This being Thursday, it's time for another edition of Thursday Movie Picks, the blogathon run by Wandering Through the Shelves. This time, the theme is nannies and/or baby-sitters. I was able to come up with any number of movies relatively quickly; I just had to figure out whether I'd used them before. In the end, here are three that a search of the blog claims I haven't used:
Sitting Pretty (1948). Robert Young and Maureen O'Hara play a married couple with three sons, and a desperate need of somebody to keep them in line. Answering the ad for a live-in baby-sitter is Clifton Webb, playing Lynn Belvedere. His unorthodox methods produce a remarkable change in the kids, but gossip threatens to break up that relationship. The movie, based on a book, was popular enough that two sequels were made, and the book was later adapted into the 1980s sitcom Mr. Belvedere with Christopher Hewitt in the lead role.
The Innocents (1961). Deborah Kerr gets the job of being nanny/governess to a pair of orphaned children living in one of those English manor houses in the late 19th century. Strange things start happening, and Kerr begins to believe that perhaps the kids are possessed by the ghosts of a pair of lovers who died tragically on the grounds. This one is based on Henry James' story "The Turn of the Screw".
The Nanny (1965). Bette Davis is the nanny of an emotionally disturbed English boy who just got out of an institution for behavior including causing the drowning of his younger sister. Things start happening, and when Mom gets poisoned, the boy starts accusing the nanny of being the one who did it! You have to love later-era Bette Davis.
MEL BROOKS AT 97
6 hours ago
5 comments:
Love your choices and we have a match!
Webb just elevates Sitting Pretty right out of the run of the mill that the rest of the picture belongs to.
The Innocents has one of Deborah Kerr's best performances, much better than several of her nominated ones. Great atmosphere.
The Nanny is a good mid period Bette that doesn't get its due coming so close on the heels of Baby Jane.
I went with nannies/governesses as opposed to babysitters.
Jane Eyre (1943)-After losing her parents and being raised in a hellish boarding school one step above an orphan asylum Jane Eyre (Joan Fontaine) is hired to be governess for Adele (Margaret O’Brien) the daughter of intense, brooding Edward Rochester (Orson Welles) at the remote Thornfield mansion. Attracted to him but wary she soon finds the mansion is a place of many secrets, some of which could be deadly. Based on the Charlotte Bronte novel.
The Nanny (1965)-Nanny (Bette Davis), a London family's live-in maid, brings morbid 10-year-old Joey (William Dix) back from the psychiatric ward he's been in for two years, since the death of his younger sister. Joey refuses to eat any food Nanny's prepared or take a bath with her in the room. He also demands to sleep in a room with a lock. Joey's parents-workaholic Bill (James Villiers) and neurotic Virgie (Wendy Craig)-are sure Joey is disturbed, but he may have good reason to be terrified of Nanny. A battle of wits and wills ensues. Taut psychological drama was unfortunately lumped in with the hagsploitation films that became popular after the success of Davis’s “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” It is unrelated to them and much better.
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992)-During what should be a routine visit to her new obstetrician Claire Bartel (Annabella Sciorra) is molested by the doctor and reports him to the police. Rather than taking the rap the doctor commits suicide. The shock of the accusations and suicide causes the doctor's pregnant wife, Peyton (Rebecca De Mornay), to miscarry. Now unhinged mentally but seemingly normal Peyton poses as a nanny for the Bartel family with the intention of tearing Claire's life apart, seducing her husband (Matt McCoy) and eventually murdering the woman she blames for ruining her life. While the setup is a bit ripe De Mornay is fantastic and makes the picture much more than it should be.
I haven't seen any of these but I like what I have seen of Bette Davis so I'd like to check out The Nanny.
The Innocents is one of the scariest, creepiest films and that man looking through the window freaks me out. I have wanted to see Sitting Pretty for so long..thank for reminding me. The Nanny is pretty popular this week too and I’d love to see it.
I actually thought about using Bette in All This and Heaven Too instead, but I think I've used it before.
I still need to see all of your picks, but I'm especially intrigued by the one with Bette Davis!
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