This story is an excellent film from one of Britain's most talented directors - Alexander Mackendrick. When a family has to deal with the reality of a deaf child, it throws their lives into turmoil as they face their own misconceptions and try to work out what is best for the child. This movie documents the changes that could have occurred to any family in similar circumstances. The parents are not perfect but do their best to work things out and this is part of the reason I liked the movie. It is honest and the parents try to do what is right, albeit a big adjustment. The deaf child is Mandy, a bright and happy little girl who the parents realize hasn't started to speak a number of months on. This leads them to take her to a doctor who diagnoses the condition as congenital deafness. According to the doctor, nothing can be done. The parents, played by Phyllis Calvert and Terence Morgan, are shocked and are afraid for her future. They immediately take her to the grandparents' home where she can be kept alone and given private tutoring. Subsequently, they meet a specialist who suggests that the girl be placed in a school where she can learn more effectively under the guidance of a proper teacher in the company of other children. There is a rift between the parents who have different views about sending her away. There are other differences they encounter along the way. The father also suspects that an affair is going on between the specialist (Jack Hawkins) and the mother, Phyllis Calvert. The acting is superb all-round and the child, played by Mandy Miller, shows the strain that she too must face from her parents' disagreements and her own problems interacting with others. The movie is heart-wrenching but also offers hope. I thought this was an excellent film that treats the subject in a thoughtful and intelligent way.
10 Reviews
Forgotten gem
jakefinnmail14 February 2024
The modernity, imagination and psychology present in this film surprised me. For those unfamiliar with 1940s and 1950s British cinema, much of it is quite conventional and most characters follow archetypes. At the time, British cinema lagged behind French cinema.
This film also has archetypal characters to a degree, but focuses on children and disability in a unique way. It has strong women and incredible directing of actors. So much of the film hinges on displaying realisations and moral questioning, wordless reactions. It hinges on people changing and evolving. The film has a real sense of humanity and vulnerability.
It has a delicate visual flair, a use of space and lighting. Two round lights bouncing off a pair of glasses. A child running through a large, wide empty hallway filmed with a short focal length. A wisp of smoke trailing over a face through a dissolve.
Phyllis Calvert deserved more recognition for her acting and didn't have the career she deserved. Mandy Miller's subtle, vulnerable performance for a child actress is a rare feat. Jack Hawkins is stunning as ever. It pains me that Alexander Mackendrick's directing didn't flourish. Mandy and The Lady Killers showed he could have been an interesting voice in modernist, New Wave cinema in the 60s. Unfortunately, his career was in turmoil by the late 50s. At the very least, we can cherish what he made at the summit of his craft.
This film also has archetypal characters to a degree, but focuses on children and disability in a unique way. It has strong women and incredible directing of actors. So much of the film hinges on displaying realisations and moral questioning, wordless reactions. It hinges on people changing and evolving. The film has a real sense of humanity and vulnerability.
It has a delicate visual flair, a use of space and lighting. Two round lights bouncing off a pair of glasses. A child running through a large, wide empty hallway filmed with a short focal length. A wisp of smoke trailing over a face through a dissolve.
Phyllis Calvert deserved more recognition for her acting and didn't have the career she deserved. Mandy Miller's subtle, vulnerable performance for a child actress is a rare feat. Jack Hawkins is stunning as ever. It pains me that Alexander Mackendrick's directing didn't flourish. Mandy and The Lady Killers showed he could have been an interesting voice in modernist, New Wave cinema in the 60s. Unfortunately, his career was in turmoil by the late 50s. At the very least, we can cherish what he made at the summit of his craft.
A truly excellent film.
ronevickers15 August 2008
I remember seeing this film, as a child, and have recently seen it again. Everything about it is memorable and it's an excellent example of British film making at its best. Given the sensitive subject matter, it could easily have turned out to be sentimental tosh. In reality, it is exactly the opposite, thanks in no short measure to a quality cast of first class actors. Jack Hawkins, Phyllis Calvert and Terence Morgan are first class, though the jewel in the film's crown is young Mandy Miller in the title role. Her portrayal is very moving and quite remarkable. Whilst so many of the scenes bring a lump to the throat, this superb film is an uplifting and positive experience. Not to be missed.
