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The Innocents (1961 film)

The Innocents is a 1961 gothic psychological horror film directed and produced by Jack Clayton, and starring Deborah Kerr, Michael Redgrave, and Megs Jenkins. Based on the 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw by the American novelist Henry James, the screenplay was adapted by William Archibald and Truman Capote, who used Archibald's own 1950 stage play—also titled The Innocents—as a primary source text. Its plot follows a governess who watches over two children and comes to fear that their large estate is haunted by ghosts and that the children are being possessed.

The Innocents

William Archibald
Truman Capote
John Mortimer (additional scenes and dialogue)

Jack Clayton

Achilles Film Productions[1]
20th Century Fox

20th Century Fox

  • 24 November 1961 (1961-11-24) (London)
  • 15 December 1961 (1961-12-15) (Los Angeles)

99 minutes[2]

United Kingdom
United States

English

£430,000[3]

$1.2 million (North America)[4] (US/Canada)[5]

Archibald's original screenplay for The Innocents was based on the premise that the paranormal events depicted were legitimate. Displeased with Archibald's take on the material, director Jack Clayton appointed American writer Truman Capote to rework the script. Capote's rewrites incorporated psychological themes, resulting in a final work that suggests other alternatives to the plot. Filming took place partly on location at the Gothic mansion of Sheffield Park in Sussex, with additional shoots occurring at Shepperton Studios in Surrey. Shot in CinemaScope, The Innocents incorporated bold minimal lighting as well as deep focus, employed by cinematographer Freddie Francis to achieve a distinctive—and sometimes claustrophobic—atmosphere. The film also pioneered the use of synthesised electronic sound created by Daphne Oram.[6] Clayton was dissatisfied with the original score of the movie by French composer Georges Auric and requested some alteration. However, because Auric was not available due to health problems, Clayton turned to W. Lambert Williamson.


The Innocents received international distribution from the American film studio 20th Century Fox, and received its London premiere on 24 November 1961. It was released in the United States the following month on 15 December in Los Angeles and Christmas Day in New York City. The psychological underpinnings of the film's screenplay have resulted in it being the subject of numerous critical and scholarly essays, particularly in the area of film theory. It was selected by The Guardian as one of the 25 best horror films ever made.[7]

Plot[edit]

Miss Giddens applies for her first job as a governess. The wealthy bachelor uncle who interviews her is unconcerned with her lack of experience. He values his freedom to travel and socialise and unabashedly confesses that he has "no room, mentally or emotionally" for his niece and nephew. They were orphaned and left in his care as infants, and he keeps them at Bly, his large country estate. The previous governess, Mary Jessel, died suddenly less than a year ago. All he cares about is that Miss Giddens accept full responsibility for the children, never troubling him with whatever problems may arise.


At Bly, Miss Giddens is instantly taken with Flora, the niece. She also forges a friendship with Mrs. Grose, the kindly housekeeper. The boy, Miles, is away at boarding school, but soon returns to Bly after being expelled from school for being a "bad influence" on his peers. Mrs. Grose says she cannot imagine Miles misbehaving, and when Miss Giddens meets the boy herself, she too thinks his teachers must have exaggerated. He seems charming and mature – though perhaps too mature, with flirtatious flattery towards his governess.


Miss Giddens soon grows disturbed by the children's occasional odd behaviours and secretiveness, and is bothered by disembodied voices and apparitions of a man and woman she witnesses in the house and grounds, whom Mrs. Grose identifies from their descriptions as Miss Jessel and the uncle's valet, Peter Quint, also dead. Mrs. Grose also reluctantly reveals that the two had been in a relationship. Miss Giddens concludes that the ghosts of Quint and Miss Jessel possess the bodies of the children so they can physically continue their relationship. She is determined to rescue them from this possession, first planning to break her promise to their uncle and write to him, but she is thwarted by a weeping apparition of Miss Jessel in the schoolroom. She then sends Mrs. Grose and Flora to him in London.


Left alone with Miles, Miss Giddens presses him to talk about the ghosts, and about why he was expelled from school. Initially, Miles is glib and evasive, but he eventually admits that he frightened the other boys with violence and vulgar language. She enjoins him to say who taught him this language and behaviour. Miles suddenly begins yelling obscene insults and laughing maniacally, and Quint's face appears in the window behind him, joining in the boy's laughter. Miles then runs outside; Miss Giddens follows, begging him to "say his name." Quint appears on a hedge nearby, but Miles does not seem to see him. He finally shouts Quint's name, and Quint waves his hand. Miles grows still and falls to the ground. Miss Giddens cradles him and assures him that he is free. She then realises that Miles is dead. Sobbing, she leans over him and kisses him on the lips.

