The Innocents (1961)

Director:

Jack Clayton

Writers:

Henry James (novel)
John Mortimer (additional scenes & dialogue)
(more)

Release Date:

November 1961 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Apparitions? Evils? Corruptions?

Plot:

A young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted.

Plot Keywords:

Children | Governess | Girl | Valet | England

Awards:

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Fri. June 8

9:30 PM

TCM

Cast

Deborah Kerr	...	Miss Giddens
Peter Wyngarde	...	Peter Quint
Megs Jenkins	...	Mrs. Grose
Michael Redgrave	...	The Uncle
Martin Stephens	...	Miles
Pamela Franklin	...	Flora
Clytie Jessop	...	Miss Jessel
Isla Cameron	...	Anna
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eric Woodburn	...	Coachman (uncredited)

Directed by
Jack Clayton

Writing credits
Henry James		(novel "The Turn of the Screw")
John Mortimer		(additional scenes & dialogue)
William Archibald		(screenplay) and
Truman Capote		(screenplay)

Produced by
Jack Clayton	....	producer
Albert Fennell	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Georges Auric

Cinematography by
Freddie Francis		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Jim Clark		(as James Clark)

Art Direction by
Wilfred Shingleton		(as Wilfrid Shingleton)

Costume Design by
Sophie Devine		(as Motley)

Makeup Department
Gordon Bond	....	hairdresser
Harold Fletcher	....	makeup artist

Production Management
James H. Ware	....	production manager (as James Ware)
Claude Watson	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Birkett	....	assistant director
Ken Softley	....	third assistant director (uncredited)
Claude Watson	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Peter James	....	set dresser
Alan Evans	....	scenic artist (uncredited)
James Sawyer	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Gus Walker	....	construction manager (uncredited)
Tony Woollard	....	draughtsman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Buster Ambler	....	sound recordist (as A.G. Ambler)
John Cox	....	sound recordist
Peter Musgrave	....	dubbing editor
Ken Ritchie	....	boom operator
Daphne Oram	....	electronic sound effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Maurice Gillett	....	supervising floor electrician
Ray Jones	....	camera grip
Ronnie Taylor	....	camera operator (as Ronald Taylor)
Bernard Ford	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Ronnie Maasz	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Simon Ransley	....	clapper loader (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Mary Kessel	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Lambert Williamson	....	conductor (as W. Lambert Williamson)

Other crew
Pamela Mann	....	continuity
Jeanie Sims	....	script editor

Production Companies

• Achilles
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1961) (USA) (theatrical)
• Fox Films (1962) (Finland) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2006) (Brazil) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2005) (Canada) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• British Film Institute (BFI) (2006) (UK) (DVD)
• Capelight Pictures (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1970) (USA) (TV)
• Fox Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Lumière Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1981) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Bausch & Lomb  lenses

Also Known As:

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:12A (re-rating) (2005) | UK:X (original rating) | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | West Germany:16 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | France:U (re-release) | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #20046)

Filming Locations:

Bluebell Railway, East Sussex, England, UK

Company:

Achilles

Trivia:

Kate Bush was inspired by the film to pen the song "The Infant Kiss" which appears on her 1980 album "Never For Ever".

Goofs:

Continuity: Miss Giddens is wearing one dress when Flora bursts in to tell them to come see Miles riding the horse. When they run outside, Miss Giddens is wearing a different dress.

Quotes:

Flora:[singing] We lay my love and I, beneath the weeping willow. But now alone I lie and weep beside the tree. Singing "Oh willow waly" by the tree that weeps with me. Singing "Oh willow waly" till my lover return to me. We lay my love and I beneath the weeping willow. A broken heart have I. Oh willow I die, oh willow I die...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fever Night aka Band of Satanic Outsiders (2009)

Soundtrack:

O Willow Waly

A Masterpiece

Miss Giddens, an uptight but pretty young woman, takes a job as a Governess for two orphans on a grandiose estate in the English countryside. Flora and Miles seem like thoroughly innocent and angelic children, but soon, whispers of corruption begin to materialize. Miles is expelled from school for reasons he is reluctant to discuss. Miss Giddens learns of the fate of the prior governess, a masochistic young woman named Miss Jessel who was having an affair with a sadistic man named Quint. Soon, Miss Giddens is seeing the ghosts of the arrogantly handsome Quint and the forlorn Miss Jessel everywhere and comes to believe that the children have been possessed. But is she only imagining these horrors? And will she destroy the children in her attempt to save them?

This movie is creepy, claustrophobic and totally paranoid. Filmed in moody black and white with an almost non-existent musical score (other than the chilling song "Willow Waylee" sung in a child's voice over the opening credits and throughout the film) "The Innocents" is a flawless suspense drama. I hesitate to call it a ghost story, as the presence of the ghosts is never confirmed (or denied, for that matter.) Nor is the sanity of the main character. Is the prim English Governess (played with classic elegance by Deborah Kerr) simply an uptight prude having obscene fantasies, or are the two children she's caring for really possessed by the evil and perverted spirits of the former governess and her sadistic lover? There's no gore, no stupid incidental music, no insufferably adorable children and no happy ending. Unspoken horrors, dark secrets and things that "decent people" don't discuss, fill this film with sick shadows and diseased memories. Whether or not the ghosts exist is a moot point by films end. This film is about corruption and perversion. Indeed, there are no "Innocents" in this film...only the facade of innocence, a flimsy backdrop of beauty drawn over the ugly, festering truth. But what IS the truth?

This film is a masterpiece of dread and still has the power to disturb even some forty years later. I would highly recommend it to ghost enthusiasts and psych majors alike!