| Chalk Garden | 
 enlarge | List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $13.17
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 22 reviews)
Sales Rank: 838
Category: Video
Actors: Deborah Kerr, Hayley Mills, John Mills, Edith Evans, Felix Aylmer
Director: Ronald Neame
Publisher: Universal Studios
Studio: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Label: Universal Studios
Format: Color, Hifi Sound, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 6300186121
UPC: 096898063937
EAN: 9786300186125
ASIN: 6300186121
Release Date: March 1, 1992
Theatrical Release Date: May 21, 1964
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 Poignant Drama With Intrigue And Humor April 19, 2006
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Enid Bagnold's play, directed for the big screen by Ronald Neame in 1964, is a touching story about a mystery woman, Madrigal (Deborah Kerr) who answers an ad for a companion for a teenage girl. But this is no prim and proper young English lady - Laurel (Hayley Mills) is a troubled youth who resides with her wealthy grandmother (wonderfully portrayed by Dame Edith Evans, who plays a crusty aristocratic Briton like no one can), and who spins lies, sets fires and steals without a thought to consequences. Obsessed with murder and criminal cases, she is accustomed to having her own way, and sets out to expose her new governess as a madwoman or something worse. Despite the child's negative attitude, Kerr stays on, trying to reach out to Laurel, who in reality, feels so unloved and unworthy that her anger could get her into deep trouble later on. Miss Madrigal attempts to bring Laurel's mother, Olivia (Elizabeth Sellars) back into the picture, but this only adds to the tension within the household. Maitland (Sir John Mills), the butler, seems to have an uncanny understanding of all the goings on and a wry sense of humor that most likely keeps him from blowing a gasket.
Laurel begins to unravel Madrigal's secret, which comes full circle when a distinguished judge and family friend comes for a visit. The realization of her conviction for murder (it is never really confirmed whether she was guilty of the crime or not), serves as a reason as to why she has been so determined to save Laurel - she fears that the girl will end up on the same path she did. Madrigal opens the eyes of all around her - "You should be frightened - you see before you the woman Laurel may yet become! The child who lied, cheated and hated, because she could not believe the simple fact that she was loved! You wanted the truth - and the truth may still save Laurel!" I cannot stress enough that the cast is uniformly excellent, bringing the film's message to the viewer's attention without bashing them on the head with it. Hayley and her late father act marvelously together, and Kerr embodies her role with such mystery, knowledge and concern that you never feel any malice for her, even after her past is revealed.
An expressive musical score, lovely cinematography, both on location in England and at London's Pinewood Studios, as well as the intrigue surrounding Kerr's character make for a fantastically rich viewing experience.
 Good Melodrama, But Something is Missing ... May 30, 2005
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
Hayley Mills does a good job of milking all the emotion there is to be milked from the furious, histrionic teenager she plays in the *Chalk Garden*, and I always enjoy Deborah Kerr in her repressed governess-type roles. But a lot of their interaction just rings hollow, somehow--maybe because Mills is so insufferably bratty that it's hard to believe Kerr isn't moved to, at the very least, occasional bouts of unconstrained rage. Indeed, Kerr is so prim and controlled that one tends to question the movie's basic premise--i.e., that Kerr was just like Mills at that age. The upshot is that the script's dramatic potential never fully unfolds. My instinct is to blame this on the direction of Ronald Neame, whose work has always struck me as competent but uninspired. This is a gritty story that should have been told grittily, but, except from Mills, there's hardly a speck of grit anywhere.
All that said, this movie remains a worthwhile conversation piece, one that I think is genuinely useful to an understanding of early 1960s' female pathos. Mills' character seems hopelessly torn between the only two models of girlhood available--the "nice," well-mannered girl who never speaks out of turn, and the "bad" girl careening towards a terrible end. Mills clearly doesn't belong where the "bad" girls go--i.e., jail, or someplace even worse--but just being a "nice" girl will never be enough. The solution the movie offers to Mills's problem--maternal love and understanding--is too easy, to be sure, for in reality there is probably no solution at all. But the script's insistence upon finding a happy ending, and redemption for both Mills and Kerr, is revolutionary nonetheless; here, finally, is a movie about rebelious women who don't die at the end.
Four stars, mostly for social commentary and discussion value.
 Oh, Hayley, you tease! November 10, 2004
3 out of 27 found this review helpful
Classy 1964 psychological soaper pits school girl against governess Deborah Kerr. Story depicts Hayley as a little squirt, but she looks womanly. Her impressive beachwear scene will promote heavy breathing and multiple replays.
Excellent December 23, 2003
2 out of 14 found this review helpful
The film is quite good. I enjoyed it, the actors/actress' fit their parts extremely well. The music is a bit too much. It was like DUM DUM DUMMMMM made you'd think someone had died or something but turned out she was just asking a question.
Inhospitable To Growth June 7, 2003
15 out of 18 found this review helpful
Edith Evans is the wealthy grandmother to troubled teen Hayley Mills. Mills lives with her grandmother, since Evans is unhappy with her daughter's second marriage and wants to protect her granddaughter. John Mills works as the butler and Deborah Kerr is the latest in a long line of governesses hired. Hayley has a way of scaring them away. Kerr seems to have arrived without much of a past or family ties (but that becomes clearer later). Hayley is angry at her mother and the world and feels very isolated and it's up to Kerr to find a way (whatever the cost) to get through to her.The performers are all strong. It's the kind of role that Deborah Kerr did very well, while Hayley is good in a character that requires her to be more than just cute. John Mills is solid as the butler, while Evans has some good moments as she realizes that not only her garden is inhospitable to growth, but so is her home and relationships to her daughter and granddaughter. The music is a little over the top, as are a few melodramatic moments in the script, but the story is entertaining as the tug-of-war between the governess and her charge heats up. It's an interesting character study.
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