Review: The Innocents (1961)

The Innocents is a film based on the novella Turn of the Screw, which was written way back in 1898 by American-born author Henry James. I have not read the story, though I hear it clarifies a lot of the details missing from the movie, but the film is still an almost intricate masterpiece in atmosphere. If it weren't for a rather disappointing ending, which requires the viewer to accept a lot more than I was willing to, then The Innocents would have been just about perfect; as it stands, it's merely going to have to accept being a near-flawless masterpiece, a horror film that not only sets out to scare the viewer, but that actually succeeds mainly thanks to its outstanding lighting and excellent cinematography (by none other than the great Freddie Francis).

Deborah Kerr plays Miss Giddens, a governess who is hired to take care of two young children when their uncle suddenly finds himself responsible for them following the sudden death of their parents. He is not ready to be bothered with caring for children, and needs someone to watch them full time (and permanently) while he continues to live his life in London.

When Miss Giddens first arrives to the large estate (as is seemingly required by all ghost stories), she meets the remaining cast of characters: Mrs. Grose, the housekeeper, a couple servants that are neither central to the story, nor receive much screen time, and Flora, one of the two children for which she will be caring. We quickly learn that the second child, Miles, and Flora's brother, is away at a boarding school. Very early on, however, Miss Giddens receives a letter explaining that Miles has been expelled and will be returning home very soon. She runs this information past Mrs. Grose, who is shocked at the news. Miles has always been a good boy; the letter never specifies the reason for his expulsion, nor do we ever learn it throughout the course of the movie.

But this is one of the more minor mysteries in a film that is teeming with them; The Innocents does a wonderful job of using vagueness to add to the overall atmosphere. By the end of the movie, we still know about as much as we do going in; every revelation within only leads to more questions, until eventually the film smartly stops answering them. We gradually learn that two former residents, including the estate's former governess, died under mysterious circumstances, and our minds swirl with all the possibilities. Yet that is all the stories ever become, a set of possibilities. We are never fully detailed as to what exactly happened to them.

Perhaps first and foremost, The Innocents is a ghost story, however, and there are some absolutely chilling sequences of the former tenants reappearing on the grounds, that sometimes make perfect use of brilliant lighting techniques, and other times just use simplicity to their advantage: Who would have thought that a long shot of a figure just standing in a field of grass could be so creepy? However, their existence is also but one part of the mystery: Are the ghosts really appearing, or are they entirely in Miss Gidden's head? Not surprisingly, the movie has no intentions of answering that for the viewer, even leaving the ending up to interpretation.

The performances are pretty stellar all around, since this was made in a time when horror was actually considered a legitimate genre, before the exploitation and gore days of the early '70s, on through to the tired Hollywood remakes and straight-to-video or television days of today. Deborah Kerr looks visibly (and rightfully) distraught during the many scare scenes, and her reactions only add to the intensity, not to mention the credibility, of such scenes. Meanwhile, Pamela Franklin, who plays Flora, and Martin Stephens as Miles, are also fittingly creepy in their roles, especially Stephens, who also manages to act with a fitting air of sophistication, given the fact he appears to be no older than twelve. Megs Jenkins, as Mrs. Grose, is also top-notch. Like any great actress, she not only does a great job delivering her lines, but she also wears her emotions on her face; when she is concerned, you can tell just by looking at her. This is the mark of a truly great performance.

Again, The Innocents only undoing comes in its catch-22 of an ending; there are two possible endings, depending on the viewer's interpretation of the previous events portrayed in the film, but neither one of them are very good, nor very believable. As I have said in at least one review before, a bad ending is perhaps the most inexcusable offense that a movie can provide; a horrible movie can at least recover some dignity with a solid ending, while a great movie can become a masterpiece with the same thing. Likewise, a horrible movie with a bad ending is surely a candidate for one of the worst movies of all time, a film with absolutely no redeeming qualities. The ending is, of course, the last thing you see in a film, and it can leave a rather bad taste in your mouth, something that lingers as you sit in the darkness of the theater (or your living room) as the credits roll. The Innocents has such an ending, one that isn't horrible enough to negate all of the greatness before it, but that slips up what could have been a perfect horror picture.

Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 4)