This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
The Operation Was a Success.
The Patient Died.
Plot Overview
In Victorian England, late 19th
century, a man-about-town (Michael Redgrave) selects novice governess
Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr) to care for his adolescent, orphaned niece
& nephew on his country estate in Bly. Her dedication and love
of children spoke well for a candidate needed to assume total
responsibility without any bother to him. She
prayerfully accepts.
She settles in well with the niece
Flora (Pamela Franklin) a veritable angel who being a good girl expects
to go to heaven when she dies. She, however, has an odd belief
that those too bad to make it there might be consigned to wander around
down here. The nephew Miles (Martin Stephens) has been expelled from
boarding school for his corrupt language and rough play. He'd been
tight with the late valet Peter Quint (Peter Wyngarde) who seems to
have been an unwholesome influence on him.
From the housekeeper Mrs. Grose (Megs Jenkins) emerges
the background story: Quint and the previous governess
Miss Jessel (Clytie Jessop) were “in love” and carried
on a torrid affair. One rainy night Quint coming home drunk stumbled
on the stone stairs, hit his head and expired. Miss Jessel in
grief drowned herself in the lake. Since drunkards and suicides
evidently go to different levels in the bad place, they have remained
on earth to continue their doings down here as incubus and succubus
possessing the children. Miss Giddens is obligated by her employer
to handle any trouble without bothering him with it. She cannot
go to the vicar for fear of causing a scandal. Mrs. Grose is
useless and the servants hirelings. So from her limited church
background—her father was a minister—she herself
attempts the needed exorcisms, one by one, with mixed results.
Ideology
This horror film presents a pattern of events tied to a couple's romance from beyond the grave, not so predictable I should think. It somewhat follows a bellwether land, sea & air motif of, (Prov. 30:18-19) “There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.” First, “the way of an eagle in the air” is represented by Flora's observation of, “a lovely spider and it's eating a butterfly.” Unfortunately, watching it in B&W we can't appreciate the loveliness that Flora attributes to the spider, what was elsewhere described of its prey by Henry David Thoreau as, “My gay butterfly is entangled in a spider's web”—Walden. The spider, of course, is a vampire and it's really going to town on the hapless insect.
“The way of a serpent upon a
rock” is represented by Flora's pet tortoise Rupert. She's not
allowed to bring Rupert into the house, so she hides him in her skirts. For
all her affection towards this torpid pet, she is somewhat abusive,
sinking the animal in the lake to see if it swims (like a rock) and also
it'll get tossed like a bowling ball when tensions mount up.
“The way of a ship in the midst of the sea” is represented by Flora having rowed a boat to the gazebo to dance. She was too young to be allowed to handle the big boat all by herself but did it in disobedience.
“The way of a man with a maid” portends to be a dark relationship, not some clever, touching ghost story.
Production Values
“” (1961) was directed by Jack Clayton. Its screenplay was written by John Mortimer and William Archibald who adapted it from Henry James's short story, The Turn of the Screw. It stars Deborah Kerr, Peter Wyngarde and Megs Jenkins. The acting was most excellent, especially from lovely Deborah Kerr.
This 1961 movie passed the Hays production code standards as non-objectionable—like what we now call PG,—voluntarily implemented before the current rating system came into play, by an industry wanting to avoid government censorship or regional restrictions. The latter could be well illustrated from author Paul Wellman as:
interference from the strait-laced element which, in Kansas, listed the Seven Deadly Sins quite different from those denominated by the early Church Fathers. The Kansas Seven were: dancing, cards, the theater, nonattendance at church, tobacco, drinking and profanity. To the peculiar mental bent, the chief zest of which is the regulation of the lives of others, not even theft, murder, or adultery seemed somehow so important as these deadly sins. (68)
Kansas was an abode of many Pharisees who thanked God that they were not as other men. They condemned sin more loudly and constantly than it was condemned anywhere else, but they had their own category of sins. Certain sins were blacker than others. (137)
Mrs. Grose tells of the former governess, "She
and Miss Flora used to dance together, dance by the hour." The
uncle's posture and verbiage ("Give me your hand") resembled those
of a poker player intent on his game, he traveled to Calcutta known
for its gambling, and he came across as a gambling addict relegating family
responsibilities to last place. They show this movie in a cinema
house, what can be read in a perfectly respectable book. The characters do
attend church and delay a necessary trip until after the service. Nobody
smokes on screen. Quint had been “full of drink” the night he
died. As for profanity, Miles in anger calls Miss Giddens “a
damned hussy” and “a dirty hag,” the limits of what one
could get away with under the Hays code.
This 1961 B&W movie used first rate cinematography to achieve a creepy ambiance cum bucolic backdrop. The music and acting added to the effect. The screenplay itself kept the audience off balance. Runtime is 1 hour 40 minutes.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
The movie starts and ends with the leading
lady in earnest prayer. When she has nobody else to rely on, she relies
on God who answers her prayer but not in the way she expects.
This is a sneaky horror film that draws one in rather than bombard him with special effects. It's a memorable classic.
Movie Ratings
Action Factor: Weak action scenes. Suitability for children: Suitable for children with guidance. Special effects: Well done special effects. Video Occasion: Better than watching TV. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Five stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
Wellman, Paul I. The Walls of Jericho. Copyright © 1947 by Paul I. Wellman. Philadelphia and New York: J.B. Lippincott Company. Print.
bibles.n7nz.org