The Nanny – 1965 | 89 mins | Horror | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Although by 1965, most film studios were producing movies in colour, producer Jimmy Sangster chose to film the suspense thriller The Nanny in black and white, as he didn’t feel that colour production would add anything to it*. The Nanny was the last film that Hammer Studios made in black and white and, thanks to Sangster’s decision, Seth Holt’s skilful directing and outstanding performances by Bette Davis and child actors William Dix, Pamela Franklin and Angharad Aubrey, it’s also one of the finest movies that the company produced.

Based on the novel by Evelyn Piper, The Nanny went into production in April 1965 at Elstree Studios as Hammer’s usual studios, Bray, were fully booked. The film opens with the nanny (Bette Davis), whose name we never learn, returning to the Fane’s apartment, where Virginia Fane (Wendy Craig) and her husband, Bill (James Villiers), are arguing. Virginia is refusing to go with Bill to collect their son, Joey, and becomes more and more hysterical. We learn that Joey has been away for two years and Virginia isn’t sure that she’ll be able to cope with him when he returns.

Joey (William Dix) has, in fact, been at a juvenile psychiatric facility, having been sent there because he was refusing to eat and sleep. The facility’s psychiatrist, Dr. Beamaster (Maurice Denham), says that they have managed to cure these external symptoms, but confesses that in his opinion, they have failed Joey. One particular issue, according to Dr.Beamaster, is that Joey “seems to have an in-born antipathy towards middle-aged females. Positively destructive at times.” This behaviour is beautifully demonstrated both by a cruel and shocking trick that Joey plays on the school matron, Mrs Griggs (Nora Gordon), and by Joey’s attitude towards Nanny when he sees that she is with his father.

Initially, Joey’s behaviour seems to be that of a difficult child but a child who, perhaps rightly, believes that he is too mature to need a nanny, and it is made perfectly clear to us that it is Virginia who can’t cope without Nanny, not Joey. In fact, Virginia’s emotional state has resulted in her regressing to behaving like a helpless child, needing Nanny to brush her hair for her and in one case, even to spoon-feed her.

However, as the film progresses and we learn more about Joey and his family’s history, we become faced with increasingly more disturbing questions. Joey alleges that Nanny killed his younger sister, Susy (played by Angharad Aubrey in flashback sequences), blaming the death on him, and that Nanny now wants to murder him; we are torn as to who to believe. Do we believe the allegations of a disturbed child, who is perhaps, as the psychiatrists have suggested, traumatised by feelings of guilt about his sister’s death and who wants to get rid of his nanny? Or do we believe the nanny, who seems slightly sinister, but has been caring for the family for years?

The film successfully builds tension throughout, encouraging us to constantly question our opinions about which of the two is telling the truth by drip-feeding information to us and imparting it through the characters’ dialogue rather than by directly showing us what has actually happened. For example, when Virginia’s sister, Pen (Jill Bennett), is looking after Joey, she falls asleep and is woken by Joey, who tells her that Nanny has just tried to drown him in the bath. However, like Aunt Pen, we only have Joey’s word to go on, and as we know that Aunt Pen has a heart condition that could be fatal in the event of a shock, we don’t know whether Joey is telling the truth, or whether this is another of Joey’s cruel pranks or even a deliberate attempt to scare his aunt and induce a heart attack in her.

The lead role in The Nanny was initially offered to Greer Garson, but she turned it down, and it was given to Bette Davis instead. Fresh from the success of films such as Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), Bette Davis was one of the biggest stars that Hammer employed, and provides us with some wonderful moments in the film. One of the finest shots in the film features Davis sitting quietly in a rocking chair and is a hauntingly memorable moment.

All in all, The Nanny is a superbly crafted film, packed with drama and suspense that will keep you intrigued and entertained throughout its 89 minutes.

©Anya J. Davis

* Sangster in feature-length audio commentary on The Nanny in The Hammer Collection DVD Set released in 2006.