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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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Effective drama
This 1961 melodrama tackles the daring (for then) subject of lesbianism between two teachers, and what happens when whispers of it reach the ears of a small town public. For all it's datedness (which isn't actually very much), the situation could be re-filmed quite successfully even today without much need for changing a lot of the details. Due to the good performances, it still stands as a film worthy of your attention.
The two teachers in question are Martha (Shirley MacLaine) and Karen (Audrey Hepburn), who run a small school for girls which has just started to flourish. Karen has a long standing fiance, while all that Martha has is a washed out old actress of an aunt. But they both have each other, and have become close friends - which unfortunately is the very thing that starts off the trouble.
If you are unfamiliar with the plot, you should find this film entertaining. You will find out early on that the gossip about the two women is started by a particularly obnoxious girl at school who decides to get back at the two teachers for punishing her spoilt ways. The havoc that the child manages to cause is quite well documented and carries the film through from it's half way mark right until the end. I won't tell you any more about the plot, as it's much more rewarding to watch the film unprepared, although I will say that the general air of doom and gloom does seem to be laid on with a trowel at some points, but in fairness this is simply down to the time the film was made. Even so, you can still sympathise with the two women as the plight they are in is still relevant enough even by modern standards. However, I predict that you will be rolling your eyes at certain aspects of the film that probably wouldn't be filmed the same way now, such as the discreet hushed whispering, or a convenient "out of earshot" positioning for certain conversations, and even the very obvious closing of a door whenever the topic of what the two women actually "did" ever gets mentioned. Phrases such as "in my room" and "late at night" take on huge gravity, and it would be rather easy to poke fun at the level of horror that is evoked by the accusations, but the film luckily manages to keep it's dignity for most of the time, and to keep your interest up at all times.
As I mentioned, the performances are all very good, notably from the two leads of course, but also from the whole cast, with special mention for the young actress who plays the vile brat Mary who makes up the lies in the first place. And there's a great turn from a young Veronica Cartright (from "The Birds") who plays a more timid child, also caught up in the web of deceit. The film also looks very good, in lovely crisp black and white, although I did find a few scene edits very odd when instead of cutting away and back again, the film occasionally just cut parts of the same angle together so that scenes seemed to be jumping frames. I did have a few reservations towards the end of the film as the script seems to be saying (albeit sympathetically) that to be a lesbian is to be doomed rather than accepted, and at times it was hard to fathom how the two leads characters were supposed to be reacting to the central topic. More than anything else, the closing shot of one of the lead actresses walking away from the final scene left me totally clueless about her character's reaction to what forms the (very important) climax to the film. Too much unsaid here (and I do mean explicitly in the script) makes me think the film shied away from being as sympathetic as it should have been here. I can't explain what I mean without giving away huge spoilers, but if you feel unsatisfied by the film at all, I would wager this last scene would have a lot to do with it.
But to sum up, the film is as much about a well-created lie from a child managing to poison their lives of innocent adults as it is about the subject of the lie itself. The fact that the lie is such a juicy and forbidden topic for a serious film of 1961 like this is what makes "The Children's Hour" a remarkable tale. Try and consider the plight of these two women in the time that the film was written rather than now, and you may be able to immerse yourself in what is actually a pretty good drama.
Rating: 
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Surprising, daring and ahead of its time
One of the most overlooked gems in Hepburn, MacLaine and director William Wyler's catalogs, this film starts like quite an ordinary by-the-numbers film from a girls school. Only when a lie from the mouth of a spoilt girl triggers a string of events that whirl out of control, the life will never be same again for any of the characters. The seemingly far-fetched plot from a play by Lillian Hellman gets frighteningly realistic under the sure hand of director William Wyler (Ben Hur, Funny Girl, Best Years of Our Lives). Audrey Hepburn gives an understated, graceful performance as one co-owner and teacher of the school, Shirley MacLaine is laconic and bitter as the other. The supporting cast is also excellent and although the film is far from easy viewing, it is nevertheless fascinating in its own very peculiar way - although the ending may seem to leave more questions open than solved.
Rating: -
Wonderful Acting And Interesting Plot
This is a wonderful production with good acting all around. Audrey Hepburn is lovely and sympathetic as Karen, Shirley MacClain shows she can do much more than comedy as Martha, James Garner is handsome and appealing as Audrey Hepburn's love interest Joe, and Miriam Hopkins is Martha's aunt - a spiteful down on her luck aging actress who causes more than a little trouble. The child actors are also great with the actresses playing horrid Mary and the kleptomaniac Rosalie deserving special recognition. Most people probably know the basic storyline. Karen and Martha are two young women in their late twenties running a successful boarding school for wealthy tweenage girls. Mary, a miserable girl seeking revenge for deserved punishment tells her grandmother the women are having an "unnatural" relationship and gets Rosalie a kleptomaniac she is blackmailing to support the story. Grandmother feels it is her duty to immediately pull Mary from the school and alert other parents. Amazingly this is enough for all the parents to show up at the school and immediately take their daughters home. The movie becomes almost nightmarish at this point as events spiral farther downward for Karen and Martha. A tragic death occurs near the end of the film which is true to Hellman's play but it seems somewhat unbelievable as it occurs when this character's life is getting more hopeful. All in all a fine film with messages concerning the damage malicious gossip can do and the need for tolerance of what adults may or may not choose to do in private.
