I’m not a huge Audrey Hepburn fan so I’m only familiar with a handful of her films, including My Fair Lady, Roman Holiday, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I really enjoyed all of those movies, so while I don’t actively seek out Hepburn’s work, I don’t shy away from it either. That’s why I decided to rent the 1961 film The Children’s Hour even though I’d never heard of it before. The Children’s Hour turned out to be quite different from what I’d previously seen of Hepburn, so I’m glad I gave it a shot.
Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Hepburn and a very young Shirley MacLaine star as Karen Wright and Martha Dobie, two single women who run a small boarding school for girls. The women, best friends since college, have poured their heart and soul into the school, and are ecstatic when they finally turn a profit. Moreover, they’re scheduled to have three new pupils in the next term, which will push the total enrollment to 23 and will likely mean they can stop worrying about money for a while in order to concentrate on actual teaching.
Now that Karen’s professional life is coming together, she can finally give her personal life some attention. This means setting a wedding date with her fiancé Dr. Joe Cardin (played by James Garner) after an engagement of nearly two years. Martha isn’t very happy to hear the news, ostensibly because she fears that it will have an impact on the school. Specifically, she’s worried that Karen might want to have children, which would leave Martha on her own. The two friends argue over the matter, unaware that a few students were eavesdropping.
Karen and Martha try to conduct business as usual the next day. That’s when Karen has trouble with a particularly mean-spirited student named Mary Tilford (Karen Balkin). Mary is late to class, constantly lies about her actions, and generally causes a lot of problems around the place. As a result, Karen is forced to discipline Mary more than any of the other girls.
One day Mary has an idea for exacting revenge on the teachers. She tells her grandmother Amelia (Faye Bainter) that Karen and Martha are lesbians. Mary goes on to say that she has seen Karen and Martha kiss, that Karen often goes to Martha’s room late at night, and that Martha is extremely jealous of Dr. Joe. In addition, Martha’s own aunt, Mrs. Lily Mortar (Miriam Hopkins), described Martha’s attachment to Karen as “unnatural.”
Mrs. Tilford reacts by immediately pulling Mary out of school. She then goes on to warn other parents about Mary’s claim, which results in every single student being taken out of the school.
The rest of the film then deals with the way Karen and Martha fight for their reputation and their school. There’s an offscreen slander trial, as well as a scene in which Mary finally breaks down and recants her statement. At the end, however, the resolution is too little too late for Martha, who acknowledges that perhaps she did love Karen “in that way” after all.
My Reaction: When I rented The Children’s Hour, I had no idea the film was about lesbianism. I was in a hurry at the video store and just grabbed the DVD without checking out the summary on the back of the box. I saw Hepburn and MacLaine’s names (as well as director William Wyler’s), and was sold on those alone. So I was very surprised that a subject like this was even addressed in a 1961 film.
While the movie is certainly flawed in many respects, I couldn’t help but like it. First of all, logic and reasoning tell us that while a young girl’s accusation might cripple a small school like Karen and Martha’s, there’s no way the women would have lost their court case. But once I accepted that such a thing happened in the movie’s universe, I was able to enjoy the film a great deal.
I was very surprised at how direct some of the dialog in The Children’s Hour was. Once I realized where the storyline was heading, I figured the main characters would just hint at lesbianism and use as many euphemisms as possible. And while many conversations about the allegations were whispered or held out of “earshot” of the audience, a lot (for 1961, I mean) was said onscreen as well.
I thought both Hepburn and MacLaine turned in superb performances here. MacLaine’s best moment by far was her breakdown scene where she confessed that the things everyone was saying were actually true. Hepburn, too, was brilliant — for what she kept inside rather than what she poured forth. It was rather telling that she let Joe get away and elected to stay with Martha instead.
Overall, I thought The Children’s Hour was a very well done film from start to finish. Sure, it’s unlikely that the events in the script would have unfolded that way in real life, but the scenario worked in Wyler’s world, which is what counts in the end. I give this movie 7.5 stars out of 10 and recommend that you see it!