The Children’s Hour (1961) Movie Review & Film summary, Cast

Of course, this is a passe piece of work. In some parts of the world, anyway. No gay woman hangs herself these days because she’s got a crush on a straight friend – she just goes out, gets drunk and gets picked up. No guy goes through torments of hell when his girlfriend is rumoured to be bisexual; today it’s a status symbol. No teacher is socially ostracised because…hang on. Maybe it’s not so passe after all. William Wyler, a director with a nigh-untouchable gift for sustaining dramatic interplay within the cinema space, returned to this material having filmed a bowdlerised version in the ’30s as These Three. After a shaky start – especially in some of Shirley MacLaine’s clunky line deliveries – The Children’s Hour becomes one of the more revelatory viewings I’ve had in recent months. One of the contradictions of great drama is that it wrings every ounce of entertainment out of watching people being miserable, and this certainly provides one from the other. Though it’s considered a founding text of modern Queer cinema, in truth it fits neatly into the dramatic mould of its era, like The Crucible, which, as opposed to classical tragedy, where mankind proved impotent before Fate, this breed of tragedy is essentially about society destroying individuals, usually for one reason that actually covers up another. It’s especially pleasurable for seeing two actors usually allowed to coast on their looks and charm, James Garner and Audrey Hepburn, aka Miss Clothes-Horse of the Year 1953-1967, work for a living. Hepburn’s performance equals her other finest work (in The Nun’s Story), proving she was at her best playing interior characters – her subtle but vivid facial expressiveness suits such roles. And Garner is surprisingly moving. MacLaine is the histrionic weak link. The story builds with compulsive power to a brutal finish.