The Innocents (1961)

Based on Henry James wonderful novella The Turn of the Screw, The Innocents features the wonderful talent of Deborah Kerr playing Miss Giddens, a minister’s daughter well out of her first blush of youth. Taking her first position as something more than a  governess, she will assume sole responsibility of  Miles (Martin Stephens) and Flora (Pamela Franklin). Their uncle, played by Michael Redgrave in a brief cameo, states quite frankly that he doesn’t have the time nor the inclination to care for them. Indeed, he was highly inconvenienced when their former governess Miss Jessel (Clytie Jessop) suddenly died. He would like her to have full charge of the children and explicitly states that she not bother him with communications of any sort. Miss Giddens, who has a hard time keeping the delight of this new position out of her countenance, dutifully heads to the beautiful country estate where the children live. While checking out the beautiful grounds, she hears someone call Flora’s name but sees no one. When she meets Flora who seems a delightful child she is heartened by her easy-going demeanor and they head to the house to meet the housekeeper Mrs. Grose (Meg Jenkins). Impressed with all she sees, Miss Giddens is glad she has taken on the position.

Miles soon returns from school just after a letter arrives from the headmaster stating that he has been expelled with the ambiguous excuse that he is a terrible influence on the other boys.  Giddens is charmed by Miles and has a hard time reconciling what the school could have meant. She doesn’t press the issue. Soon after, Giddens begins to see the figures of a man and woman she does not recognize. When she tells Miss Grose about her sighting and explains the man’s looks, Mrs. Grose explains about the prior inhabitant Mr. Quint (Peter Wyngarde) and Miss Jessel whom, were sexually involved and not especially discreet about it- indicating that the children may have seen some things they would not understand.  Mrs. Grose explained that Quint dies mysteriously one night and that Jessel, overcome by grief, killed herself soon after. 

When both Jessel and Quint start making more appearances, Giddens is convinced that they have some strange hold on the children, she also thinks that secretively, they see the ghosts themselves. Trying to get them to talk about what they saw before the two deaths proves impossible and though Mrs. Grose claims to believe her, Giddens still feels alone in her mission to get the children free from the ghosts’ clutches. Things unravel as Jessel makes another appearance and Giddens tries to get Flora to admit she sees her. Flora is taken away in hysterics by Mrs. Grose who admits that she has never heard such foul language from a small child. Forcing Mrs. Grose to take Flora to her uncle and sending all the servants away, she focuses all her attention on Miles, convinced that if he admits Quint’s name, he will be free of him.

I have seen a few versions of The Turn of the Screw, including my favorite version with Lynn Redgrave. Like the other versions and with the book, I began to question the sanity of the governess. However, Kerr’s Miss Giddens was quite sure she was sane. Considered by most to be Kerr’s best work, she plays a very compelling governess whose secrets are just barely on the surface, allowing the children to take advantage. The cast as a whole is spectacular in each of their roles. The Innocents is a truly spooky (Miss Jessel among the weeds in the rain- goosebumps!) Gothic horror film that was shot brilliantly with the help of Freddie Francis the Director of Photography. In fact, often times Kerr would have to wear sun glasses between scenes because his usage of the klieg lights was intense to say the least. Definitely a must see!






Tonight on TCM!
The Story of Temple Drake (1933) ...Ohhh! I have been waiting to see this!
A society girl gets mixed up with blackmail and murder after a vicious sexual assault.
Dir: Mitchell Leisen Cast: Gene Tierney, John Lund, Miriam Hopkins

The Murder Man (1935)

Shortly after hanging up on a desperate client that he and his partner Henry Mander (Harvey Stephens) have swindled money from, James Halford (Theodore von Eltz) gets into a verbal confrontation with Mander. Demanding he get the twenty thousand back from a risky investment that may blow their cover, Halford leaves the office and is discovered shot in his car when the chauffeur arrives at his home. Meanwhile, Mander is at the shooting gallery across the street from their office, having been told there will be a message awaiting him there. But there is no message.


When the Daily Star catches wind of the murder, Hal Robins (Robert Barrat) sends out a search party for the often drunk Steve Grey (Spencer Tracy) whose habit of scooping all the other papers and penning an interesting story, makes him he ideal man to follow the biggest story of the year. In fact, Grey is so good he is one step ahead of the story, able to dictate in advance of what is about to occur. Like when Mander is arrested under the suspicion that he killed Halford for the insurance claim.

