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Steve Hayes reviews the 1964 English drama:
A mysterious guest arrives and disrupts an already chaotic household, when Deborah Kerr, as a governess with a secret, is put in charge of delinquent teenager Hayley Mills, in Ronald Neame’s The Chalk Garden (’64). Also starring John Mills as a wise, ever faithful butler and Oscar nominee Dame Edith Evans as the domineering grandmother. Based on the hit Broadway play by Enid Bagnold, The Chalk Garden is riveting drama from beginning to end.
What I Say: Your Head Trucker loved Hayley Mills and always looked forward to those summertime Disney films that she starred in. But The Chalk Garden, produced by Universal, was a big disappointment - the story line and the dialogue were way over my head, and I was bored to tears. But when M.P. and I watched it online a few years ago, we were both impressed by the emotional depth of the screenplay and the brilliant acting by the whole cast. It's an odd story, but very moving and well worth watching.
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2 comments:
What was it about Haley Mills? I was infatuated by her. All I really remember about the Chalk Garden was Haley Mills setting prepared bonfires (which unbeknownst to her were slightly smaller each day). My cousin Debbie and I had the Parent Trap memorized and would play act scenes for fun. How gay!
Hayley was a pretty blond with a lively personality - she acted and reacted to things just like a "real" kid would do, pretty much, so I suppose I could relate to her. And the plots of her movies usually involved some funny things along with outsmarting the grown-ups (for a good cause).
Acting out the Parent Trap with your cousin - what fun! I remember doing something similar with neighborhood playmates - we'd start with the premises of the movie we'd just seen and then make up more scenes as we went along. It occurs to me just now that I seem to have often been the one "directing" these backyard dramas - just as you might expect of a little gay boy. Grin.
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