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| Deborah Kerr and Hayley Mills |
Miss Madrigal (Deborah Kerr) is the latest in a long line of governesses for young and incorrigible Laurel (Hayley Mills), whose mother went off with her new husband and left her in the care of her own mother, Mrs. St. Maugham (Edith Evans). Laurel, who hates her mother, Olivia (Elizabeth Sellars), for abandoning her, is determined to find out what if any secrets Miss Madrigal may have, and one of them is a doozy. Meanwhile the governess and Mrs. St. M disagree on who should raise Laurel, her mother or her grandmother. Madrigal believes she belongs with Olivia, while her employer vehemently denies this. Then Mrs. St. M's old friend, "Puppy," the retired Judge McWhirrey (Felix Aylmer) shows up, and eventually remembers where he has seen Miss Madrigal before ...
The Chalk Garden is based on a play by Enid Bagnold, and in truth it is very stagey and often unconvincing. There were a great many changes made from theater to film. Deborah Kerr never quite seems to get a handle on her character (although in this she may not necessarily be blamed); Hayley Mills is fine but for one or two occurrences of over-acting; Edith Evans is on the money; and Sellars and Aylmer are perfectly solid. So too is John Mills, who plays the sympathetic butler. There is perhaps too much left unsaid in this version, and characters come to conclusions that seem without foundation.
John Mills with Kerr
Verdict: This Ross Hunter production has some merit but ultimately doesn't quite cut it. **3/4.
I remember seeing this and enjoying it a lot. Very glossy Ross Hunter treatment, and I am always crazy about Deborah Kerr. As you know, I had a big crush on Hayley Mills!
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She was growing up in this movie, and quite pretty! I liked this picture a lot years ago when I first saw it, but for me, it hasn't stood the test of time, although it's still worthwhile revisiting it.
ReplyDeleteI loved The Chalk Garden. I found your blog because I have been searching for the title of a black and white film I saw in 1973. I think the only way I will ever find the title, is from a classic cinema buff. Here's the plot: Young lovers are separated. Woman goes to Europe, marries, has a daughter. Her husband is shot and killed. She returns to home town and finds her former boyfriend is a high school teacher. They reunite, but trouble ensues because a student is in love with the teacher. The teacher is hated by another male student, who loves the female student. In the dramatic climax, the returned woman has the female student in a car, and begins speeding, almost out of control. She tells the student to lay off her boyfriend teacher, or she will crash the car. A few other tid-bits...the child of the returned lover insists on being called "Michael" the name of her father. The teacher has a line: "Think about the paramecium this weekend, and the paramecium will think about you". The final scene of this film was used for Don Adam's Screen Test. If I could only remember just one actor, I could find it in a minute. Does this ring any bells?
ReplyDeleteWell, the movie certainly sounds interesting, and the bit with the woman and the girl student in the car seems a bit familiar, but this just doesn't jump out at me -- yet. Give me awhile and I may remember more about it. Do you know if it was American or foreign and are you certain of the year? Don Adams was already a TV star (in "Get Smart" in the mid-sixties) so he couldn't have used this later film for a screen test. The plot sounds very fifties or sixties.
ReplyDeleteI SAW the film in 1973 on a TV old movie matinee. It was from, I would guess, late forties early fifties. The student was a bobby sixer type. Don Adam's Screen Test recreated scenes from old black and white films.
ReplyDeleteIt was a tv show...perhaps before your time. It was an American film. Do you know of an classic film blog run by an older person, who probably would remember this film?
ReplyDeleteSorry I got confused about Don Adams "Screen Test" TV show. Yes, I recall watching that program. If they featured a scene from the movie you are looking for it must be pretty well known, so it's strange that it isn't immediately familiar. Sounds like something that might have starred Lana Turner. I am going to contact a few people, old movie fans all, and see if anyone can come up with something.
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