★ 7 / 10
Rarely, if ever, do I rate the child
CinemaSerf
Rarely, if ever, do I rate the child as the star of a film, but Bonita Granville is very, very good as the odious, obnoxious, hateful, spiteful, spoiled "Mary"…
Rarely, if ever, do I rate the child as the star of a film, but Bonita Granville is very, very good as the odious, obnoxious, hateful, spiteful, spoiled "Mary" in this story of two teachers - Merle Oberon and Miriam Hopkins - who fall for the doctor - Joel McCrea. When these old friends try to discipline the ghastly child for persistent lateness, she flees to her wealthy grandmother and concocts a story designed to destroy their careers and their happiness. It's a simple story, well told, that conveys clearly the perils of telling lies. The lead performances are super, and well supported by Catherine Doucet; Alma Kruger as the doting grandmother and "Miss Gulch" herself - Margaret Hamilton - as the maid who sees through the child right from the outset. There are some fairly hefty alterations to Lillian Hellman's original play; the relationship between the women is entirely platonic in the film which was not the case on stage, but that's no great surprise given the commercial necessities of the time and it is still well worth a watch.
Read full review
★ 8 / 10
Brilliant performance from Granville
gbill-74877
With Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, and Joel McCrea in the leading roles, I wasn't expecting to find them all upstaged by a brilliant performance from…
With Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, and Joel McCrea in the leading roles, I wasn't expecting to find them all upstaged by a brilliant performance from 13-year-old Bonita Granville. I knew very little about the film going in, and that was a good thing, as the film went off in an interesting direction. The setup is that Hopkins and Oberon play a couple of friends who start up a school in rural Massachusetts after graduating from college, and McCrea is a doctor who falls for Oberon. Granville's character is one of the challenges they have; she's spoiled, manipulative, a bully, and overall troublemaker in the school. Another is Hopkins' aunt (Catherine Doucet), a featherbrained leech who imposes herself on them. I won't describe the plot further, except to say that there's just enough of an inkling of truth about a rumor that is whispered about - or in the seeds of a possible truth - that it gives the story nuance, and helps enable a deceitfulness which is as clever and realistic as it is maddening (and it is quite maddening). William Wyler exercises the right amount of restraint as director - letting the events and emotions come to us (if that makes any sense), avoiding mundane tedium such as the details of a courtroom scene, and letting a deep cast deliver fine performances, another of which is from 12-year-old Marcia Mae Jones. It really makes me want to seek out 'The Children's Hour' (1961).
Read full review
•••
Plese seed both files. Not getting anything. Tks Antiggy