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The Children's Hour (1961)
One
simple lie destroyed everything they had.
Director: William Wyler, Rated Approved
  Starring:
Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, James Garner, Miriam Hopkins,
Fay Bainter, Karen Balkin, Veronica Cartwright, Mimi Gibson,
William Mims, Sallie Brophy
DML Rating:
★★★★★★★★★☆
- near perfect
"You've always had a
jealous, possessive nature even as a child. If you had a friend,
you'd be upset if she liked anybody else. And that's what's
happening now! And it's unnatural." - Mrs. Lily Mortar
Why watch this? A
child's lie can have devastating consequences, as we shall see.
Plot Summary: This
drama centers on two women, Karen Wright and Martha Dobie, who
run a boarding school for girls. When a problematic student,
Mary Tilford, fabricates a lie about the two teachers, the
resulting scandal threatens to devastate their lives and
careers.
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Dad's Preview:
This painful drama is really a two-sided coin. On one, we have
two lifelong friends who run an all-girls boarding
house. Karen is engaged to a handsome doctor. Martha is still
single. When a particularly devious young school girl, Mary, is
caught lying, she decided to tell her wealthy grandmother
several lies about Karen and Martha's relationship. This goes
public and immediately destroys the business because people,
believing idle gossip, don't want their children being schooled
by "those kind of women". The second side exposes the nature of
homosexuality at that time period. It was kept quiet and unfairly judged. However, it was (and still is)
REAL. For a gay person, the concealment of this personal trait often had devastating effects.
Imagine living a life unable to be yourself.
This story was originally penned by
Lillian Hellman, and is brought to life by the
amazing director William Wyler (The
Best Years of our Lives,
Roman
Holiday,
Ben-Hur).
Perhaps this film will help some close-minded folks to see humanity in all
people. |
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William
Wyler, The Mirisch Co.; United Artists
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