In one of her finest performances, Deborah Kerr stars as Miss Giddons, a devout and somewhat repressed spinster who happily accepts the position of governess for two orphaned children whose uncle (Michael Redgrave) readily admits to having no interest in being tied down by two "brats." So Miss Giddons is dispatched to Bly House, the lavish, shadowy estate where young Flora (Pamela Franklin) and her brother Miles (Martin Stephens, so memorable in 1960's Village of the Damned) live with a good-natured housekeeper (Megs Jenkins). At first, life at Bly House seems splendidly idyllic, but as Miss Giddons learns the horrible truth about the estate's now-deceased groundskeeper and previous governess, she begins to suspect that her young charges are ensnared in a devious plot from beyond the grave.

Ghostly images are revealed in only the most fleeting glimpses, and the outstanding Cinemascope photography by Freddie Francis (who used special filters to subtly darken the edges of the screen) turns Bly House into a welcoming mansion by day, a maze of mystery and terror by night. Sound effects and music are used to bone-chilling effect, and director Jack Clayton, blessed with a script by William Archibald and Truman Capote, maintains a deliberate pace to emphasize the ambiguity of James's timeless novella. The result is a masterful film--comparable to the 1963 classic The Haunting--that uses subtlety and suggestion to reach the pinnacle of fear. --Jeff Shannon

Description
Deborah Kerr stars in this "horrifying Gothic ghost tale" (Newsweek) based on Henry James' "The Turn Of The Screw,' a powerful psychological drama about innocence possessed by evil. Shortly after coming to live with orphans Flora and Miles in their dark, eerie mansion, the new governess (Kerr) mistakes their strange behavior for preciousness. But she soon comes to believe that the charming, beautiful children are possessed by evil, malicious spirits - the souls of their previous governess and estate manager who are now dead. With its shocking conclusion and sinister cinematic effects. The Innocents "catches an eerie, spine-chilling mood right from the start" (Variety) that never lets up.

Kerr plays governess to two children one of which may or may not be the victim of possession. Anything more would be giving it away.

Certainly in the top ten list of Horror/Ghost story films of all time, The Innocents compares favorably with "The Haunting" (the original '63 version). Kerr's spectral visions are as solid as the furniture -- they're just harder to find, and lot scarier; the film is an example of how little one needs to resort to SPFX when one knows how to make drama.

On the down side the original was photographed in lush monochrome cinemascope, and the only version released to date (that I'm aware of) is pan-an-scan, so you're missing about 40% of the image.

Still, even in this limited form, "The Innocents" is as scary as anything that's come out of Hollywood inthe last twenty years (er, I mean deliberately scarey -- the remake of The Haunting was scarey for all the wrong reasons).

Please let there be a DVD soon!


The greatest ghost story ever filmed   February 25, 2001
 14 out of 15 found this review helpful

Jack Clayton's superb film version of Henry James's novella THE TURN OF THE SCREW is unquestionably the most faithful rendition of James ever brought to the screen: the film retains not only all the famous ambiguity of the novella but also all the beauty as well as all the suspense and horror. Deborah Kerr gives the performance of her life (with the exception only, perhaps, of Sister Clodagh in BLACK NARCISSUS) as the beautiful and hysterical governess brought to a gigantic mansion to care for two odd children, who may or may not be communing with the ghosts of Kerr's predecessor and the manor's manservant. The uncertainty as to whether the ghosts are real--or products of the governess's repressed fears and insecurities--is the famous crux of the James novella, and beautifully translated into the film. There are teasing moments of narrative uncertainty, such as the classic sequence in the schoolroom, that capture all the mystery of the original source, and the great sequence with Kerr trying to restrain a hysterical Flora from joining what looks to be the ghost of Miss Jessel out by the manor's lake in the pouring rain is authentically creepy.


