Veronica Cartwright – 18 Cinema Lane

Audrey Hepburn is no stranger to 18 Cinema Lane. In the eight years I’ve been blogging, I have reviewed The Nun’s Story (which I liked), Funny Face (which I also liked), and Roman Holiday (which was, in my opinion, ok). For Classic Film And TV Corner’s Audrey Hepburn Blogathon, I decided to pick a movie I don’t often hear in the discussion of Audrey’s films. Over the years, I’ve heard 1961’s The Children’s Hour has been considered “controversial”. Though I wasn’t sure if the movie still carried that title today or if it once held that title when the film was originally released. Wanting to find an answer to that question, I selected The Children’s Hour to write about for the event. Another actor who’s no stranger to 18 Cinema Lane is James Garner. Despite only reviewing one of his films, Hallmark Hall of Fame’s Promise, I have seen other projects from his filmography, such as Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Notebook, and Hallmark Hall of Fame’s Decoration Day. So, I was pleasantly surprised to discover James starred in The Children’s Hour.

*The Children’s Hour* poster created by The Mirisch Corporation and United Artists

Things I liked about the film:

The acting: As I said in this review’s introduction, I’ve written about three of Audrey Hepburn’s films; The Nun’s Story, Funny Face, and Roman Holiday. Through her roles in these films, Audrey has proven to be a very expressive actress who allows her characters to adapt to any situation. This sentiment holds true in The Children’s Hour, as Audrey portrays a teacher named Karen. One great example of Audrey’s expressiveness takes place during a conversation Karen shares with a doctor named Joe (portrayed by James Garner). Throughout their conversation, Karen shares her desire to get married. As soon as Joe agrees to marry Karen, her face lights up, complete with wide eyes and a big ear-to-ear smile. It also helps how this reaction from Karen appears genuine. Speaking of James Garner, I also want to talk about his portrayal of Joe. During his and Karen’s aforementioned conversation, Joe is frustrated by lack of funds and resources at the hospital where he works. As he takes Karen for a car ride, Joe carries that frustration on his face, from a narrowed stare to his mouth turning in a scowl. The look on Joe’s face is consistent from a previous conversation he shared with Karen’s friend, Martha (portrayed by Shirley MacLaine). In his and Martha’s conversation, Joe expressed his frustration through his facial expressions and tone of voice. This consistency, as well as his versatility, showed just how strong of a performance James gave in The Children’s Hour!

Like I mentioned earlier, Audrey portrays a teacher named Karen. This means throughout The Children’s Hour, Karen’s students appear in the story from time to time. Out of the young actresses who received lines in the movie, two of the strongest performances came from Karen Balkin and Veronica Cartwright! In The Children’s Hour, Karen portrays Mary, a manipulative girl who never takes ‘no’ for an answer. Meanwhile, Veronica portrays Rosalie, a fellow student of Mary’s who is terrified of Mary. Whenever Mary tries to control Rosalie into following a plan of hers, Rosalie’s terror for Mary is visibly displayed through her wide eyes and appearance of fear on the rest of her face. Even when she’s questioned about the rumor about Martha and Karen, Rosalie bursts into tears as Mary’s figurative grip on her is just too powerful. On the other hand, Mary’s mood changes depending on the situation. One moment, as she’s presenting flowers to another teacher named Lily, Mary displays a sweet demeanor with a smile on her face. But when Karen catches Mary in a lie about those flowers, Mary’s attitude immediately changes to being defensive, complete with a sharp tone of voice and an angry look in her eyes. The strong execution of Karen’s and Veronica’s performance made me, as a viewer, effectively empathize with Rosalie and despise Mary.

The dialogue: I brought up earlier in this review how Shirley MacLaine portrayed Karen’s friend, Martha. One of the reasons why I liked her performance was her execution of the dialogue. To add to this, some of the dialogue in The Children’s Hour was cleverly written. A great example takes place during a conversation between Martha and Karen. While bringing up the subject of money, Karen addresses her concern for Martha’s wardrobe. Martha casually and confidently responds to Karen’s concern by saying, “I’m a skirt-and-blouse character. We’re always in style”. Later in The Children’s Hour, Martha and Lily have a disagreement. During this disagreement, Martha suggests Lily leave to pursue her Broadway dreams, even offering to give her money. Lily refuses to accept Martha’s offer and says she’d “rather scrub floors first”. Martha, her voice fueled with sarcasm, replies “You’ll change your mind after the first floor”. The cleverness of the dialogue’s writing, as well as the dialogue’s delivery, was such a pleasant surprise!

