The Children's Hour
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Movie Reviews of The Children's Hour
Movie Review: The Children's Hour, 1934
Summary: 4 Stars
It's worth remembering that this movie is based on the 1934 play by Lillian Hellman, first of all - because the film is made very much like a play: everything happens in very few indoor locations, limited space, theatrically emphasized characters. Black-and-white cinematography allows to make each scene even more graphically and otherwise expressive.
Surely in 1934 the subject of lesbianism was even more explosive than in 1961, but even in 1961 one can imagine it took a lot of courage to show some sympathy towards a homosexually inclined young woman.
Even though the movie is about many other things (damaging power of rumors, manipulative children and adults, lack of trust between even the closest people) - theme of homosexuality and inability of a person to come to terms with her own sexual orientation is surely very prominent in this film.
The film is brilliant in every possible sense, starting from the cast where there's not a single failure, to the camera work and the script (based on the Hellman's play). The only problem I see with the film is its being "better than life", with all participants either extremely nice & beautiful or extremely evil. But this melodramatic slant is most likely coming from the play too.
Interestingly, according to Wikipedia, the play is in turn based on a real historical incident which happened in 1810 in Edinburgh, Scotland, where a pupil named Jane Cumming accused her schoolmistresses, Jane Pirie and Marianne Woods, of having an affair in the presence of their pupils.
Dame Cumming Gordon, the accuser's influential grandmother, advised her friends to remove their daughters from the boarding school. Within days the school was deserted and the two women had lost their livelihood. Pirie and Woods eventually won, both in court and on appeal, but given the damage done to their lives, their victory was considered hollow.
Movie Review: Audrey and Shirley in a Remake of a Hellman Play
Summary: 4 Stars
What can a single lie do? That is the question that is examined in Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour.
Martha (Shirley Maclaine) and Karen (Audrey Hepburn) run a small boarding school in a small New England town. Karen is engaged to a local doctor (James Garner). When Karen punishes a malicious student, the little girl decides to get revenge. The way the girl does this is repeat a out of context statement made by Martha's aunt (Miriam Hopkins). To complicate matters, she blackmails another girl (Veronica Cartwright) into confirming the story.
This lie immediately destroys the Martha and Karen's school. But their life's are destroyed soon thereafter when their slander suit is rejected. But when the lie exposed it is too little too late.
When the play opened in the late 50's it was daring and very controversial. When the film opened in 1961, it was still controversial. But 40 years later, it is not the lesbian story line that is interesting but how little has changed.
Hepburn gives her usual excellent performance and would have gotten an Oscar nomination if she hadn't made Breakfast at Tiffany's that year. Shirley Maclaine was fresh off her success in The Apartment and was ready to stretch her dramatic legs. She proved that she could handle drama just as well as comedy. But it would be 15 years for her to get another great dramatic role (The Turning Point).
Fay Bainter and Miriam Hopkins were major character actors in the 30's and 40's and were given one final chance to show what they had left. Bainter received an Oscar nomination for this film.
William Wyler had nothing to prove in the 60's yet he continued to select great films with bite that featured women in strong roles. This was another triumph for him.
DVD EXTRAS: NONE
Movie Review: Wonderful Acting And Interesting Plot
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a wonderful production with good acting all around. Audrey Hepburn is lovely and sympathetic as Karen, Shirley MacClain shows she can do much more than comedy as Martha, James Garner is handsome and appealing as Audrey Hepburn's love interest Joe, and Miriam Hopkins is Martha's aunt - a spiteful down on her luck aging actress who causes more than a little trouble. The child actors are also great with the actresses playing horrid Mary and the kleptomaniac Rosalie deserving special recognition. Most people probably know the basic storyline. Karen and Martha are two young women in their late twenties running a successful boarding school for wealthy tweenage girls. Mary, a miserable girl seeking revenge for deserved punishment tells her grandmother the women are having an "unnatural" relationship and gets Rosalie a kleptomaniac she is blackmailing to support the story. Grandmother feels it is her duty to immediately pull Mary from the school and alert other parents. Amazingly this is enough for all the parents to show up at the school and immediately take their daughters home. The movie becomes almost nightmarish at this point as events spiral farther downward for Karen and Martha. A tragic death occurs near the end of the film which is true to Hellman's play but it seems somewhat unbelievable as it occurs when this character's life is getting more hopeful. All in all a fine film with messages concerning the damage malicious gossip can do and the need for tolerance of what adults may or may not choose to do in private.Movie Review: Fans of DOUBT should find some similarities in this 1961 gem
Summary: 4 Stars
This 1961 film based on a play by Lillian Hellman stars Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacClaine as two young women who run a small all girl's boarding school. Their lives are torn apart when a young girl (played with wicked perfection by a young actress named Karen Balkin) spreads a rumor about them being lesbians.
Much like the recent film "DOUBT" this engaging & tight paced drama doesn't so much focus on the sexual aspect of the situation, but it instead focuses on the crushing power of gossip and lies. Even the prejudicial nature of the characters towards homosexuals isn't openly confronted int he film--their actions speak for themselves. This Oscar nominated film just misses that mark of "cinema classic" due to several reasons including some predictable turns for Maclaine's character and one inexplicable "What the heck did she do that for!?!" scene with Hepburn's character and co-star James Garner.
As for the special features, there are none. Unless you're a diehard Hepburn fan and want a complete collection I'd recommend this film as a rental because i found the DVD is a bit pricey ($12 as of this writing) for such a barebones disc.
Movie Review: Surprising, daring and ahead of its time
Summary: 4 Stars
One of the most overlooked gems in Hepburn, MacLaine and director William Wyler's catalogs, this film starts like quite an ordinary by-the-numbers film from a girls school. Only when a lie from the mouth of a spoilt girl triggers a string of events that whirl out of control, the life will never be same again for any of the characters. The seemingly far-fetched plot from a play by Lillian Hellman gets frighteningly realistic under the sure hand of director William Wyler (Ben Hur, Funny Girl, Best Years of Our Lives). Audrey Hepburn gives an understated, graceful performance as one co-owner and teacher of the school, Shirley MacLaine is laconic and bitter as the other. The supporting cast is also excellent and although the film is far from easy viewing, it is nevertheless fascinating in its own very peculiar way - although the ending may seem to leave more questions open than solved.