The best horror film ever made...Deborah Kerr is superb.   June 26, 2003
 13 out of 13 found this review helpful

There have been some great horror films in the 20th century. Hitchcock was responsible for probably a half dozen himself. The more recent "The Others" comes to mind, and "The Sixth Sense". But nothing compares to Henry James' tale of horror in Turn of the Screw, aptly named THE INNOCENTS for film. Deborah Kerr is perfectly cast as the governess of two children who seem to be possessed by two tragic ghostly figures that only the governess can see. Creepy, haunting, a movie you probably don't want to watch alone, though I have. Great cast. Director Jack Clayton has the perfect touch. Though I am giving the film itself 5 stars, I wouldn't give the VHS version a high mark at all. The audience is forced to watch this magnificent film in the dreadful 'full screen' mode. All we see are mouths and noses at times. If the studio doesn't want to release the film on DVD, at least bring out a special 'wide screen' VHS version so we can see the movie as it should be seen. Or, better yet, release THE INNOCENTS on DVD. It deserves as much attention as most classics.


..does she, or doesn't she?   September 28, 2005
 12 out of 13 found this review helpful

...only Henry James knew for sure! Miss Giddens, a rather "sheltered" governess, is convinced that her two young charges are possessed by the spirits of her predecessor Miss Jessel and her lover, a cruel valet named Quint, in a lonely and sprawling mansion in the English countryside. Written in 1897 and set in 1850s England, Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw" is a cleverly written (tho somewhat torturous) novella which was required reading for schoolchildren like myself in the 1960s. James never divulged whether his bedeviled heroine actually SAW ghosts, or if they were simply the externalization of her own neuroses. Scripted by William Archibald and Truman Capote, a 1950s TV production of "The Innocents" starred Ingrid Bergman (I would love to see that!), and then filmmaker Jack Clayton ("Room at the Top") filmed his version of the tale in 1961. Stunningly photographed by Freddie Francis in black and white, "The Innocents" depicts its disturbing visions of ghosts often in bright, broad daylight, such as a rose garden, or in a gazebo by a lake. The lovely Deborah Kerr plays the role of Miss Giddens with a slightly edgy self-consciousness (perfect for a sexually repressed daughter of a country parson) that grows into an absolutely manic frenzy that could either be absolute madness (which I think she was), or terror at the fact that her 2 young charges are indeed housing the spirits of dead (and sexually quite active) people. Strong and very Victorian stuff, this is! The supporting cast are wonderful, which includes a short and very telling scene with Sir Michael Redgrave as the children's disinterested roue uncle, Megs Jenkins as Mrs. Grose, the longtime housekeeper, the cruelly handsome Peter Wyngarde (later TVs "Jason King") as the dead Quint, and, of course, Martin Stephens and Pamela Franklin as the children, Miles and Flora. Director Clayton deliberately did NOT tell these youngsters too much about the motivations of their characters, so their performances have a certain ambiguity to them that could be interpreted as simply childish precociousness or dark, sly deviousness. Stephens had played the leader of the monstrous children in "Village of the Damned" a year or so earlier, so he was no newcomer to dark-themed stories, and Miss Franklin appeared in numerous horror/thriller-themed films after this, well into her young adulthood, including Clayton's "Our Mother's House", and "The Legend of Hell House". Georges Auric's atonal music lends a great deal to the uneasy tone of the film. There's not a lot of music, but what's there is quite effective. Miss Kerr was asked what HER interpretation of the story was, to which she replied that she felt that Miss Giddens was a sexually repressed and frustrated woman, and this was HER way of dealing with her inner demons. ....and what do YOU think? The DVD is certainly an excellent addition to a horror/ghost story lover's collection, and is very reasonably priced. The picture quality is excellent, with just a tad of graininess here and there, and one has a choice of watching it in widescreen (is there any OTHER way to view this?) or full-screen. The sound is good. There aren't many 'Extra", unfortunately (I wish that a "making of" short could have been made), just the original theatrical trailer.