The Innocents
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Movie Reviews of The Innocents
Movie Review: "What Shall I Say When His Feet Enter Softly ... Leaving The Marks Of His Grave On My Floor?"
Summary: 5 Stars
"There has never been a ghost story created especially for the adult movie-goer until 'The Innocents'." .... That's a direct quote from the Original Theatrical Trailer of "The Innocents", which is a black-and-white spook-fest from the year 1961 that ranks very high on my list of "Best Scary Movies Of All Time".
Deborah Kerr is simply magnificent as "Miss Giddens", the newly-hired governess who has been assigned the task of looking after two young orphaned children ("Flora" and "Miles") at a large, remote country estate in England.
Strange occurrences begin to manifest after Miss Giddens takes charge of young Flora and Miles, with the governess gradually beginning to sense that evil forces are surrounding the children.
"The Innocents" is filled with a level of eeriness and mystery that should satisfy any lover of horror flicks. It's an eeriness and creepiness that seeps in through the cracks, instead of having the viewer being hammered over the head with CGI-created shocks and overdone amounts of bloodshed. No gore is present here -- just a good old-fashioned type ghost/horror tale from the pre-CGI days.
The two children in the story are portrayed exquisitely by Pamela Franklin and Martin Stephens. Pamela was age 11 when she filmed "The Innocents". This was her very first motion-picture appearance. And quite an impressive debut it is.
The 13-year-old Martin Stephens had already been seen in several movies by the time he made "The Innocents" (a total of ten pre-1961 film roles dating back to his first, "The Divided Heart", in 1954).
Martin, as "Miles", fully embodies the part. During several of his scenes, it's fairly easy to believe that this young boy has been possessed by some evil outside force of some kind. I'm always quite amazed when I see young children playing very complicated characters in motion pictures. And it's all the more impressive when a child actor can give a performance that any Hollywood veteran could very easily be envious of (as Martin Stephens has done in this film).
How the movie's producers and writers are able to extract such a rich, multi-layered performance out of a 13-year-old or an 11-year-old is something I've always had quite a bit of admiration for.
At one point in the film, "Master Miles" recites several stanzas from a macabre poem. He speaks the following lines with a certain ominous quality that fits the film's underlying supernatural tone nicely. It's one of my favorite scenes in the film, and normally good for at least a replay or two when watching the DVD. I just love this poem:
"What shall I sing to my lord from my window?
What shall I sing, for my lord will not stay?
What shall I sing, for my lord will not listen?
Where shall I go, for my lord is away?
Whom shall I love when the moon is arisen?
Gone is my lord, and the grave is his prison.
What shall I say when my lord comes a-calling?
What shall I say when he knocks on my door?
What shall I say when his feet enter softly,
Leaving the marks of his grave on my floor?
Enter my lord, come from your prison.
Come from your grave, for the moon is arisen."
The final act of the movie is likely to take some first-time viewers of the film by surprise. In my opinion, it is the perfect dramatic ending to a very good motion picture.
"The Innocents" premiered in movie theaters on December 25th, 1961, and made its most-welcome debut on DVD-Video on September 6th, 2005. The DVD version from Fox Home Entertainment is a million times better than the VHS videotape variant that was issued by Fox several years earlier (mainly due to the fact that the VHS contained only a dreadful Pan-&-Scan print in Full-Frame 1.33:1). The DVD is two-sided, and also has a Full-Frame copy of the film on one side. But anyone wanting to see the whole, beautifully-photographed film in its intended Widescreen "CinemaScope" ratio of 2.35:1 will want to watch Side B, which contains a nice-looking Anamorphic Widescreen DVD print of "The Innocents".
(But just exactly why the far-superior Widescreen version has been relegated to the "B" side of the disc is, indeed, a bit of a mystery to me. The P&S edition should always rank second, IMO. But, I suppose it's not really a matter that's worth getting all bent out of shape over. At least there's Widescreen on the disc someplace.)
A few blemishes still occupy this disc's Widescreen print; but the video anomalies are kept to a minimum and are not a detriment to the overall viewing experience at all. I had never seen this film in its original Widescreen format before getting this disc. It's a genuine treat to be able to own it now via such a well-rendered Widescreen DVD version.
DVD-Video has been a godsend for so many motion pictures -- movies that had only been available on home video through inferior "modified aspect ratio" abominations for many years. But DVD has rescued a lot of old films from the dustbins of movie-studio vaults -- restoring many old-time favorites and making them look nearly brand-new once again (and in the proper Widescreen ratios where applicable).
