The Innocents – 1961 | 100 mins | Horror, Thriller | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Jack Clayton served as both producer and director on The Innocents, working closely with cinematographer Freddie Francis. Both men turn in an excellent job, creating a genuinely claustrophobic and atmospheric ghost story that was unfairly neglected on release, and today deserves wider exposure. The script, adapted from Henry James’ novel The Turn Of The Screw, deals with psychological and paranormal exploration.

Set in Victorian England, Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr) is a vibrant young woman; in order to earn a living as a governess she is forced by circumstance to suppress her thoughts and emotions. She arrives at a bleak country estate to take care of two wealthy orphans, Flora (Pamela Franklin) and Miles (Martin Stephens), in the guardianship of their charming Uncle (Michael Redgrave). Outwardly the children appear angelic little darlings, but the governess gradually begins to feel that there’s something more sinister to her charges.

When describing the apparitions she has been seeing and her fears for the children to the housekeeper (Meg Jenkins), she is told that the ethereal descriptions resemble those of the estate’s dead valet Peter Quint (Peter Wyngarde), and previous governess Miss Jessel (Clytie Jessop) – who were engaged in a sadomasochistic relationship together. When Miss Giddens allows herself to believe the malevolent spirits are beginning to possess the young children in her charge, it pushes her already fragile mind closer to the edge. Is it hysteria caused by repressed passions, or is it a true case of possession? Miss Giddens sets out to exorcise the malevolent spirits with tragic results.