However, it isn’t just that Grey’s a great writer; he has a personal history with Halford and Mander. When he is put on the stand to testify against Mander after stating he overheard Mander in an incriminating conversation, he makes no secret that Mander and Halford swindled Grey’s own father out of money. Despite this, Grey successfully manages to put the nail in Mander’s coffin; he is convicted and sentenced to execution. This is exactly what Grey wants or at least what he thought he wanted. Columnist Mary Shannon (Virginia Bruce) is in love with Steve, she is everything good and pure in his life. She makes him question what he has done for the sake of vengeance. You see, Steve not only watched his father lose all his money to Halford and Mander, he also suffered through watching his wife carry on an affair with Halford before he coldly tossed her aside, successfully managing to get all her money as well- leading her to commit suicide.

So Grey called Mander to the shooting gallery, stating there was a message awaiting him there. Grey took one of the guns and shot Halford in his car as he was being driven home. And Grey testified against Mander stating he overheard him promising to use the insurance money to pay back a client. He manages to successfully murder one man and have the other take the fall for it.


But now Grey has an attack of conscience. It doesn’t help that Robins assigns him to meet with and write Mander’s last story before he is executed. After struggling with the proper words and arguing with Robins, Grey dictates the real truth on the gramophone and asks Mary to type it up for him herself. As she listens in horror to what Grey has said, Grey takes himself to the police station to confess.

Hoping to catch him before he does confess, Mary breaks the record and runs to the station. However, Grey must tell his story. When he is taken away to be booked for murder, the commissioner assures Mary that the jury will take the full story of what’s transpired into consideration.

 
This movie was not only interesting due to the wonderful performance from Tracey, but also because of the unique ending. Though a bit drawn out, it was refreshing to see the story played out fully. Most movies of that era would have had the scene ending as Mary listens to Grey’s confession or as Grey enters the police station. Here we have the full confession again and the reason for it being told by Grey to an astonished commissioner. An added touch is that Grey phones into the Daily Star to make sure they get the story that Mary failed to produce- a scoop is a scoop after all! It was also interesting how the court story unfolds with interplay between the courtroom and the reporters rushing to the phones to give juicy tidbits of what’s going on.


Be on the look out for James Stewart in his first speaking role as “Shorty” the reporter.

Tonight on TCM!
Spend an evening with Orson- it won't hurt!

A Taste of Honey (1961)

A Taste of Honey recently premiered on TCM and I’m glad I recorded it!

Jo (Rita Tushingham) is the illegitimate daughter of her promiscuous, inattentive, and impoverished mother Helen (Dora Bryan). Now at age seventeen she has decided to quit school and get a job. This becomes even more necessary when Helen’s current suitor, Peter (Robert Stephens) proposes marriage but rejects the idea of Jo living with them. For solace Jo turns to Jimmy (Paul Danquah), a black sailor enjoying brief shore leave. They have a brief affair, Jo’s first and then Jimmy soon departs. Jo gets a job as a shoe clerk and rents a room she will eventually share with the awkward but caring Geoffrey (Murray Melvin), a homosexual. Months later when Jo discovers she’s pregnant and probably on the same path as her mother, she is desolate. However, Geoffrey is delighted and practical. He starts preparations for the baby’s arrival and gets Jo the proper information needed from a nearby clinic. However, when it seems evident that Jo is getting more depressed as the months go on so Geoffrey visits Helen who has not known of Jo’s whereabouts for the past eight months. Her husband Peter has turned out to be quite the alcoholic and Helen takes this opportunity to abruptly move in to Jo’s flat and oust Geoffrey. The movie ends at this point leaving us to question the fate of Jo and her baby.

Set against the dark and grim background of a seaport in Britain, A Taste of Honey wastes no time delving into the crude and realistic issues dealing with race, sexuality, gender, and the dysfunctional relationship between a mother and daughter. Jo and Helen’s interactions are hard to watch as one tries hard to show she doesn’t care while the other tries just as hard to show she does. With the roles reversed, it’s often Jo who is the more practical, having missed out on the opportunity to be properly cared for, she is quite jaded and vocal about it. Unfortunately, she is also a victim of her own insecurity and her desperate loneliness leads her down the same path as her mother.

I was absolutely captivated by Tushingham and her features, namely her eyes. Eyes that once prompted a co-star to say she has "A face saved from the commonplace by a pair of enormous eyes."  Her portrayal of Jo is magnificent, seeming to capture the essence of teenager angst and the oncoming revolution of the sixties young population.  A Taste of Honey is a must see for anyone who enjoys a good bit of realistic dysfunction. It deals with issues that we can relate to even today.

Happy Birthday Rita Tushingham!