The Children's Hour (1961)

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by WaverBoy

I don’t think the film is any less sympathetic to Shirley’s character than VICTIM is to its gay characters, and yet Criterion had no problem releasing it.

Obviously, I'd be thrilled if they announced it, I think there's a lot to like in the film. Hepburn is superb, as always, in a far less showy role than MacLaine. It's interesting to see Hepburn really dig into a dark, painful role like this that's not in any way part of a piece of entertainment. She's so known for light, frothy romcoms, but she really had depth, no doubt from the many harrowing personal ordeals she went through over the course of her life.

Veronica Cartwright is amazing too. She gives one of the best child performances I've ever seen, because she plays the character the way I prefer child characters to be played, as a complex person, not a sentimentalized kid.

I'm less of a fan of the little girl who plays Mary, her performance isn't very nuanced, but maybe that's just because her character is such a monster.