The mise-en-scène: While watching The Children’s Hour, I noticed interesting mise-en-scène that was sometimes utilized during the movie. One example shows Mary spying on Karen and Martha as they share a conversation in Martha’s room. The door to Martha’s room is in the background near the left-hand side of the frame. In the foreground near the right-hand side of the frame is Mary’s face hiding behind the door of her room. Shots like the one I described present the illusion of putting the audience in a scene alongside the characters. This creative decision was, for me, an unexpected yet memorable aspect of the movie!

The Audrey Hepburn Blogathon banner created by Maddy from Classic Film And TV Corner

What I didn’t like about the film:

Telling instead of showing: Throughout The Children’s Hour, Martha and Karen recount how Mary’s rumor negatively impacted their lives and careers. They planned on filing a libel and slander lawsuit, but ended up losing that lawsuit. The rumor became national news, as Martha mentions it made the front page. But none of these events are shown in the film. No newspapers are presented with that rumor as headline news. There’s no courtroom scenes either, so the audience is forced to take Karen and Martha’s word for it. Because of the script’s reliance on telling instead of showing, the severity of the situation isn’t fully felt. The closest The Children’s Hour gets to addressing the severity is when the students actively leave the school.

Not addressing Mary’s accountability: Karen, Martha, and even Joe are hated by Mary because they do what Mary’s grandmother failed to do: hold Mary accountable for her bad decisions. This hatred is what caused Mary to start the rumor about Martha and Karen in the first place. But The Children’s Hour spends so much time focusing on the fallout from the rumor, Mary isn’t shown facing any accountability for creating the rumor. Sure, the rumor is debunked and Mary’s grandmother discovers the truth. However, the script never addresses what happened to Mary when the truth came to light. As a viewer who was waiting for Mary to face her comeuppance, I was disappointed.

Drawn-out scenes: There were a few times within The Children’s Hour where scenes were drawn out longer than necessary. One example is when Joe confronts Karen about the rumor. While I understand this scene was intended for Karen to debunk the rumor and re-confirm the status of her and Joe’s relationship, the scene itself felt like it lasted between five to ten minutes. Because there’s only so much story you can tell in an hour and forty-eight minutes, I believe scenes like the one I described should have been trimmed a bit.

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My overall impression:

In the world of cinema, there are three types of movies: those that stand the test of time, those that were ahead of its time, and those that are a product of its time. Personally, I think The Children’s Hour fits in the latter category, primarily due to how the dialogue tries to skirt around the rumor instead of being straightforward about it. However, I don’t believe this makes The Children’s Hour a bad movie. In fact, the 1961 picture has its merits. The acting was solid, from Audrey’s portrayal of Karen and James’ portrayal of Joe to the performances from the younger actresses like Veronica and Karen. I also liked how clever some of the dialogue was and how the mise-en-scène was utilized. But the creative team behind The Children’s Hour didn’t take the opportunity to expand the story beyond the stage it was adapted from. The script relied on telling instead of showing, which prevented the severity of the situation from being fully felt. Some scenes were drawn out longer than necessary and Mary’s accountability for starting the rumor isn’t addressed in the story. Therefore, I like Funny Face and The Nun’s Story over The Children’s Hour.

Overall score: 6.1 out of 10

Have you seen The Children’s Hour? Which movie from Audrey Hepburn’s filmography would you like to see me review next? Let me know in the comment section below!

Have fun at the movies!

Sally Silverscreen

Even though I’ve reviewed several of the newer mystery films from Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, it has been awhile since I’ve talked about a Hallmark-esque movie. In fact, the last movie of this kind I reviewed was The Carpenter’s Miracle back in March. Since the last two movies that were covered on 18 Cinema Lane were darker, I chose a film that was somewhat lighter. Recently, Up Network aired the 1990 film, A Son’s Promise. Prior to watching it, I had never even heard of this title. However, I am familiar with Ricky Schroder’s acting work, especially his projects from Hallmark. So, I decided to choose A Son’s Promise as my next movie to review! I haven’t heard many people talking about this film, so this review is a perfect opportunity to give an under-rated movie a chance to receive a “standing ovation”!

20200510_224736[1] — Here is a screenshot I took on my phone. The image of the film’s poster is from my television. Screenshot taken by me, Sally Silverscreen.

Things I liked about the film:

The acting: A common factor I noticed while watching the acting performances is the amount of sincerity the actors put into their roles. This is definitely the case for Ricky Schroder’s portrayal of Terry. Not only was his performance sincere, but there was also a pure goodness that showed through. In one scene, Terry is sad that he lost his job. As he carries out his tear-filled explanation, you can always tell his heart is in the right place. Veronica Cartwright’s portrayal of Dorothy also contained a genuine goodness to it. She was able to successfully show the gentle nature that humans can sometimes have. No matter what the situation was, Dorothy always remained calm. Donald Moffat did a good job portraying Paw Paw! He brought a sense of believability to his role that was convincing. A good example is when Paw Paw is in the hospital. You could feel the fear and uncertainty of that circumstance because of the quality of Donald’s performance. Despite his limited presence on screen, Donald brought a very memorable role to life!

