advance) After seeing young, shapely Hayley Mills in costume for her role opposite her father, John Mills, and James MacArthur in Universal’s “The Truth About Spring,” the British crew of the sprightly romantic comedy adventure decided that Hayley wore the swingingest blue jeans in their memories. Photographed in Technicolor, 1b COMeCS:e ees {OTA WO c irae ae ie ty vam Ae cae Theatre. Although Hayley had the most inexpensive wardrobe of her career for this multi-million dollar picture—consisting of jeans, a faded blue sweat shirt, a sailor’s cap, a pair of sneakers, a cotton dress, and a pair of sandals—the blue jeans, of which she had six changes, were shrunk and “dirtied down” by the wardrobe department to look as old as the eighteen-year-old cutie herself. The resulting jeans were skin tight, and decidedly whistle-provoking when clinging to the Hayley hips. “The Truth About Spring” was produced on location in Spain by Alan Brown for Quota Rentals Ltd. Richard Thorpe directed.