The Nanny (1965)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Seth Holt

Writers:

Marryam Modell (novel)
Jimmy Sangster (writer)

Release Date:

27 October 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Nanny wasn't responsible . . . WAS SHE?

Plot:

Bette Davis stars as an English nanny whose sense of reality is clouded due to some deep dark secret in her past.

Plot Keywords:

Abortion | Boy | Murder | Dead Child | Nanny

Cast

Bette Davis	...	Nanny
Wendy Craig	...	Virginia 'Virgie' Fane
Jill Bennett	...	Aunt Pen
James Villiers	...	Bill Fane
William Dix	...	Joey Fane
Pamela Franklin	...	Bobbie Medman
Jack Watling	...	Dr. Medman
Maurice Denham	...	Dr. Beamaster
Alfred Burke	...	Dr. Wills
Harry Fowler	...	Milkman
Angharad Aubrey	...	Susy Fane
Nora Gordon	...	Mrs. Griggs
Sandra Power	...	Sarah

Runtime:

91 min | USA:93 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Associated British Elstree Studios, Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Associated British

Trivia:

The role of the Nanny was originally intended for Greer Garson who first accepted then declined, saying the script would not be good for her career.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where they put the doll into the bathtub to scare the nanny: When they first pick up the doll, it has blonde hair, then when they put it into the bathtub, it has black hair, then when the nanny finds it, it has blonde hair again.

Quotes:

Bobbie Medman: You're making it up.
Joey Fane: No I'm not!
Bobbie Medman: She would've killed you?
Joey Fane: Yes, only I wouldn't let her. I wouldn't eat incase she poisoned me, I wouldn't sleep incase she came in and smothered me. I wouldn't do anything.
Bobbie Medman: You told them, didn't you?
Joey Fane: Of course I told them, she told them too, she said that Susy and I were playing boats in the bath, and I pushed hers in, ran away and hid.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood! (1987) (TV)

"First class psycho-thriller from Hammer."

SPOILER ALERT: BUT I HAVE TRIED TO GIVE THIS FILM AN IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS AS I FEEL IT WARRANTS THAT.

A ten-year-old boy called Joey Fane (William Dix) returns home after two years of psychiatric treatment to cure his suspected guilt complex, after he was blamed for the accidental drowning of his little sister in the bath tub. On his arrival back home there is immediate tension when Joey refuses to sleep in the room that his elderly nanny (Bette Davis) has prepared for him and refuses to eat anything that she cooks. Joey's parents (James Villiers & Wendy Craig) believe that he is still suffering from his problems, but Joey is convinced that nanny was responsible for the death of his sister. Things hot up when Joey's father (a Queen's messenger) is away on business when Joey's mother is taken ill after eating steak and kidney pie. The doctor thinks that Joey tried to poison her and nanny tells them that she saw Joey hanging around the kitchen and that her medicine box had been rummaged through. The mother is admitted into hospital but Joey refuses to stay alone in the flat with nanny so his aunt Pen (Jill Bennett) is called in to look after him. Later that night Joey awakes Pen in a hysterical state and soaking wet, he claims that nanny tried to drown him in the bath tub!

THE NANNY is one of Hammer's several ventures into the psycho-thriller genre. Veteran Hammer producer-writer Jimmy Sangster adapted the story from a novel by Evelyn Piper, and the deal was that if Hammer decided to make it, they would let Sangster produce it as well. The first choice for the role of the nanny was veteran actress Greer Garson but she turned the part down and it finally went to Bette Davies who was already a veteran Hollywood star in her own right. On the basis of her star status, Bette Davies had director approval and she approved Hammer's chosen director Seth Holt. Davies would work with Hammer and Sangster again on THE ANNIVERSARY (1968), which was directed by Roy Ward Baker.

THE NANNY is a first-class psycho-thriller from Hammer. It benefits no end by the skilled direction of Seth Holt, a fine director who was apparently considered to direct the classic social message film IF (1968), but he lost out to Lindsay Anderson. His sense of narrative pacing and his work with the cast is impeccable. Bette Davies is first class as the nanny, William Dix is superb as Joey, while Wendy Craig and James Villiers are both flawless in the roles as the bewildered and troubled parents. Also deserving praise are Jimmy Sangster for his excellent script and Harry Waxman for his excellent black and white photography.