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    The Children's Hour

    Reviewed by
    pietroantoni@

    Lilliam Hellman's play of 1931 is very bold material for its time though it did play successfully on Broadway as she wrote it. It concerns, childish rumours, lies and allegations made by young girls at a boarding school regarding a lesbian relationship between the two headmistresses. When filmed in 1933 by William Wyler (same director as the 1961 version) with Merle Oberon, Miriam Hopkins and Joel McCrae, the entire situation had to be changed to a heterosexual love triangle for obvious reasons. One simply could not even mention the word lesbian yet alone make a film on the subject. I saw the 30's version on TURNER and it worked quite well, but IT WAS NOT THE PLAY LILLIAN HELLMAN wrote. Fast forward some 30 years.

    In 1961, William Wyler thought he'd have another go at the great play and filmed it as it was written. The film was a critical hit receiving 5 Oscar Nominations including one for FAY BAINTER as the grandmother. Her performance was luminous and still remains so after my 4th viewing. Audrey Hepburn as Karen, the guilt ridden Martha (Shirley MacLaine), Miriam Hopkins as the aunt, yes, (one of the headmistresses of the original film), Karen Balkin as the malicious 'bad seed' of a child and Veronica Cartwright as the child forced to withhold the truth due to her circumstance bring a very strong commitment to the film and make it work perfectly. In my mind Fay Bainter, an often hysterical Shirley MacLaine and Karen Balkin, the unsympathetic, horrible child give the most startling performances. The film also stars JAMES GARNER as Karen's fiancé.

    As good as the film is, the sensitive, wonderful direction of Willie Wyler, the stellar performances, the gorgeous B + W cinematography, the courageous screenplay in which the word "lovers" is said very loudly and clearly, it seemed all for naught as 1961, contrary to the opinion of those in charge, America and the world WAS NOT YET READY FOR THIS HARD BOILED DRAMA with the lesbian theme and a TWIST! People still found the subject matter taboo and they stayed away in droves. Looking at this very honest attempt in 2015, I realize that 1961 (before I was even born) was really the worst of times to be filming a lesbian themed film. The film going public had almost no information on the subject 53 years ago, it was all still forbidden by law so how on earth could the audience be asked to understand what was considered unnatural and perverted. It was a gamble that failed because of TIME. Yet the film is undeniably moving, so humane and gut-wrenching! It would be wonderful if some courageous filmmaker like Gus Van Sant took another stab at this remarkable play. It would work today if well made. Of this I'm convinced.

    10
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    pietroantoni@  27.1.2015 age: 36-49 14,528 reviews

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