The Miracle Worker (A or 4/4 stars)
'The Miracle Worker' (directed by Arthur Penn & adapted from William Gibson's 1959 play) tells the story of adolescent Helen Keller (Patty Duke). Blind & deaf from an acute illness as a toddler, Helen is treated more as a pet than a child by her extremely loving, but hopeless family. Helen is 1st seen in her Alabama home, angrily groping around in her silent, closed-off world; having no knowledge or understanding of anything. Bereft, her parents, doting Kate (Inga Swenson) & her overbearing father (Victor Jory) hire Annie Sullivan (Anne Bancroft), once blind herself {wearing dark glasses now}, to be her sign language teacher. Sullivan begins by teaching the basics of finger-motion spelling, but Helen cannot connect them to anything conceptual.
After one combustive row at the dinner table btwn. student & teacher, Annie realizes that the main problem is that the parents are too cloying. And so, Annie requests to stay with Helen alone for 2 weeks in a small cottage on the property. Confined together, Annie manages to calm Helen down, teach how to dress herself, & to recite the alphabet by touch. But Annie - struggling with her own sense of identity in this world & haunted by dark childhood memories of her own - continues to hit a stone wall when trying to get Helen to understand the connection btwn. the alphabet & what the letters represent. The Kellers abruptly take Helen home after the 2 weeks are up and, she slips right back into her old patterns. But one fateful night at the dinner table, Annie forcibly drags Helen outside to the "w-a-t-e-r" pump to refill the pitcher she had knocked over and ... it is there where an ineffable revelation occurs for Helen.
This outstanding movie unfolds as a brutal battle of wills btwn. 2 strong women, but ends with such positivity & catharsis. It's hard not to be moved in the final 10 minutes or so -- I know I needed a tissue. Anne Bancroft is absolutely superb as Annie Sullivan, the teacher who dug deep into her own tortured soul to reach into Helen Keller's own darkness. Patty Duke is unsettlingly real as our young afflicted Helen. And the centerpiece sequence of the film, a harrowing 9 minute War of Attrition where Bancroft imposes table manners on a feral Duke is just an ASTONISHING display of committed, visceral acting.
All the genial performances in the film impress, but it's easy to see why Bancroft & Duke won their respective Academy Awards for those roles; even if I personally would've given Supporting Actress to Angela Lansbury for her terrifying mother role in The Manchurian Candidate. On the technical side of things, the direction is astute, the writing is aces {obviously}, the editing {especially of that 9 min. sequence, shot over several days} is excellent, the black-&-white camera work is effective, & the sets/costume design feel authentic to the time & place. Not only does this biopic emphasize the importance of language & the challenges of teaching kids with disabilities ... it's just a darn good movie to watch; a classic, through & through.
After one combustive row at the dinner table btwn. student & teacher, Annie realizes that the main problem is that the parents are too cloying. And so, Annie requests to stay with Helen alone for 2 weeks in a small cottage on the property. Confined together, Annie manages to calm Helen down, teach how to dress herself, & to recite the alphabet by touch. But Annie - struggling with her own sense of identity in this world & haunted by dark childhood memories of her own - continues to hit a stone wall when trying to get Helen to understand the connection btwn. the alphabet & what the letters represent. The Kellers abruptly take Helen home after the 2 weeks are up and, she slips right back into her old patterns. But one fateful night at the dinner table, Annie forcibly drags Helen outside to the "w-a-t-e-r" pump to refill the pitcher she had knocked over and ... it is there where an ineffable revelation occurs for Helen.
This outstanding movie unfolds as a brutal battle of wills btwn. 2 strong women, but ends with such positivity & catharsis. It's hard not to be moved in the final 10 minutes or so -- I know I needed a tissue. Anne Bancroft is absolutely superb as Annie Sullivan, the teacher who dug deep into her own tortured soul to reach into Helen Keller's own darkness. Patty Duke is unsettlingly real as our young afflicted Helen. And the centerpiece sequence of the film, a harrowing 9 minute War of Attrition where Bancroft imposes table manners on a feral Duke is just an ASTONISHING display of committed, visceral acting.
All the genial performances in the film impress, but it's easy to see why Bancroft & Duke won their respective Academy Awards for those roles; even if I personally would've given Supporting Actress to Angela Lansbury for her terrifying mother role in The Manchurian Candidate. On the technical side of things, the direction is astute, the writing is aces {obviously}, the editing {especially of that 9 min. sequence, shot over several days} is excellent, the black-&-white camera work is effective, & the sets/costume design feel authentic to the time & place. Not only does this biopic emphasize the importance of language & the challenges of teaching kids with disabilities ... it's just a darn good movie to watch; a classic, through & through.