Rating: 
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Three Great Performances
It's not often that a director has an opportunity to remake his own film but with "The Children's Hour" (1962) William Wyler got a second crack at Lillian Hellman play about Martha and Karen, two schoolteachers (Shirley MacLaine and Audrey Hepburn) who are harmed by a resentful student.
His first attempt was "These Three" (1936) and Hellman's lesbian elements were completely ignored. Not that they are dealt with that forthrightly in the remake but at least they get some attention. Interestingly Marian Hopkins, who plays MacLaine's aunt in the 1962 version, had MacLaine's role in the original. That film really belonged to child actors Bonita Granville (the original "Nancy Drew") and Marcia Mae Jones.
There were actually three (not two) exceptional performances in "The Children's Hour". MacLaine and Fay Bainter are always mentioned in discussions about the film, but Veronica Cartwright's performance as the kelpto blackmail victim (Jones' part in the original) tends to get overlooked, simply because it was a smaller part and because she was a child actor. But Wyler really gets a stunning performance out of her; in what was probably the most challenging role in the whole production. Cartwright had considerably more acting for the camera experience (and innate talent) than Karen Balkin (who played Mary) and she is able to really showcase her skills in the scenes they have together.
The film concerns two unmarried teachers who run a select school for wealthy pre-teen girls. Hepburn has been engaged to Joe, a local doctor (James Garner here-Joel McCrea in the original), for two years but has been evasive about setting a date for the marriage ceremony.
When the school's only behavior problem, Mary (Karen Balkin in a somewhat one dimensional performance that will have you wishing for Granville but was probably what Wyler wanted this time around) is punished, she gets even by making scandalous accusations about the two teachers. These are compounded by the ill-advised remarks of Martha's aunt. Led by Mary's grandmother (Bainter) the whole town turns against the pair, Joe being the lone holdout.
As the events play out Martha must eventually confront the fact that she is in love with Karen. Although "These Three" had a somewhat upbeat ending such is not the case with the 1962 version which at first glance seems to be saying that once you come out there is no option but suicide. Yet on closer examination you realize that Wyler has tacked on an almost expressionistic ending to his otherwise realistic film (note the off-kilter shots of Karen running toward the house and the shadow of Martha's body on the wall of her room). This stylistic change is to be read as an allegorical statement; that when a society banishes and ostracizes those who might deviate from normal convention, it denies such individuals a useful and productive place within its structure (metaphorically the right to exist).
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
Rating: -
Fascinating, Flawed
Note: SPOILER ALERT (if you've never seen the film, skip this because it will spoil the plot/ending)
Those who have seen this film might agree with my assessment, but keep in mind that these are just the musings and opinions of your average film-buff.
Shirley MacLaine is fairly impressive. Many will call the performance "overacting". There are scenes that call for big chops. But there are also subtle shades peppered through the film, like when she is told that God will punish her, and she just mutters "He's doing all right." MacLaine is one of several very powerful actors of that period, including Suzanne Pleshette, who never got the right script that was a showcase for their untapped talent.
I have never hated a child character moreso than nasty little Mary. Horrid Mary with the weird face. I wanted to see her suffer, to see her get a comeuppance. (I can only hope that creepy grandma really slugged her good, or yanked a big chunk of hair from her skull...but we are cheated by a dissolve to the next scene. Nuts.)
I loathed Mary much more than the girl in "The Bad Seed" because that pigtailed psycho wasn't "real" to me; however, there are lots of Marys in this world, walking around right now, lying, bullying, sneaking, scheming, whispering, and screaming.
The film's ending is too melodramatic and unrealistic. What, in that time if you had those feelings you'd have to end it all? This is what Hollywood was telling its audience. Scary. Maybe that's why so many young adults who were coming to terms with their true identities attempted suicide. I don't really get what Hellmann was trying to say. Are we to feel pity or sympathy here? Are gay people abnormal misfits? I don't know if the play was different from the film, having never read it.
I just hate the movie's ending.
And the scene where Hepburn runs back toward the house (the strange cutting with different angles of her running) is extremely distracting. The director reminds you that you are watching a film, and it takes away from your involvement in the drama. And it's the most powerful scene in the movie! There are very few cinematic "tricks" in the film, but this one stands out like a sore thumb.
I found the last shot of Hepburn walking away with a detatched, confident expression to be very odd. I must have missed something.
