'The Children's Hour' Its Tale of Homophobia Still Rings Strong Today

Release Date: December 19, 1961

Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, James Garner, Miriam Hopkins, Karen Balkin

Director: William Wyler

Writer: Lillian Hellman (Play and screen adaptation)

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Part One of 'The Children's Hour'

'The Children's Hour' and its core topic is one that resonates into present society's issue of homosexuality and homophobia. This black and white, American film is based on a 1934 play of the same name and written by the same person, Lillian Hellman. There is also another version of 'The Children's Hour' from 1936 that is directed by the same director, William Wyler, called 'These Three.' That particular film removes all traces of a homosexual topics and instead focuses on a heterosexual love triangle, but the central theme of gossip remains largely the same as 'Hour.'

This story is based on actual events in Scotland involving two teachers. You can find the article here.
Martha Dobie (Shirley MacLaine) and Karen Wright (Audrey Hepburn) are former college classmates who now own a private school for girls, with some help from Martha's Aunt Lily (Miriam Hopkins). Karen has been engaged to Joe Cardin (James Garner) for two years and finally decided on a wedding date. Joe's relative, Mrs. Amelia Tilford (Fay Bainter), has her granddaughter, Mary (Karen Balkin) enrolled in Martha and Karen's school.

To be blunt, Mary is a bitch. Yeah, she is just a kid, but she is still a bratty bitch. She constantly behaves badly in school and is capable of manipulating her classmates and bullys them from time to time. Mary, the little bitch that she is, even goes as far as blackmailing one of her fellow classmates when she discovers that classmate stole another student's bracelet.

Throughout the whole film, I kept thinking "GOD! HER FACE IS SO PUNCHABLE!"

Mary is constantly punished by Martha and Karen for her bad behavior and decides one day that they've gone too far.
After seeing Martha and Karen involved in a small quarrel one night, Mary creates a lie loosely based on their confrontations. The girl tells her grandmother that she "saw" the teachers kissing one night.

Like some grandparents/parents of most children, Mrs. Tilford thinks Mary is the sweetest angel who can do no effin' wrong. She immediately informs all the parents and, as a result, each of the students are pulled out of the school. Martha and Karen are surprised and have no idea why so many parents have decided to stop letting their daughters go there.

They later find out about the accusations and are immediately peeved. They, along with Karen's fiance', go to confront Mrs. Tilford and even sue her for libel and slander.

Standing with their heads held high and reputations already tattered and torn, the two teachers struggle on with their lives.

I really enjoyed this film and I think it is a topic, two actually, that transcends smoothly into present society.

First, there's the issue of homophobia and how different (but not by much) it was back then to be thought of as gay. Even in the film business, there was a moment in time when you could not mention homosexual terms. That is why the first film version, 'These Three,' centers around a heterosexual love triangle instead of a accused lesbian affair. Even in 'Hour,' you never hear the word "lesbian" throughout the entire film.

Second, is the issue of gossip. We all love a little bit of gossip now and then. Whether it's "OMG! Did you see what Becky was wearing?" to "Wow, did you see that audition that girl did? I wanted to rip out her vocal chords and strangle her with them," we have come across gossip. None of us are innocent of gossip. You can say you've never stated any gossip before, but you have at least heard some. Have you ever thought just a little bit differently about someone (celebrity or acquiantance) after hearing something? Then you've been sucked in some gossip before.

While seemingly harmless, there are the kinds of gossip that can destroy a person, inside and out. 'Hour' is a great story about slander and dangerous assumptions.

All the actors did a great job, except the children, but this is around the era of the 'Leave It To Beaver' crap so, you tend to just ignore it. After seeing this movie, I would really love to work with this play one day. It's well-written and it is not the best play, but the topics of it are too strong to leave in a pile of dust.

Take some time for 'The Children's Hour.'

Rent worthy? If you can stand the speed of older films, I think this is a must-see. I know it is at Blockbuster because my older sister used her membership to rent it. We wanted an Audrey Hepburn film and I'm happy we chose this because it is not as well-known as say, 'My Fair Lady' or 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.' But, you don't have to rent it because I found the film on Youtube for you. I posted Part One in this entry and the rest of the parts are on the suggestion column to the right.

DVD/Blu-ray worthy? It's not available on Blu-ray, but it doesn't really need to be since it is black and white. I would watch this again, but probably will not buy it on DVD.

Keep on watchin'

The Little Critic