The Children's Hour
Short description
Karen Wright and Martha Dobie run a private girls' boarding school in a small American town, where Karen is engaged to the local doctor, Joe Cardin. A disgruntled pupil, Mary Tilford, punished for her behaviour, spreads a story that the two headmistresses are more than friends. In a town quick to believe the worst, parents withdraw their daughters and the school collapses, while Joe loses his hospital post for defending the women. Based on Lillian Hellman's play, the film was directed by William Wyler, the nineteenth of the twenty-two features he made in chronological order, following Ben-Hur and preceding The Collector. John Michael Hayes wrote the screenplay, and Wyler produced. Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine play Karen and Martha, with James Garner as Joe. Miriam Hopkins, who starred in the 1936 film of the same play, appears as Lily Mortar; Fay Bainter is Amelia Tilford and Karen Balkin plays Mary.
The drama had a budget of four million dollars and took three million worldwide, so it did not recoup its costs. On IMDb it holds 7.8 out of 10 from twenty thousand votes, and on TMDB 7.7 from about four hundred. The critics' rating of 6.8 from nine reviews is notably lower than the audience scores, which rest on far larger numbers of votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- The last film in Audrey Hepburn's career to be shot in black and white.
- This is the second film adaptation of Lillian Hellman's play 'The Children's Hour,' directed by William Wyler. The first was released in 1936 under the title 'These Three.'
- Miriam Hopkins, who played Lily, Martha's aunt, originally played Martha in the 1936 version.
- Merle Oberon, who played Karen in "These Three", declined an offer to play Mrs. Tilford in "The Children's Hour".
- The film's title is taken from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
