The Children's Hour (1961)

This is a well done tasteful movie about many issues starting with the rumor mill or gossip that plagues everyone yet all contribute to it one way or another. However, when it gets out of hand, it can destroy. Another issue is the believability of a child and when they say something. If they have never learned to lie then they are beyond reproach. If they did learn to lie what defense do adults have? We all visit with teachers who have to be fit and perfect if for the only reason that they are teaching kids verbally and by example too. There is rush to judgment, doubt and hidden bias at work in this film that when you mix it all together a fine must see movie is upon you. Watch the expressions on the old grandmas face when the kid is whispering in her ear. Priceless! Also watch the little brat kids face too as she acts out quite effectively "if looks could kill" on another little girl. Enjoy James Garner who is as handsome as ever. The film takes the viewer by surprise. You see it starts out rather mundane and slowly surfaces here and there until we are grabbed. Then, it doesn't let go. Stay with it through all this because your emotions will go full cycle and run toward the comeuppance part. Also consider the ending. Was there any truth to all these lies? Does it take one to know one? Enjoy

It's always a shame when classic movies' breakthroughs have been so overdone that watching the original loses its meaning. I hope when you watch The Children's Hour you can appreciate how groundbreaking and scandalous it was in 1961.Based on a Lillian Hellman play (that's your cue to prepare yourself for a very heavy movie), Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine play two teachers at an all-girls school. One of the students is a terrible, pot-stirring brat, and she starts a rumor about her two teachers. She claims she saw them kissing, and the aftermath of her accusation wreaks havoc on the good friends' careers and lives.Both women give excellent, powerful performances, and there's so much to appreciate about the film. Obviously, moral discussions will abound afterwards, but what gets under my skin the most is the trouble-making child. So often, children and teenagers do damage without realizing the consequences. I hope someday young people will be less selfish and learn to see the bigger picture. Revenge, self-righteousness, and deception are terrible qualities. Hopefully The Children's Hour can teach a valuable lesson.

Fay Bainter was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actress in a Supporting Role, an award that she had won in 1938 for Jezebel. It was also nice to see Miriam Hopkins here, since she HAD previously played the part of Martha in the 1936 movie, These Three based on the same stage play. After the production code had been lifted in the early 1960s, William Wyler and Lillian Hellman were able to re-do the movie, which was more faithful to the original Hellman stage play.This is about two young women, Karen (Audrey Hepburn) and Martha (Shirley MacLain), who run a private school for girls. Martha's silly and careless Aunt Lily (Miriam Hopkins) is also a teacher at the school. One day, Mary, a vindictive student at the school oversees Karin consoling Martha (with a hug and a kiss on the cheek). Later, Mary's friend overhears Aunt Lily make an offhand judgment about Martha being 'unnatural.' Mary's wild, overly precocious imagination INSTANTLY concludes that they are lovers! (The word, 'lesbians' is not used in the movie, but what else are two women lovers?) When Mary whispers this idea to her influential grandmother (Fay Bainter), she believes it and tells other parents. They remove their girls from the school. When one of Mary's 'friends' tries to set the record straight, Mary blackmails her into remaining quiet.In the end, ALL the major characters suffer some loss from the girls' lies and rumors. The final scene also shows that they are all socially isolated from each other. Karen's boyfriend, played by James Garner, is essential to the story; but his role is never well developed. He mainly serves as another 'victim' of this essentially all-female created scandal. At the very end of the movie, the very long tracking shot of Audrey Hepburn defiantly walking past a large group of people, as they look on, is very powerful and memorable.This movie is WAY too preposterous to be believable. But, as with other movies about evil children—like The Bad Seed and The Nanny—it seems to have had a curious entertainment value during that decade. But at the time, the social scandal of an implied lesbian relationship, and its wake of victims, was also important in the movie's overall shock effect.

Being a fan of documentaries, I came across The Celluloid Closet, and this is one of the featured films in that documentary. The one film that stood out to me is this film. Not only for Shirley Maclaine's fine performance, but the fact that Audrey Hepburn, screen legend and known more for playing romantic comedy leads was in the film. The only film which she plays opposite leading man (James Garner) and female co-star. And they are all brilliant in it. The supporting cast (Miriam Hopkins, Fay Bainter and all the child actors) were great and believable. Well told, brilliantly photographed, beautifully acted and even if it is seen as dated, there's a large part of the story that sill holds true today. Martha's confession scene seems so relatable for many people today as it was back then. Truly this is a film ahead of it's time. I've read reviews from as recent as 3 years ago which have all agreed. This is really classic story telling.