Analysis[edit]

The Innocents has received attention from academics and specialists in film theory, beginning with the literary theorist Edmund Wilson, who wrote extensively on the film's source novella, insisting that the supernatural phenomena were in fact the product of Miss Giddens' own sexual repression.[2] According to literary scholar Leonard Orr, of the many adaptations of James's work, The Innocents has received the largest amount of critical attention.[8]


Film scholar David J. Hogan reiterated the film's underlying themes of sexual repression becoming the focus of supernatural activity, and compared elements of the film to Robert Wise's The Haunting (1963), based on The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.[9] Hogan also interprets the film's final scene as "a perverse variation on the Sleeping Beauty story, as Kerr symbolically liberates the boy from a presumed possession with a kiss after he has fainted."[10]


In the book Fifty Classic British Films, 1932-1982: A Pictorial Record (2013), film writer Anthony Slide noted: "Through the use of shadows, oblique camera angles, and an atmospheric soundtrack, Jack Clayton not only captured the horror of James's story, but also its deeper sadness—the children's isolation from the real world, the governess' problematic sexuality, and the curiously pitiful nature of the former governess, Miss Jessel."[2]

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

The original screenplay for The Innocents was adapted by playwright William Archibald from his 1950 play of the same name, which itself was based on Henry James's novella The Turn of the Screw.[8][11] In both his stage and screen adaptations, Archibald wrote under the assumption that the supernatural experiences of Miss Giddens were real, and that the ghosts she encountered were legitimate entities as opposed to figments of her imagination (a possibility left unresolved in James's original work).[8] Archibald's interpretation of the source material was made clear in a denouement in the original draft of the script, which:

Release[edit]

Certification[edit]

In the United Kingdom, the original classification in 1961 given by the British Board of Film Censors (now the British Board of Film Classification or BBFC) had been the "X" rating, which meant that no person under the age of 16 years would be allowed into the cinema to see it.[7]

Box office[edit]

The Innocents had its world premiere at the Carlton Theatre in London on 24 November 1961.[42] In North America, 20th Century Fox devised a marketing campaign that branded the film a "strange new experience in shock".[42] The film premiered in the United States at the El Rey Theatre[43] in Los Angeles, California on 15 December 1961,[42] and opened in New York City on 25 December 1961,[1] screening at the Criterion Theatre and 72nd Street Playhouse.[42] The film grossed a total of $1.2 million in the United States and Canada.[4] According to Kinematograph Weekly the film was considered a "money maker" at the British box office in 1962.[44]

Critical response[edit]

Bosley Crowther wrote an unfavourable review of the film in The New York Times when the film was first shown in New York City in December 1961: "But we fear that old hands long familiar with the traffic and tricks of horror films will feel a bit bored by this screen version of Henry James' famous tale, The Turn of the Screw, so mild and ingenuous it is alongside others of the genre. And especially do we fear they will be let down by the lucent performance of Deborah Kerr as the supposedly morbid young woman who is the focal figure in the tale".[45]


A review published in Time magazine praised Kerr's performance and the film's "dangerous, intelligent darkness",[46] but criticised the screenplay, suggesting that Archibald and Capote's script "unhappily press[es] hard, much harder than James did, for the psychiatric interpretation. They have obviously failed to perceive that in suggesting a normal, everyday basis for supernatural phenomena, they must inevitably relieve the spectator of his nameless horror of what might happen. But isn't horror, when all's said and done, the one important experience this tale is intended to communicate?"[2] In a Variety review, the film was deemed a "high-quality spine-chilling drama".[47] In the summer 1962 issue of Film Quarterly, Pauline Kael called the film "the best ghost movie I have ever seen", praising Kerr’s and Stephens' performances as well as Capote's adaptation of the source material.[48] Boyd Martin of The Courier-Journal praised the film as a "spooky chiller...  the hypnotic influence is there, and audiences will, I suspect, feel what the governess feels."[49]


The film was nominated for two BAFTA Awards, including Best British Film and Best Film.[50] For his direction, Clayton was awarded the National Board of Review Award for Best Director. William Archibald and Truman Capote won a 1962 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. The film was entered into the 1962 Cannes Film Festival.[51]

Home media[edit]

The Innocents received distribution on DVD in the United States through 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on 6 September 2005. This release also features a Latin American Spanish mono audio track and the film in both widescreen and fullscreen versions.[52] The Criterion Collection released a new edition of the film on DVD and Blu-ray on 23 September 2014.[53] This release features a new 4K transfer, an introduction and audio commentary with cultural critic Christopher Frayling, an interview with cinematographer John Bailey (discussing the work of Freddie Francis), and a 2006 documentary on the making of the film.[53] In the United Kingdom, the film received a Blu-ray release on 23 August 2010 through BFI.[54] Applications for certification since 2000 have led to the film being rated as a "12" or "12A".[55]

