"The Innocents" Review

 

by Daniel White

Many, many years have passed since I read the Henry James novella, The Turn of the Screw, but I seem to remember finding the ambiguity quite satisfying. One could never say for certain whether the ghosts were real or existed solely in the mind of the young governess. In director Jack Clayton's adaptation, The Innocents (1961), all doubt has been removed: Miss Giddens (the sublime Deborah Kerr) is one nutty nanny! Which I think does the story a disservice; much of the pleasure that stems from this tale is never quite knowing for sure. Is the governess off her gourd or are there genuine ghouls traipsing about the grounds of Bly manor? Still, it's a handsome flick, stylish, impressive and very well-made. And while the focus is on psychological horror and not the genuine article, it is at times very disturbing.

The opening credits are quite unsettling. The film begins in blackness with a young child singing. As the credits roll, we see Miss Kerr's face bathed in sweat. Whimpering, hands clasped, she is pleading to herself to "save the children." Eerie. But then the image of a bedeviled Deborah is replaced by a poised Miss Kerr displaying her usual self control. She is being interviewed by Michael Redgrave, the uncle of the children, for the position of governess. "Do you have an imagination?", he asks Miss Giddens. Immediately, the film is stacking the deck in favor of psychology over supernatural.

Hired by the indifferent uncle, Miss Giddens goes to Bly to take care of Flora (brother Miles is away at school). Assisted by the simple, cheerful housekeeper, Mrs. Grose (Megs Jenkins), the situation intensifies when the young boy returns home. Expelled from school for "corrupting" the other students, Miles proves to be a precocious child. It isn't long after his arrival that Miss Giddens witnesses her first apparition, that of the ghastly Peter Quint (Peter Wyngarde).

This is all Miss Kerr's show and she is splendid. Though the governess is a young woman in James story, it makes no difference here that our star is a spinster of forty. From caring, concerned and confidential, to a woman unraveling, she never hits a false note. It's a deft portrayal of a woman going mad. But not of a woman battling actual malevolent spirits. Kerr is artfully supported by Martin Stephens and Pamela Franklin as the children. And the B&W cinematography by Freddie Francis is superb. In fact, all the production values in this flick are excellent, with a sturdy, well-penned screenplay that Truman Capote had a hand in writing. If only I had been kept guessing...

Released by 20th Century Fox, The Innocents is available on YouTube.