Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Sabah Hensley This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

haniaelrawy I quote this line from Pierre's worthy advice for Henriette to leave the house before it's too late.Unfortunately she declined the advice and insisted on staying bringing catastrophic incidents on the whole family including the man she loved.I think that Henriette didn't really love Le Duc but she only admired his character as being decent gentle and a kind father.She tells Pierre that Le Duc is a fine gentleman. If it were a real sincere love Henriette would have left the house as soon as possible saving the children and the man she loved the tragic incidents that happened later Charles Boyer's natural gift of subtle romantic performance remains insuperable.He stole the scenes whenever he appeared on the screen and the scene of his dying was really a masterpiece.I wonder why he is underappreciated and one can rarely find critics discussing or analysing his work.In fact the whole atmosphere of the movie is enchanting and captivating.I must admit that I am caught in the spell of the movie especially Boyer's magic performance and I don't even wish to escape.

jeffhaller A really fine movie. Looks great, Fine script of a fascinating story. Boyer was never HOTTER!!!. Barbara O'Neill is brilliant and horrifying.. The story is fascinating and important. The one flaw and it is a big one is Davis. Against type? Maybe cast against type but she can't play against type. She always finds a way to be Bette Davis. The famous mannerisms were never greater minus a cigarette. The character must be vulnerable. DeHavilland? Her Sister? Maris Ouspenskya? Joan Crawford? (well, maybe not). It is not a simple character, she is strong but not a soubrette. There is little or no humor. Davis had a similar conflict in Now Voyager for which she was well suited. She must have been honored that MGM had chosen but she should have known better. Somehow the script can still evoke tears and fears. Try to ignore (though it isn't easy) the great flaw and you will have a great time.

richard-1787 This movie has all sorts of weaknesses: it is at times extremely melodramatic, etc. I will leave it to others to detail all those faults.What this movie does well, and very well, is make a case for tolerance of moral difference. In the course of telling her story to her students, Bette Davis' character turns a bunch of priggish American girls into a group of compassionate young women. She shows, in other words, the power of a well-told story in developing compassion for others - just the sort of thing Warner Brothers did with its best movies. It makes a clear differentiation between France (of the 1840s, granted) and the United States and suggests very clearly that the US is, among other things, the land of such moral tolerance.Today, of course, as the US becomes ever more morally intolerant while France goes the other way that seems no little ironic. It also reminds at least this viewer that today's movie studios, lead by corporations and not individual owners, are much less committed to this sort of "movie with a message" than Warner Brothers was back in the day when it was in fact the product of Jack and Harry Warner, who had a very definite social agenda they wanted to promote.This movie is too long, it is sometimes excessively melodramatic. But it has its heart in the right place, and if you sit through it to the end, you realize that that is a place very relevant to today.Not a great movie, but a moving one.

b-mooney This was a long one, but it wasn't all for nothing. I thought that the acting was spot on, except for the children. Their acting sort of made it seem like a musical. The interactions between Betty and the children were definitely dramatized but it was to emphasize the fact that they came from a broken home and she would do anything for them. The antagonist was the wife and what an antagonist she was. I absolutely hated her by the end of the film and I wasn't the least bit sad when she died. The protagonist was Betty and she did a great job playing a tame, respectful, and well-mannered governess. The design of the movie contributed significantly to the verisimilitude along with the acting. The house and the dress was magnificent. I don't think that the camera-work was anything spectacular, and I feel the same way about the lighting. However, there is one scene that stands out and that is right before the husband kills the wife and you see him from her point of view. He looks absolutely mad and he is coming right at the camera. That was pretty cool. Other than that, the film was meant to seem ordinary in order to seem believable. All in all, it was a wonderful story and definitely called for tears.