Overrated

Admirable film.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

It took me a while to come to this film, as it's really not well-known or extensively talked about. I love old movies, and have for years, but my first exposure to this work didn't come until college, when I saw a scene from it performed in an acting class. I found the scene mesmerising, but didn't know that the play had been turned into a movie until a few years later, when I read about it in a biography of Audrey Hepburn. I was able to find it on a streaming service and immediately settled in to watch it. My thought having finally seen it is simply this; I cannot believe how little notice this movie seems to get. It's progressive, it's affecting, it's haunting. It's everything that makes a movie memorable. Audrey Hepburn, one of the most ethereal and chic actresses in history, is totally believable as the rather dowdy, down to earth, content co-headmistress at the boarding school where the story takes place. She's truly convincing as an every-woman. Just someone who is swept up in the gossip of a small town, but who, aside from that, would have a very ordinary life. Shirley MacLaine is just as believable as Martha, the more abrasive, restless of the two friends. She is able to subtly convey emotions like jealousy and anger, emotions that are all too easy to overplay on screen and stage. Both of them play their characters so well that it makes the relationship between them seem all the more authentic. You really do start to feel that these are two women who have been friends for years and have a close and comfortable repartee with one another. Of course, let's not overlook the supporting cast. The child actresses are all wonderful, not seeming to try too hard. Karen Balkin makes Mary, the girl who starts the rumours that drive the plot, all too easy to despise. The older actresses who play Martha's aunt and Mary's grandmother, also present a wonderful portrait of women from another generation, who are dealing with the issue at hand in the only ways they know how to. But the major standout in the supporting cast is James Garner as Karen's fiancé, Joe. I've seen his emotional depth in things like "The Notebook", but this role takes it to the next level. He really commits to what he is doing, and he just breaks your heart as you see him lose his veneer of calm collectedness when he realises that there are some things he simply can't control. The camera work is simple and basic, befitting a story like this one, and it's really the performers and story that make this a classic. It's a plot that isn't afraid to deal with a taboo issue in what was, for that time, a very frank way. It's one of those films that transports you, and it takes a couple of viewings of "Irma la Douce" or "Sabrina" afterward to remind you that these were characters, not real people. To me, the best films are the ones that create the world for you and flesh it out so well that it feels real, whether that be a fantastical world, or another version of the one we know. This film is a prime example of that being done right. It is still beautiful and relevant today, and should be counted as among the best performances of all involved.

It's always a shame when classic movies' breakthroughs have been so overdone that watching the original loses its meaning. I hope when you watch The Children's Hour you can appreciate how groundbreaking and scandalous it was in 1961.Based on a Lillian Hellman play (that's your cue to prepare yourself for a very heavy movie), Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine play two teachers at an all-girls school. One of the students is a terrible, pot-stirring brat, and she starts a rumor about her two teachers. She claims she saw them kissing, and the aftermath of her accusation wreaks havoc on the good friends' careers and lives.Both women give excellent, powerful performances, and there's so much to appreciate about the film. Obviously, moral discussions will abound afterwards, but what gets under my skin the most is the trouble-making child. So often, children and teenagers do damage without realizing the consequences. I hope someday young people will be less selfish and learn to see the bigger picture. Revenge, self-righteousness, and deception are terrible qualities. Hopefully The Children's Hour can teach a valuable lesson.

Sometimes you can not blame the work of directors anymore! The Children's Hour directed by William Wyler is the movie that released 1961, at that time the community did not realized about the same couple as well as lesbians. Director Wyler shows Aunt Lily as "The wicked very young and the Wicked very old" why this statement came up, is all about jealous that surround her from young age to old. However, the truth of the movie remains to Martha and Karen, though they have been accused for the charge of "Sinful sexual knowledge of one another" on other hand, the girls also know the secret behind the accusation. Mary and Rosalie tells liar to Amelia and spread the words to other parents to kick off there children from boarding school and it come to pass when the secrets revealed by the stolen "Happy Birthday Helen" neck less. Moreover, it was to late for Karen to rescue Martha from death. Finally, director William Wyler left the audience without good conclusion by not knowing what will happen to Joe and Karen after showing a very long shot of Joe to Karen walking out from the burial place. Lastly but not list, the community regret for loosen Martha but also for not giving freedom of individual expression.

I know, as a long time teacher, that a charge against one of us doesn't have to have a grain of truth to it. While children should always be listened to, it is a fact that they can get into situations where they can't escape gracefully, and they will flat out lie. In this one, a girl who has had experience reading about things that society considers "sordid," uses her little bit of knowledge to start rumors about a couple of teacher in a girls' school. For all practical purposes, she ruins their lives and their careers. Even though there is an admission by one at some point, the die is cast. There is no turning back, even though the adults find out this is a falsehood. This might be a good movie for more people to see.