''Birch Interval'' is a 1976 American drama film written by Joanna Crawford, directed by

Delbert Mann Delbert Martin Mann Jr. (January 30, 1920 – November 11, 2007) was an American television and film director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film '' Marty'' (1955), adapted from a 1953 teleplay of the same name which h ...

and starring Eddie Albert,

Rip Torn Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn Jr. (February 6, 1931 – July 9, 2019) was an American actor whose career spanned more than 60 years. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his part as Marsh Turner in '' Cross Creek'' ...

, Ann Wedgeworth,

Anne Revere Anne Revere (June 25, 1903 – December 18, 1990) was an American actress and a progressive member of the board of the Screen Actors' Guild. She was best known for her work on Broadway theatre, Broadway and her film portrayals of mothers in a ...

and Susan McClung. It is based on Crawford's novel of the same name.

Cast

* Eddie Albert as Pa Strawacher *

as Thomas * Ann Wedgeworth as Marie *Susan McClung as Jesse * Brian Part as Samuel *

as Mrs. Tanner

Release

The film was released in New York City on May 2, 1976.

Reception

Critics were generally not very kind to the film.

Richard Eder Richard Gray Eder (August 16, 1932 – November 21, 2014) was an American film reviewer and a drama critic. Life and career For 20 years, he was variously a foreign correspondent, a film reviewer and the drama critic for ''The New York Times''. ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' gave the film a negative review, calling it "a painful embarrassment."

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of f ...

awarded the film three stars, calling it a "Beautiful, sensitive film." Bernard Drew of ''

The Journal News ''The Journal News'' is a newspaper in New York State serving the New York counties of Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam, a region known as the Lower Hudson Valley. It is owned by Gannett. ''The Journal News'' was created through a merger of ...

'' gave the film a negative review and wrote, "The big scenes--up until the end--seem to have already occurred or to happen offscreen. What is on is rarely very interesting. Nor are the motivations of a group of characters too complex for the simple framework of the movie always clear. Family movies may be many things but they should never be elliptical." Jerry Stein of ''

The Cincinnati Post ''The Cincinnati Post'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. In Northern Kentucky, it was bundled inside a local edition called ''The Kentucky Post''. The ''Post'' was a founding publication and oneti ...

'' also gave the film a negative review and wrote, "Unfortunately, the reserved behavior of the characters brings a basic lifelessness to the film."

References

External links

* * {{Delbert Mann Films based on American novels Films directed by Delbert Mann Films scored by Leonard Rosenman American drama films