The Chalk Garden (1964)

Redundant and unnecessary.

One of my all time favorites.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a very odd and obscure film, but with major star names like John Mills, Hayley Mills, Edith Evans and Deborah Kerr, it's hard to understand why it's very little known. I guess this might be due to the fact that it doesn't fit into any simple category. The plot tells the tale of a troubled (i.e, bratty) teenager who scares off all her governesses until the enigmatic Miss Madrigal comes to stay. A small scale battle of wits begins to play out, until the situation reaches a climax and various secrets are revealed.So basically we have a two-hander between Deborah Kerr as the governess/substitute mother figure and Hayley Mills as the annoying daughter, which would seem to categorise this as a soap opera, and really thats all it really amounts too. Having said that, I really enjoyed watching it. The film benefits mainly from the performances of it's two leads, with Kerr poker-faced and icy as the governess, and Hayley Mills skillfully managing not to alienate the viewers affections with her portrayal of the out of control girl. Kerr has all the best lines, with some very smart comebacks to Mills nosey questioning, in fact the whole script is well written with a lot of very natural sounding dialogue. The settings don't stray much from the house and a nearby beach, which gives away the movie's origins as a play - I could see exactly how this would have been staged in a theatre. Luckily the filming is well handled, with some nice lighting and camera angles, even if some of the outdoor scenery look a bit artificial - however I honestly could not tell if that beach was a real or a set! I would recommend this for the strong performances, especially if any of the cast I have listed above are favourites of yours - and the script - but it's really only Saturday afternoon matinée material as the plot is hardly earth-shattering. A neat metaphor using the concept of flowers growing in a chalk garden rounds it off nicely.

bought this film when VHS tapes were still in circulation. it's just a shame that it has never been released on DVD as more people need to see it. Hayley mills turns in a great performance and it's nice to her fit into more mature and adult rolls since her turn in a string of Disney released films from the early sixties. her father john mills who stars as maitland the butler also does a great performance as does Deborah Kerr who plays the title role of the governess in this psychological drama. the plot tells the story of laurel a rather un-ruly and temperamental child who lives with her grandmother who goes through a record o 3 governesses in a week. laurel soon meets her match when impeccably dressed and well-mannered ms. madrigal shows up on their doorstep enquiring about the position. laurel states that every one has a secret and that she is willing to go through great lengths to find out what it is. from there, she informs her grandmother who prompyly has the governess dismissed. but ms. madrigal is not easily deterred and it is clear that she wants to help the deeply troubled laurel. well paced drama with some excellent performances and i highly recommend seeing it if one can get a copy of it.

What can I say! I'm just another Haley Mills fan like all the rest. In this role as Laurel, she is being precocious, over inquisitive, and a downright trouble maker as far as governesses are concerned. However, her incessant pursuit of trying to turn up details in their private lives really underscores a psychological imbalance in her own young life which eventually surfaces. Much does revolve around the fact of her being estranged from her mother as the tale unfolds.This is a lovely combination of real-life father, John Mills, in a fine supporting role, and Deborah Kerr as the well-meaning but beleaguered governess. Many scenes are emotionally intense yet so well acted that we are swept along in the story. The tangled threads of family relationships is gradually sorted out and priorities are set aright after much confusion and willfulness particularly in the obstinacy of the grandmother (Edith Evans), who performs with great dramatic vehemence near the conclusion. A touching, human story, a great play.

This could be classified as soap opera, but compared to the standards being set by most of what's produced these days, it's practically King Lear. Deborah Kerr is the governess hired by John Mills to minister to his (real-life) daughter Hayley. This picture falls into the "young rapscallion set right by proper English governess" genre, but the story engenders genuine emotion, and all the actors, especially Kerr and young Hayley, play their parts earnestly and convincingly.