MovieChat Forums > The Children's Hour (1961) Discussion > What the heck is this movie about?

What the heck is this movie about?

posted 15 years ago by rivergirl301
8 replies | jump to latest

A brat with ADHD? A bad seed? A (different) kid with a kleptomania problem? A blabby aunt? A hospital with funding problems? A guy who has always wondered if his fiancee is a lesbian?

I thought this movie was terrible! Shirley Maclaine has been in her share of bombs, but I kept wondering how Audrey Hepburn got rooked into his horrible role. "Martha's" acting range goes from 0-60 mph in 1 second flat--too shocked to speak, and then ear-splitting shrieking, with nothing in between. Martha and Karen spend an inordinate amount of time lolling around, wondering if they are, indeed, lesbians. I was really surprised the "lies" were originally referred to as "libel," which is written lies, as opposed to what it was, which was slander, spoken word. Huge difference for someone--the writer, editor, director, the actors themselves--to have overlooked, considering it is what the entire movie supposedly revolves around.

[–] jjgould 15 years ago

Are you serious or just a Moron?

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] maregee 15 years ago

On the one hand, it's about prejudice and the pain they can cause. On the other, related hand, it's about lies and the consequences of selfishness, deception, and credulity

[–] ndatmo-1 15 years ago

Nicely done, maregee. - That just about covers it.
A very powerful film for its time and (sadly) not accessible to some apparently.

...........Hate is the essence of weakness in the human mind...........

[–] schuyler_harmon 15 years ago

You're kidding, right? This is one of the more powerful plays of the 20th Century. Lillian Hellman is examining many things: the power of the Big Lie; prejudice, and the pain that comes from denying one's true self (versus the pain that comes from revealing one's true self, of course!).

Think of how any politician of public figure can be ruined by gossip or by revealing a past slip up. When Hellman wrote this Americans were being blacklisted for being supposed Communists. It doesn't have to be about Lesbianism, but look how relevant that is, even today. When Ellen came out her career suffered for years.

My guess is you didn't like this movie because it made you uncomfortable, because it made you think.

[–] juanmonge69 15 years ago

I am assuming that the theatrical version is alot "cleaner" than the Broadway version. I assume that a star like Hepburn would have lobbied to be in such a strong and powerful play. Strange that "Breakfast at Tiffany's" came out in the same year and was a cleaned up version of a gay character.

[–] cindytrells 10 years ago

You have no evidence that Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's "was a cleaned up version of a gay character."

Truman Capote became very loquacious after Hollywood stopped making movies of his books and short stories. The last one was released in 1967. Between 1968 and his death in 1984, he yakkety yakked to hundreds of friends and interviewers, and Johnny Carson and David Susskind were only two of them, about how he had created this character a long time ago and how he had created that character.

Capote's statements were filled with contradictions and lies. He was a great storyteller, nothing more. Holly Golightly was played by a very demure, beautiful actress. Those who say her character was originally supposed to be this or that are people who may have met Truman Capote once or twice, if at all.

[–] 10 years ago

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