Mandy Miller Was Just a Marvellous Little Actress!!
kidboots27 December 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This is the sort of film the British do so perfectly - little films with actors (not superstars) who can fit into their roles as though born to them and stories with pathos and feeling but no sticky sentimentality. "Mandy" was another movie memory from my childhood, one that I always thought would be a memory but fortunately I had the opportunity to view it again recently. I can remember the emotion I felt at the scene when Mandy, by feeling the vibration she makes on a balloon produces the b,b,b, sound just as the teachers despaired that she would ever be able to advance. Mandy Miller was a marvellous little actress whose father had been an electrician at the Ealing Studios and she was discovered when she and her sister toured the studio. She found fame much like Hayley Mills did in the 1960s but was never allowed to feel (by her family) that she was anymore special or gifted than any other child. I suppose "Mandy" proved a film she could never get away from because she retired as a teenager to an early but happy and long lasting marriage. I will always be grateful she made "Mandy".
This film has an almost documentary feel to it as it explores the problems and emotions of the Garland family who come to the realization that their baby girl, Mandy, is deaf and dumb. They eventually go to live with Harry's (Terence Morgan) parents who treat Mandy with gentleness and understanding but not like a real child. Christine (the wonderful Phyllis Calvert - is there no part she couldn't play) wants a better future for Mandy and over Harry's head enrols her at a special school run by the radical Dick Searle (Jack Hawkins).
The ground breaking methods the school uses seems to produce miracles but Mandy finds it hard to cope. At six she is thought a bit old as a beginner and she has been too sheltered, while her once loving parents are beginning to bicker. An incident at a local park reduces Mandy to "wild animal behaviour" that determines Christine to move nearer the school and enrol her as a day pupil. This film is so full of heart inspiring moments - when Mandy finally finds her voice, in another fit of screams, but the teacher can harness the sounds and Mandy can now begin to learn. There is a subplot going through it that has Christine and Searle thrown together and finding (on Searle's part) that he has deeper feelings for Christine. All blown out of proportion by a nasty superintendent, Mr. Ackland (Edward Chapman who played the creepy lodger to perfection in "The October Man") who wants Searle out of the job and feels a trumped up scandal is the best way to do it. The ending is guaranteed to make a strong person weep as Harry's father realises that the school has made a huge difference to Mandy, and as he says to his wife "you have been interfering all along, now it's my turn"!!
Jack Hawkins listed "Mandy" as one of his favourite films and felt it was the turning point in his career, not only helping him define his own philosophy on life but boosting him from success to stardom. When he found himself later in life dealing with his own crippling disability (throat cancer) he drew strength from remembering his role in "Mandy".
This film has an almost documentary feel to it as it explores the problems and emotions of the Garland family who come to the realization that their baby girl, Mandy, is deaf and dumb. They eventually go to live with Harry's (Terence Morgan) parents who treat Mandy with gentleness and understanding but not like a real child. Christine (the wonderful Phyllis Calvert - is there no part she couldn't play) wants a better future for Mandy and over Harry's head enrols her at a special school run by the radical Dick Searle (Jack Hawkins).
The ground breaking methods the school uses seems to produce miracles but Mandy finds it hard to cope. At six she is thought a bit old as a beginner and she has been too sheltered, while her once loving parents are beginning to bicker. An incident at a local park reduces Mandy to "wild animal behaviour" that determines Christine to move nearer the school and enrol her as a day pupil. This film is so full of heart inspiring moments - when Mandy finally finds her voice, in another fit of screams, but the teacher can harness the sounds and Mandy can now begin to learn. There is a subplot going through it that has Christine and Searle thrown together and finding (on Searle's part) that he has deeper feelings for Christine. All blown out of proportion by a nasty superintendent, Mr. Ackland (Edward Chapman who played the creepy lodger to perfection in "The October Man") who wants Searle out of the job and feels a trumped up scandal is the best way to do it. The ending is guaranteed to make a strong person weep as Harry's father realises that the school has made a huge difference to Mandy, and as he says to his wife "you have been interfering all along, now it's my turn"!!
Jack Hawkins listed "Mandy" as one of his favourite films and felt it was the turning point in his career, not only helping him define his own philosophy on life but boosting him from success to stardom. When he found himself later in life dealing with his own crippling disability (throat cancer) he drew strength from remembering his role in "Mandy".