The messages and themes: Movies like A Son’s Promise are known for containing messages and themes that are important and relatable. In this film, one of the messages relates to dealing with loss. At their mother’s funeral, the youngest son in the O’Kelley family asks if they are leaving their mother in the cemetery. Terry tells him no by telling him and his brothers that they will always carry their mother in their hearts. An overarching theme in A Son’s Promise is trust. When speaking with Dorothy, Terry confesses that he is the only person he can trust. Through Terry’s interactions with various characters, we can see how placing trust in others or choosing not to do so can shape someone’s perspective. This theme also shows how the company we keep can make or break a person.

The scenery: Because this movie takes place in rural Georgia, the surrounding scenery reflects this type of location. Near the O’Kelley family’s house, expansive farmland and rolling hills can be seen. Soft yellows and hints of green make up this location’s official color scheme. Other locations that are shown include a forest and a lake, which boast hues of green and blue. Similar to the aforementioned farmland and hills, these settings are serene and have a peaceful quality to them. Even the cemetery appeared as a tranquil space, with the orange of the fallen leaves set against the gray of the headstones. All of these locations gave the impression that time can stand still and there are places that can make people feel safe.

Autumn forest. — Sunny autumn landscape picture created by Kotkoa at freepik.com. <a href=’https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/autumn-forest_1436222.htm’>Designed by Kotkoa</a>. <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/background”>Background image created by Kotkoa – Freepik.com</a>. Image found at freepik.com.

What I didn’t like about the film:

Some brothers receiving more character development than others: This story is about Terry trying to take care of his six brothers after his mother’s death. Because of the large number of siblings, it is difficult for some of the brothers to receive character development. The movie revolves around Terry, giving the audience an opportunity to truly get to know him as a character. Two of the older brothers are given some character development, while the four younger brothers don’t receive much character development. It also doesn’t help that the four younger brothers were in the film for a limited amount of time. Overall, I felt like I never really got to know Terry’s brothers, but only became familiar with them.

Dorothy’s role in Terry’s life: I liked the character of Dorothy as well as Veronica’s performance. However, Dorothy’s role was under-utilized in this story. When she first meets Terry and his brothers, Dorothy tells them she has more authority than a lawyer and how she has a multitude of resources. But, throughout the film, we never see her professional role in action. Sure, she helps Terry at times. She becomes a shoulder to cry on and provides a listening ear when necessary. However, Dorothy isn’t shown doing much to help Terry’s brothers. I’m not saying Dorothy’s role wasn’t important. I just don’t think its inclusion was effective.

A drawn-out story: The story of A Son’s Promise is centered around Terry trying to get his brothers out of foster care so they can stay together. Since this is the film’s primary focus, it causes the overall story to feel drawn out. I understand this procession would take a significant amount of time in real life. But, in the movie, it makes the project feel longer than its given run-time. Whenever Terry experiences adversity, it felt like the process became prolonged. It got to the point where I heard myself asking “How much longer until Terry finally catches a break”? Because of how drawn-out the story was, some details were glossed over. Throughout the film, a local appliance salesman steps in to help the O’Kelley family. His intentions are never made clear and he also doesn’t provide a reason for wanting to help. The lack of answers for these questions are the result of the drawn-out story.

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My overall impression:

One of the most common types of film that is covered on 18 Cinema Lane is Hallmark/Hallmark-esque films. Not only do I enjoy talking about these projects, but it seems like my readers, followers, and visitors like reading about them. So, I try my best to include these films on my blog. I thought A Son’s Promise was a fine movie. The project contained elements that would normally be found in a movie from the Gold Crown company, such as quality acting and significant themes. But there were also flaws that prevented the film from being greater than it was. One example is how the overall story was drawn-out, causing the picture to feel longer than two hours. What surprised me about A Son’s Promise is how there was no mention of the real life O’Kelley family, despite how this film is based on a true story. In movies like this one, there is, more often than not, a message about the true events and/or a photo of the actual people the project is based on. Maybe the family wanted to protect their identity? If you like Hallmark films, specifically of the Hall of Fame variety, you may enjoy A Son’s Promise. Even though there are movies of this nature that are stronger than this one, its heart is in the right place.

Overall score: 7.1 out of 10

Have you seen A Son’s Promise? Do you like the movies that Up Network has recently aired? Let me know in the comment section!

Have fun at the movies!

Sally Silverscreen