AllMovie

A pleasant and agreeable little family film, The Truth About Spring is a very innocent youth romance picture that will probably have the greatest appeal for girls in or near their teenaged years. There's nothing remarkable about Spring, nothing that marks it as a film for the ages, but it's a well-made, modest effort that has a certain naïve charm about it. The coming-of-age/fledgling-leaving-the-nest story is handled believably, and the trappings that surround it -- the interesting living situation, the comic interludes, the intra-class attraction -- never distract, even when they occasionally seem added on rather than organic. Richard Thorpe's direction is even-handed and smooth, if unmemorable. He's helped by the lovely work of Hayley Mills (in one of her finest performances), as well as the natural chemistry between the actress and her father, John Mills. There's also a real attraction between Hayley and James MacArthur and fine work from character actors Lionel Jeffries, Harry Andrews, and Niall MacGinnis. Throw in some attractive scenery, and the result is an amiable way to spend a couple of hours.