I recently read where it could easily have cost the avid movie collector, in pre-DVD days, upwards of $20,000 to build a movie library consisting of just a handful of films by purchasing duplicate film prints of certain motion pictures. While today, thanks to these compact little devices called DVDs, the same film library can be obtained for a mere fraction of that exorbitant price tag -- and with the films looking just as good as they did when they debuted in theaters decades ago (sometimes even better). A remarkable Digital era we reside in currently....isn't it?
This DVD features two different soundtrack options -- an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track (which was re-mixed from the film's original Mono); plus a Spanish audio track as well (in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono).
It would have been an added plus if this disc could have also contained the original English Mono soundtrack as heard in theaters back in late 1961 and early 1962. Instead, a Stereo re-mix has been employed here as the only English audio track.
Optional subtitles can be shown on screen in either English or Spanish.
The DVD Menus are simple, easy, static, non-animated, and music-free. Perfect. .... Choices from the Main Menu screen (on both sides of the disc) offer up: "Play Feature", "Scene Selection" (28 Chapters), "Language Selection", and "Special Features".
Bonus supplements take the form of some Theatrical Trailers only. The trailer for "The Innocents" is along for this DVD ride (always a welcome addition to any movie release on Digital Disc). This trailer, which sports a run time of 2:50, has survived in excellent condition for its premiere on DVD. It is presented here in its original Widescreen ratio of 2.35:1 (Anamorphic too). The audio is a tad scratchy though (in DD 2.0 Mono).
Plus: Fox provides three Bonus Trailers as well (via a separate Menu selection from the "Special Features" Sub-Menu, marked "Fox Flix"). There are trailers for a trio of other spooky (and ultra-strange) pieces of cinema: "The Cabinet Of Caligari", "The Legend Of Hell House", and "Phantom Of The Paradise".
"Caligari" (a 1962 flick), which I had never heard of prior to seeing the trailer on this DVD, looks like a really bizarre film indeed. Off-the-wall antics abound, per this trailer. It was written by Robert Bloch, who wrote Alfred Hitchcock's masterwork, "Psycho", which was released two years previously. I can tell just from the 2-minute trailer, however, that some very nice B&W cinematography went into that movie (which was filmed in a 2.35:1 Widescreen format, with the trailer being shown in that ratio here as well). Darkness and shadowy images are abundant and readily-noticeable just by viewing the trailer. Whether or not the whole movie is worth sitting through, I cannot say. But the trailer is intriguing at any rate.
"Hell House" (from 1973) is a darn good film, though (written by horror master Richard Matheson). It stars, coincidentally, an all-grown-up Pamela Franklin (who plays little "Flora" in "The Innocents").
"Phantom Of The Paradise" (1974) takes first prize for "weirdness" among this batch of three movie trailers. If you like really strange stuff -- "Phantom" might be right up your alley. It stars songwriter Paul Williams, and was directed by Brian DePalma, who went on to direct two top-notch scare-fests in "Carrie" (1976) and "Dressed To Kill" (1980).
To tell the truth, after watching this trailer for "Phantom Of The Paradise", I still don't have a really good grasp of the plot of the movie. But there's some really freaky stuff going on in that picture, that's for sure. :-)
Fun bonus trailers, though -- all three of them. I like it when the studios decide to add a few extra theatrical trailers to their DVDs. They're usually pretty fun to watch, even if the films being advertised appear to be a tad bit on the 'subpar' side. Many times, however, some very good films are presented as "Bonus Trailers" on DVDs -- films that I might not otherwise have ever been exposed to.
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A Final 'Innocent' Word........
"The Innocents" is likely to reel you in with its tale of ghostly images and otherworldly happenings -- not to mention the above-average cast as well. In the same grand "old school" tradition of spooky suspense-laden films like "The Uninvited" (1944), "The Spiral Staircase" (1946), and "The Haunting" (1963) -- "The Innocents" works hard at keeping the viewer firmly on a bed of pins and needles throughout its 100-minute duration. And, in my mind, it succeeds admirably in that endeavor.
Movie Review: An Extraordinary Tale Of Evil and Possession
Summary: 5 Stars
The Innocents is one of the most unnerving, unsettling, subtle and well-acted ghost stories you'll ever hope to see.