Tearjerker from Ealing Studios from 1952
howardmorley2 December 2009
This film has a resonance for me as I too was 6 years old in 1952 being born in 1946 the same age as Mandy Miller was when she performed her signature film of a little deaf girl.I vaguely remember my parents talking about this film then but now at 63 this was the first time I had seen it.I have to admit my eyes were damp the whole way through as I too can remember the many bomb sites then around London, the old taxis & cars, the ladies fashions, what my primary school was like in my second year and playtime with fellow infants.
It is not often I award 9/10 for a film but this was one such occasion.The whole cast, director, producer. scriptwriter and production crew performed admirably and of course Mandy Miller's central role was wholly believable.The film did not lapse into mawkish sentimentality once but kept a realistic grip throughout so that one sensed it was almost a documentary but kept the dramatic emphasis together.
"The heavy" Mr Akland, was played by Edward Chapman a role he played in "Gone to Earth" (1949) as a hypocritical church deacon. In Mandy he tries to stir up trouble by suggesting and trying to prove the mother Christine (Phyllis Calvert) and Searle (Jack Hawkins) are having an affair, for jealous professional reasons.To show Edward could also play comedic roles he is more famous in the UK for playing the hapless foil Mr Grimsdale to Norman Wisdom in the latter's 1950s comic films.Similarly the actress Marjory Fielding who plays Mrs Garland the mother of Mandy's father Harry (Terence Morgan), belayed her very stagey style of acting seen in "Quiet Wedding" (1941) and acted in a low key modern idiom (for 1952).Godfrey Tearle as her husband Mr Garland had obviously aged 17 years since 1935 when he had played the traitor in Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps" with Robert Donat & Madeline Carroll (still the best version of this film).As a chess player who also played by correspondence in the 1960s, I was naturally intrigued by the arrival of one of his opponents moves which was PXP en passant.Mandy recognised the "P" sound from the chess scorecard after her extensive deaf help given gratis by Mr Searle (an excellent role for Jack Hawkins) the principal of the deaf school in Manchester.This was the abiding proof Mr Garland needed to take the initiative between his son Harry & Searle to show the beneficial effect on Mandy's speech patterns from the specialised help given to her.I would also like to place on record the wonderful real deaf children who were selected by the producers to participate in the film who made the experience so convincing.The producers gave this deaf school a vote of thanks in the opening credits.
It is not often I award 9/10 for a film but this was one such occasion.The whole cast, director, producer. scriptwriter and production crew performed admirably and of course Mandy Miller's central role was wholly believable.The film did not lapse into mawkish sentimentality once but kept a realistic grip throughout so that one sensed it was almost a documentary but kept the dramatic emphasis together.
"The heavy" Mr Akland, was played by Edward Chapman a role he played in "Gone to Earth" (1949) as a hypocritical church deacon. In Mandy he tries to stir up trouble by suggesting and trying to prove the mother Christine (Phyllis Calvert) and Searle (Jack Hawkins) are having an affair, for jealous professional reasons.To show Edward could also play comedic roles he is more famous in the UK for playing the hapless foil Mr Grimsdale to Norman Wisdom in the latter's 1950s comic films.Similarly the actress Marjory Fielding who plays Mrs Garland the mother of Mandy's father Harry (Terence Morgan), belayed her very stagey style of acting seen in "Quiet Wedding" (1941) and acted in a low key modern idiom (for 1952).Godfrey Tearle as her husband Mr Garland had obviously aged 17 years since 1935 when he had played the traitor in Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps" with Robert Donat & Madeline Carroll (still the best version of this film).As a chess player who also played by correspondence in the 1960s, I was naturally intrigued by the arrival of one of his opponents moves which was PXP en passant.Mandy recognised the "P" sound from the chess scorecard after her extensive deaf help given gratis by Mr Searle (an excellent role for Jack Hawkins) the principal of the deaf school in Manchester.This was the abiding proof Mr Garland needed to take the initiative between his son Harry & Searle to show the beneficial effect on Mandy's speech patterns from the specialised help given to her.I would also like to place on record the wonderful real deaf children who were selected by the producers to participate in the film who made the experience so convincing.The producers gave this deaf school a vote of thanks in the opening credits.
A Crash of Silence Gem ****
edwagreen3 November 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Superb film with Phyllis Calvert as the mother who knew that her deaf mute child needed instruction rather than being kept away from other children.
Calvert is joined by an excellent cast to show how deaf mute children need that guidance, understanding, love and devotion if they are to succeed.
