In Victorian England, a wealthy man (Michael Redgrave) hires a repressed woman, Miss Gidden (Deborah Kerr), as the governess for his niece, Flora (Pamela Franklin), and nephew, Miles (Martin Stephens), giving her complete control as he never ventures to his country estate to see them. The children appear well behaved at first, but Miles has many of the mannerism of an adult, and Flora appears dreamy. Miss Gidden becomes convinced that the children are possessed by the ghosts of the ex-governess and her abusive boyfriend, the former valet. But are there ghosts, or is Miss Gidden losing her mind?
Based on one of the most famous ghost stories, Henry James’ 1898 novel, The Turn of the Screw, (and renamed for no sane reason), The Innocents is a movie you’re supposed to like, or so most critics will tell you, although few did when it came out. It is a ghost story that can be accepted as mainstream as there really are no ghosts. Written by James to illuminate the repression of Victorian society, by 1961, there was little need for such revelation, nor does the story’s brand of Freudian psychology have a lot to say about the current human condition (well, I’m sure there’s one psychologist out there still clinging to Freud, but then there are people who still believe the Earth is flat).
It takes a lot of work to even claim there is the possibility of a ghost in the film. The book may be ambiguous, but the movie isn’t. Only Miss Gidden, who becomes more and more hysterical, ever sees a ghost. The children have had a rough time. Abandoned by their uncle, they’ve had a beloved governess commit suicide as well as lived through the accidental death of the valet, who was teaching Miles about life. They also were witnesses to the governess and valet’s unhealthy emotional and sexual relationship. So, the kids are a bit messed up, but not unduly so. Miles attempts to emulate the man who was his surrogate father. So when Miss Gidden, who has trouble sleeping and comes from a religious family where no secrets were allowed as well as no sins, starts raving about ghosts, it’s pretty easy to see the spirits are in her head. As a psychological melodrama, it’s not a bad story.
But getting to that story is difficult. The first half creeps along, presenting obvious information over and over. The tenth or fifteenth time Miss Gidden says “the children are in danger,” I got the idea that she thought that the children were in danger. Likewise, by the fifth conversation where Miss Gidden tells the housekeeper that she saw a ghost and the housekeeper says to leave it alone, I got the idea that Miss Gidden thought she saw a ghost and the housekeeper thought it should be forgotten about. Rather than being a film aimed at the literate, this is pointed squarely at anyone who has the memory of a small house fern. If you forgot what Miss Gidden was thinking five minutes ago, fear not, it will be repeated.
The adaptation would have been better suited for the stage. The dialog (and delivery) is very theatrical, playing for the twentieth row. It is filled with those overly pompous, upper crust society lines that are charming on stage but ring false on film.
Housekeeper: “She died in wickedness, by her own hand.”
Miss Gidden: “Oh!”
Housekeeper: “I’m sorry miss, I should never have told you.”
No one ever spoke like that. Everyone also pauses dramatically after a line, to give you time to dwell on its importance.
As a tense drama of a woman falling apart and the lives she ruins (and more—is everyone clear on what actually happens to Miles?), The Innocents has a lot going for it, including excellent cinematography. But it is too self-important, too repetitious, and too simple, to be worth the time to watch.