"If I should die before I wake," says 8-year-old Flora, kneeling at her bedside, "I pray the Lord my soul to take. Miss Giddens," she asks her new governess, "where would the Lord take my soul to?" "To heaven," Miss Giddens tells her. "Are you certain," Flora asks. "Oh, yes, of course, because you are a very good girl." "But I might not be," Flora says. "and if I weren't, wouldn't the Lord just leave me here to walk around? Isn't that what happens to some people?"
In Victorian England, Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr) has been engaged to be the governess to Flora (Pamela Franklin) and her 10-year-old brother, Miles (Martin Stephens). The children live at Bly, an isolated country estate with a lake, many trees and statues and a huge, stone mansion. Their parents are dead, their uncle lives in London and wants no responsibility for them. They are cared for by Mrs. Grose, the housekeeper, two maids and, now, Miss Giddens. The children are eerily precocious with perfect manners and many secrets. Flora is smiling, agreeable and perhaps too alert. Miles seems at times adult beyond his years. He is charming and self-possessed. One evening the shutters slam shut and a candle blows out. "Don't be afraid, my dear," Miles tells Miss Giddens, "it's only the wind." He has been expelled from school for unnamed offences which caused "injuries" to other students.
Miss Giddens soon learns that there previously was in the mansion Peter Quint, the master's valet, who had been left in charge. "It was winter," Mrs. Grose reluctantly tells Miss Giddens, "the coldest, blackest winter night. The steps were icy. He came home late, full of drink. He had a wound on his head as though he might have fallen out there in the dark. There was things in his life that could account for violence done him, vicious things...It was Master Miles who found him. Oh, that poor little boy. If you could have heard his screams, seen the way he clung to him and begged him to speak. The poor little boy worshipped Quint."
Miss Giddens learns of another person, Miss Jessel, the former governess, a woman who became enraptured by Quint. She took his beatings with joy, shared in his pleasure of her in the mansion's rooms, unconcerned with what the children saw. Miss Jessel threw herself in the lake after Quint died. There is not only the presumption of evil, but of moral and sexual corruption infecting the two children through Quint.
The children whisper together, share secrets. Miss Giddens soon sees a faint image of a man on the tower of the house...a woman walking across a landing...a face at a window. "There are two of them," Miss Giddens tells Mrs. Grose, "two of those abominations. The children are playing some monstrous game. I can't pretend to understand what its purpose is. I only know that it is happening...something secretive and whispery and indecent. I tell you, believe me, the children are in dreadful peril." She resolves that the only way she can free the children of the effort by Quint and Miss Jessel to possess them is to force the children to admit what is happening. "The children are possessed. They live and know and share this hell. One word, one word of truth from these children and we can cast out those devils forever."
The conclusion is powerful and tragic.
This movie works so well because of Jack Clayton's unhurried direction, wonderful, eery, black-and-white photography by Freddie Francis, a literate screenplay (from Henry James' The Turn of the Screw) by William Archibald, Truman Capote and John Mortimer, and excellent acting all around. In particular, Deborah Kerr turns in one of the best performances of her career. She trembles on the edge of resolve and her own insecurities. Both the child actors are convincing. Martin Stephens as Miles carries the heaviest burden and he is unsettling as a cool and very disturbed, conflicted boy.
The DVD comes with pan-and-scan on side A and the proper wide-screen presentation on side B. Watch the wide-screen, original version. The picture looks very good. There are no significant extras.
Movie Review: ..does she, or doesn't she?