What makes this an extraordinary film is that we're not only working with the child, but trying to put down the vicious gossip of an affair between her teacher and the Calvert character. Here there is not only a misunderstanding, but a vicious plot by a head in the school who doesn't like teacher Jack Hawkins, and with the help of the former's vicious secretary, schemes so that he can rid of Hawkins.
One can never forget the fear in the child who was played so well by Mandy Miller. She was absolutely terrific in evoking the emotions of a child in a silent world.
Calvert is joined by an excellent cast to show how deaf mute children need that guidance, understanding, love and devotion if they are to succeed.
What makes this an extraordinary film is that we're not only working with the child, but trying to put down the vicious gossip of an affair between her teacher and the Calvert character. Here there is not only a misunderstanding, but a vicious plot by a head in the school who doesn't like teacher Jack Hawkins, and with the help of the former's vicious secretary, schemes so that he can rid of Hawkins.
One can never forget the fear in the child who was played so well by Mandy Miller. She was absolutely terrific in evoking the emotions of a child in a silent world.
A feel-good movie if ever there was one
calvertfan4 October 2002
The Mandy of the title truly is the star of the film, as almost all of the adults underplay their scenes with her to help her shine brighter.
When Mandy's parents find out she is deaf, they have differing ideas on what to do next. Mother, Christine, wants to send Mandy to a special school for deaf children so she can learn to read and write - and perhaps speak - and be as much like other children as possible. But her father, Harry, is somewhat ashamed of his daughter and would rather keep Mandy hidden away at his parents' house with only a governess to teach her the finger alphabet. After seeing how she reacts with other children, Christine realises that for Mandy's sake she must get her to the school, and leaves Harry. Watching Mandy's progress in the school provides some fascinating insight into ways of teaching and, contrary to Harry's thoughts, she does progress, with help from headmaster Searle. A second storyline is developed here as people increasingly believe that Christine is having an affair with Searle, when in fact they are both only interested in the good of the child.
A real "four tissue" movie, 10/10.
When Mandy's parents find out she is deaf, they have differing ideas on what to do next. Mother, Christine, wants to send Mandy to a special school for deaf children so she can learn to read and write - and perhaps speak - and be as much like other children as possible. But her father, Harry, is somewhat ashamed of his daughter and would rather keep Mandy hidden away at his parents' house with only a governess to teach her the finger alphabet. After seeing how she reacts with other children, Christine realises that for Mandy's sake she must get her to the school, and leaves Harry. Watching Mandy's progress in the school provides some fascinating insight into ways of teaching and, contrary to Harry's thoughts, she does progress, with help from headmaster Searle. A second storyline is developed here as people increasingly believe that Christine is having an affair with Searle, when in fact they are both only interested in the good of the child.
A real "four tissue" movie, 10/10.
Still memorable, after all these years!
francespack3 July 2003
I have not seen this movie since I was a child, I am now 40 years old, but it still comes back to me. I loved this movie. I may have seen it twice as I remember it so well. I think it impressed upon me the ability children have to shine through adversity, and the need to believe that they really can make it, if given the right encouragement, in the right way, at the time that is right for them! I think it was a well acted and well thought out story line, with a heart rending performance by Mandy Miller. I would dearly love to see this movie again!
Wow... what a great movie!!
Matatudo17 May 2008
I'm really a movie fan. Watch as much movies as I can. Though I'm never really interested in movies from the 50's. But this movie turned that all around. "Mandy" is a great movie that is a must see! Mandy Miller has a stunning role and plays it really great! The whole story line in this movie is unique, still to this day. It's a movie like I've not seen before. Especially because the movie is from way back, it's great to see that there were already great minds behind this movie. And I can't say it enough, the role that Mandy Miller plays is stunning!
If you have the opportunity to watch this movie, watch it! I give it a big 10 out of 10.
If you have the opportunity to watch this movie, watch it! I give it a big 10 out of 10.
Mandy wonderful with Mandy Terrence Morgan jack hawkins
ginotivon14 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Wonderful and editing movie. And Mandy makes the part of the deaf child so real. Terrence Morgan finally has a part where he is the villain at first but realizes through his family that mandy is given the specialized assistance she needed. Enjoyed jack Hawkins. Should be shown on pbs and other networks since it is a ten movie showing the problems facing the deaf.
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