In my last column I mentioned about the montage of all the people that died the past year during the Oscars. One of them of course was Deborah Kerr. So I decided on writing about one of her movies that she during the 1960's. That was The Chalk Garden.
Based on the 1955 Broadway play written by Irene Selznick and released in May 1964, Kerr stars as Miss Madrigal-a governess (she had already played one in the movie The Innocents) who arrives at a mansion on the British countryside. She has come here so that she can help Laurel (Hayley Mills)
who is becoming a troubling teenager
and also there is the butler Maitland (John Mills; who just happened to be Hayley's father).
After spending a few days with her, Madrigal now knows why she is becoming a sulking brat: Her mother Olivia (Elizabeth Sellers) doesn't love her and Laurel will do anything to accept her back.
Having been a brat before Madigral is confident to straighten out her before her patience gets very thin.
The movie was directed by Ronald Neame (who would later direct Gambit; a movie that I previously wrote, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and The Poseidon Adventure) while Edith Evans, who plays Miss Maugham (had had originated the role when it came to London in 1956) received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. It was an entertaining film through it all (as what Hayley Mills character says at one point: "I don't shake hands. It's so animal!").
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