Summary: 5 Stars
...only Henry James knew for sure! Miss Giddens, a rather "sheltered" governess, is convinced that her two young charges are possessed by the spirits of her predecessor Miss Jessel and her lover, a cruel valet named Quint, in a lonely and sprawling mansion in the English countryside. Written in 1897 and set in 1850s England, Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw" is a cleverly written (tho somewhat torturous) novella which was required reading for schoolchildren like myself in the 1960s. James never divulged whether his bedeviled heroine actually SAW ghosts, or if they were simply the externalization of her own neuroses. Scripted by William Archibald and Truman Capote, a 1950s TV production of "The Innocents" starred Ingrid Bergman (I would love to see that!), and then filmmaker Jack Clayton ("Room at the Top") filmed his version of the tale in 1961. Stunningly photographed by Freddie Francis in black and white, "The Innocents" depicts its disturbing visions of ghosts often in bright, broad daylight, such as a rose garden, or in a gazebo by a lake. The lovely Deborah Kerr plays the role of Miss Giddens with a slightly edgy self-consciousness (perfect for a sexually repressed daughter of a country parson) that grows into an absolutely manic frenzy that could either be absolute madness (which I think she was), or terror at the fact that her 2 young charges are indeed housing the spirits of dead (and sexually quite active) people. Strong and very Victorian stuff, this is! The supporting cast are wonderful, which includes a short and very telling scene with Sir Michael Redgrave as the children's disinterested roue uncle, Megs Jenkins as Mrs. Grose, the longtime housekeeper, the cruelly handsome Peter Wyngarde (later TVs "Jason King") as the dead Quint, and, of course, Martin Stephens and Pamela Franklin as the children, Miles and Flora. Director Clayton deliberately did NOT tell these youngsters too much about the motivations of their characters, so their performances have a certain ambiguity to them that could be interpreted as simply childish precociousness or dark, sly deviousness. Stephens had played the leader of the monstrous children in "Village of the Damned" a year or so earlier, so he was no newcomer to dark-themed stories, and Miss Franklin appeared in numerous horror/thriller-themed films after this, well into her young adulthood, including Clayton's "Our Mother's House", and "The Legend of Hell House". Georges Auric's atonal music lends a great deal to the uneasy tone of the film. There's not a lot of music, but what's there is quite effective. Miss Kerr was asked what HER interpretation of the story was, to which she replied that she felt that Miss Giddens was a sexually repressed and frustrated woman, and this was HER way of dealing with her inner demons. ....and what do YOU think? The DVD is certainly an excellent addition to a horror/ghost story lover's collection, and is very reasonably priced. The picture quality is excellent, with just a tad of graininess here and there, and one has a choice of watching it in widescreen (is there any OTHER way to view this?) or full-screen. The sound is good. There aren't many 'Extra", unfortunately (I wish that a "making of" short could have been made), just the original theatrical trailer. Movie Review: "Child's Play" Review Incorrect
Summary: 5 Stars
The reviewer of September 14, 2005 implies that there is only a pan-and-scan version on this DVD and that a key scene is omitted. Both statements are untrue as it seems the reviewer has not yet discovered that there is a widescreen version on the 'B' side of the disk.
The film is a truly inspired masterwork by both Director Jack Clayton and honored actress Deborah Kerr. This is what real movies are all about and hopefully the popularity of this DVD release will spark a rejuvenation of gothic suspense done the right way.
Movie Review: Child's Play
Summary: 5 Stars
Deborah Kerr gave her finest performance as the repressed spinster in this adaptation of the Henry James novella "The Turn of the Screw." Ingrid Bergman once tried it but she brought robustness to the role that didn't quite fit. Kerr's interpretation, like the film itself full of light and dark, to date is definitive, and now we can see it on a DVD that definitely is not. A pity, too, because some of the principals are alive and could have enlivened this poorly produced disc, one that cries for a commentary. The only "extras" are a trailer, a bad pan-and-scan version and other film promos.
So dominating is Kerr's presence that she is able to hold the screen while sharing it with two children (no mean feat) who are charming actors, Martin Stephens and Pamela Franklin. Their governess learns that the "sprits" of her dead predecessor and a groundskeeper seek to reclaim the children. As their uncle, Michael Redgrave's cameo opens the film. In other support, Megs Jenkins dusts off the housekeeper with aplomb. Is the governess hallucinating or is the horror real? The answer ranks this ghost story right up there with "The Haunting" and "The Uninvited."
The anticipated release of this DVD comes just as Universal announces another turn of the screw, this one a contemporary remake called "The Turning" in which the governess becomes an estate caretaker. It will be made by the gentleman who gave us recent remakes of "House of Wax" and "The Blob." If "The Innocents" doesn't scare you, that news should. This is one of the classiest and most subtle ghost stories ever written. It's the very antithesis of the blood-and-gore movie shockers being promoted on this disc.
William Archibald adapted it for the stage and Truman Capote helped midwife it to film. Given the overt Freudianism and covert pedophilia that quicken their script, it is odd to find a key moment missing on DVD, one in which the boy plants a lip-to-lip lover's kiss on the governess. You wonder what other "modifications" (as the full-screen version warns) have been made. Jack Clayton directed and Freddie Francis photographed it in widescreen black-and-white ill-served in this transfer. You'd do well to wait for the special edition. Surely there will be one.