Legacy[edit]

The Innocents is regarded as a classic psychological horror film.[28][56] With the British cinematic re-release of The Innocents as part of the BFI's Gothic Season in December 2013, the film has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from contemporary critics.[57] The Innocents holds a 95% "fresh" rating on the internet review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes from a sample of 55 reviews. Its consensus reads, "Creepily atmospheric, The Innocents is a stylishly crafted, chilling British ghost tale with Deborah Kerr at her finest".[58]


Peter Bradshaw, film critic for The Guardian, gave the film five out of five stars in December 2013, praising it as an "elegant, sinister and scalp-prickling ghost story".[59] Tim Robey, writing for The Telegraph, also gave the film five out of five stars, recognising the "immaculate" directorial ability of Jack Clayton, and commending the "eerie, coldly beautiful" adaptation of James' novel.[60] Author and film critic Leonard Maltin in 2009 awarded the film three and a half out of a possible four stars, calling it a "first-rate thriller".[61] Director Martin Scorsese placed The Innocents on his list of the 11 scariest horror films of all time.[62] Similarly, Andrew Pulver placed the film at number 11 in The Guardian's list of the best horror films of all time.[7] Time Out named it as the 18th in a list of the 100 greatest British films.[63]


"The Infant Kiss", a song by Kate Bush, from her 1980 album Never for Ever, was inspired by the film.[64] Mexican director Guillermo del Toro cites the film as an influence on his 2015 gothic horror film Crimson Peak.[65]


In 2013, the BFI and Palgrave Macmillan published an extensive behind-the-scenes book written by Christopher Frayling which details the origin and themes behind The Turn of the Screw, the success of the story's many previous adaptations on the stage, opera and television, this film's entire production, its initial release and its impact and recognition in later years. The book also features rare archival material from Jack Clayton's archive such as concept art, handwritten notes by Truman Capote, portions of the original screenplay with deleted scenes and alternate dialogue, film stills (including some which show an alternate opening which was filmed and later discarded before the film's release) and interviews with the cast and crew.[66]


On 4 January 2017, Martin Stephens gave an extensive interview on his career as a child actor during a TEDx episode titled Movies, Marriage and Meditation.[67]

List of ghost films

Clark, Jim (2010). Dream Repairman: Adventures in Film Editing. Landmarc Press.  978-0-979-71849-6.

ISBN

Cotter, Robert Michael "Bobb" (2013). The Women of Hammer Horror: A Biographical Dictionary and Filmography. McFarland.  978-1-476-60201-1.

ISBN

Hogan, David J. (2016). Dark Romance: Sexuality in the Horror Film. McFarland Classics.  978-0-786-46248-3.

ISBN

(Summer 1962). "The Innocents, and What Passes for Experience". Film Quarterly. 15 (4). Los Angeles, California: University of California Press: 21–7. doi:10.2307/1211186. JSTOR 1211186.

Kael, Pauline

(2011). Monsters in the Movies. New York: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-756-68846-2.

Landis, John

Leeder, Murray (2015). Cinematic Ghosts: Haunting and Spectrality from Silent Cinema to the Digital Era. Bloomsbury USA.  978-1-628-92214-1.

ISBN

Long, Robert Emmet (2008). Truman Capote Enfant Terrible. Bloomsbury USA.  978-1-441-19112-0.

ISBN

(2015). Classic Movie Guide: From the Silent Era Through 1965. Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-14-751682-4.

Maltin, Leonard

Orr, Leonard (2009). James's The Turn of the Screw. London: A&C Black.  978-0-826-42432-7.

ISBN

Sinyard, Neil (2000). Jack Clayton. Manchester: Manchester University Press.  978-0-719-05505-8.

ISBN

Slide, Anthony (2013). Fifty Classic British Films, 1932-1982: A Pictorial Record. Courier Corporation.  978-0-486-14851-9.

ISBN

Solomon, Aubrey (1989). Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press.  978-0-8108-4244-1.

ISBN

Vincendeau, Ginette (2001). . London: British Film Institute. ISBN 978-0-851-70842-3.

Film/Literature/Heritage: A Sight and Sound Reader

Walker, Alexander (1974). . London: Joseph. ISBN 9780718108915.

Hollywood, England: The British Film Industry in the Sixties

at IMDb

The Innocents

at AllMovie

The Innocents

at Rotten Tomatoes

The Innocents

at the BFI's Screenonline

The Innocents

at the TCM Movie Database

The Innocents

(2013) – Night Waves, BBC Radio 3

Landmark: The Innocents

an essay by Maitland McDonagh at The Criterion Collection

The Innocents: Forbidden Games

then-and-now location photographs at ReelStreets

The Innocents