BlazeLime
Strong and Moving!
Orla Zuniga
It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review
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.
kijii
This psychological thriller was based on a very good play by Enid Bagnold, the author of National Velvet. Edith Evans was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as the grandmother, and John and Hayley Mills played opposite each other in one of their most effective interactions on screen. However, the best psychological jousting and interplay of the movie is that between the Hayley Mills and her new governess, played by Deborah Kerr.The movie is set on the steep chalky-white cliffs of Southern England where an elderly lady, Mrs. St. Maugham (Edith Evans), lives with her 16-year-old granddaughter, Laurel (Hayley Mills), after Laurel's mother had divorced her father and the father died. Mrs. St. Maugham is in the process of hiring a new governess, Miss Madrigal (Deborah Kerr), while fighting with her daughter, Olivia (Elizabeth Sellars), over legal custody of Laurel. In spite of giving no references, Miss Madrigal totally wins over Mrs. St. Maugham and is hired as Laurel's governess.The situation that Miss Madrigal walks into is very unconventional. The butler, Maitland (John Mills), is formal but far from non-observant or cold. Laurel is a cold-blooded, obnoxious brat who seems to have control of everyone around her and is tolerated, if not encouraged, for her precocious snobbishness. She enjoys shocking people and has Miss Madrigal in her sights as the next victim in a long line of governesses unable to control her. But, Madrigal is no pushover, and Laurel has her work cut out for her before getting rid of THIS governess.As the movie progresses, there is sort of a back-and-forth psychological game between Laurel's attempt to unearth something about Madrigal's past (so that she can get rid of her) and Madrigal's trying to learn more about Laurel's problems so she can help her. Laurel tries to play private detective by looking for incriminating evidence against Miss Madrigal. She notices that all of Madrigal's clothes (and her luggage) are new; that she has no visitors or phone calls; that she never writes or receives letters; and that she has no family photos to place on her dressing table. Laurel also notices that Miss Madrigal never locks her door for privacy until Maitland suggests it and buys a good padlock for her. Laurel's curiosity gets the best of her, and she breaks into Miss Madrigal's room to try to find something on her. But she fails.One evening in a conversation with Maitland, Miss Madrigal learns--or should I say confirms--that Laurel is a habitual liar: she learns this as she checks out several things that Laurel had told her. This seems to be troubling to her since she sees some of her own past in Laurel— something that shows Laurel's need to be loved and manifests this need by controlling people—keeping them away.Things come to a head when Mrs. St. Maugham's 'former mistress,' Judge McWhirrey, 'puppy' (Felix Aylmer), comes to visit the house before judging a murder case in London. While at the super table, Laurel, fascinated by true crime cases, asks him to describe, in detail, what a murder case is like. Real criminal cases are a passion that she and Maitland enjoy sharing. Judge McWhirrey's description is very upsetting to Miss Madrigal and eventually leads to the final outcome of the movie.While watching this movie, it is very easy to forget that John and Hayley Mills were a real-life father and daughter team. John puts up with Hayley's spoiled child role. At times, Hayley seems like she is overplaying her role, as she might have in a Disney movie, but there can be nothing subtle about Laurel, and she can't be played subtlety. In fact, she plays a child trying to pretend that she is an adult. The child side of her is captured in a couple scenes where she thinks she is not being watched: one with a childhood doll and another where she builds a sandcastle on the beach only to kick it over angrily when Miss Madrigal comes along to admire it. The scene on the steps (near the end of the movie) where Maitland and Laurel confront each other is powerful stuff and deserves nothing but kudos from the father-daughter acting duo. Overall, this is a good movie that deserves to be restored on DVD so that it can reach a wider audience.
brefane
The names associated with this production are British, but Enid Bagnold's drama has been given the Hollywood treatment with lavish production values courtesy of producer Ross Hunter. Known for Imitation of Life (1959), Madame X (1966), Airport (1970) and the disastrous musical remake of Lost Horizon (1973), Hunter originally had Sandra Dee in mind for the part of Laurel, and Hayley Mills' comes across as wholesome if slightly more troubled than the mischievous Mary Clancy she played in The Trouble with Angels. The film presents flattened out versions of the various odd and eccentric characters that inhabited the play with the result being closer to Disney than Bagnold. Adequate performances from all with Kerr managing to create an air of mystery and complexity that makes the film watchable.
adriangr
This is a very odd and obscure film, but with major star names like John Mills, Hayley Mills, Edith Evans and Deborah Kerr, it's hard to understand why it's very little known. I guess this might be due to the fact that it doesn't fit into any simple category. The plot tells the tale of a troubled (i.e, bratty) teenager who scares off all her governesses until the enigmatic Miss Madrigal comes to stay. A small scale battle of wits begins to play out, until the situation reaches a climax and various secrets are revealed.So basically we have a two-hander between Deborah Kerr as the governess/substitute mother figure and Hayley Mills as the annoying daughter, which would seem to categorise this as a soap opera, and really thats all it really amounts too. Having said that, I really enjoyed watching it. The film benefits mainly from the performances of it's two leads, with Kerr poker-faced and icy as the governess, and Hayley Mills skillfully managing not to alienate the viewers affections with her portrayal of the out of control girl. Kerr has all the best lines, with some very smart comebacks to Mills nosey questioning, in fact the whole script is well written with a lot of very natural sounding dialogue. The settings don't stray much from the house and a nearby beach, which gives away the movie's origins as a play - I could see exactly how this would have been staged in a theatre. Luckily the filming is well handled, with some nice lighting and camera angles, even if some of the outdoor scenery look a bit artificial - however I honestly could not tell if that beach was a real or a set! I would recommend this for the strong performances, especially if any of the cast I have listed above are favourites of yours - and the script - but it's really only Saturday afternoon matinée material as the plot is hardly earth-shattering. A neat metaphor using the concept of flowers growing in a chalk garden rounds it off nicely.
littleprince1977
THE DVD is SO MUCH better than VHS. Colours better than the fading VHS. I've waited for YEARS for this to be in DVD format. GREAT thanks On VHS I must have watched this 15-20 times, IF NOT MORE. Dame Edith Evans- her acting-incredible. John Mills, father of Haley (actor-director), Deborah Kerr, and Haley Mills; all great as well. The interaction between the actors, the actors themselves, AND the saucy script; I don't know which is the best. I believe that it is a combination of the wonderful script and the incredible actors. I'm surprised it took this long to put it on DVD. I'm not going to discuss the plot-line...Just know you will be watching FOUR actors at their peak or on their rise. BUY the DVD for yourself...watch it...if you do not like it....THEN write your own review and call me a liar. THIS is a WONDERFUL '60's sleeper classic!"Will you stay with me, would you?..."I must know one thing...DID YOU DO IT?" "Before I die I will find out"
