The Chalk Garden – 1963 | 106 mins | Drama | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Acclaimed but sometimes tedious drama adapted from Enid Bagnold’s long-running play. A sterling cast including Deborah Kerr, John Mills, the precocious Hayley Mills and Oscar-nominated Edith Evans bolsters Director Ronald Neame’s handsomely shot film.

Laurel (Hayley Mills), a wayward 16-year-old girl living with her dotty grandmother (Edith Evans), retreats into a fantasy world, unable to cope with reality and feeling unloved by her mother (Elizabeth Sellars). The grandmother spends most of her time tending to the garden, while the girl is developing a liking for pyromania. Things change abruptly with the arrival of a new governess hiding a mysterious past, Miss Madrigal (Deborah Kerr). The compassionate Madrigal is determined to remedy Laurel before she becomes out of control and hurts someone else. Madrigal’s hidden past gives her an experienced insight – she has recently been released from a long prison term having been charged with the murder of her stepsister.