MovieChat Forums > The Children's Hour (1961) Discussion > favorite scene

favorite scene

posted 20 years ago by spunky802
21 replies | jump to latest

Do any of you have a favorite part of the movie? One of my favorite parts of the movie is when they are interrogating Mary....whoever played Mary was a brilliant little actress! Mary was soo devious! it was very obvious that she was lying through her teeth when she said that she "saw them through the keyhole". Afterwards, Martha said that she doesn't have a keyhole on her door....eventually Mary blamed Rosalie for telling the lie.

My other favorite part of the movie was when Aunt Lily returned from the theater. I loved Martha's reaction to seeing her....Shirley Mcclaine made that scene very believable. The way that she confronted her aunt was really dramatic.

[–] ravengurl86 20 years ago

Aside from Martha's very dramatic, sad, and convincing breakdown scene near the end, my favorite scene is at the beginning of the movie, when Martha recalls the first time she saw Karen running at college. She said, "I remember thinking to myself, 'What a pretty girl.'" I love that moment because you see a closeup of Martha's facial expression when she says that, and you can almost see the love in her eyes.

Shirley Maclain is a fabulous actress.

*sigh*

[–] sdcadavid4 20 years ago

I have several favorites. But I guess when Shirley Mc Claine tells her Aunt she hates her has always hated her and the aunt says "god will get you for that" and Shirley says. He's doing alright It is great

[–] pathos613 20 years ago

My favorite part in the movie is when Amelia (Fay Bainter) comes to the realization that it was indeed all a lie. (Getting choked up as I write this). When she collapses in the hallway as she goes to confront Mary, I fall apart for the rest of the film. My emotion is not really so much for Amelia (Fay Bainters tour de force performance), but for all affected in this tragic story. Mary on the other hand...as my friend, Michael always says, "Children should be sauteed and not heard"

[–] binnie25 20 years ago

I had several favorite scenes too; but I thought it was great dramatic moment in the end when Karen is walking outside and then she realizes that something is very wrong; there's a closeup of her face and she increases her pace back to the house. It had been years since I'd seen this movie and I had forgotten how it ended until I saw this scene and recalled the rest of the tragic ending.

[–] homesick251960 19 years ago

One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Mary is throwing a tantrum, and when James Garner walks by her, he gives her a really hard resounding smack on the behind. My other favorite part is where Mary's grandmother has been told that the whole thing between Martha and Karen was a fabrication on Mary's part, and she advances on Mary who is standing on the stairs, and the look on Mary's face as she realizes she's been found out, and that she's really going to get it now. I wish they hadn't left so much to the imagination.

How many others of you would have asked for quite a bit of money from the old lady when she offered it? It's obvious that the Dr. and Karen and Martha were all going to have a hard time finding work for quite a while, and would need some money to help them in the meantime.

And...Audrey Hepburn's reaction when she finds Martha hanging in the bedroom was far more powerful than screaming like it would have been done in most movies. Two fantastic actresses in the same movie. Great stuff.

[–] van_ferro 19 years ago

Every scene where Mary plays in is a good scene. She really was very much convincing as a vixen that for my part, she should hav edeserved at least an Academy Award nomination. Over-all, the movie was not a bore, it is one of those underrated classics that should have been given more attention.

All right Mr. de Mille, I'm ready for my close-up...
Regards, THE GODFATHER

[–] subjugated 19 years ago

Of course, Martha's breakdown. One of the most heart-wrenching scenes in a movie.

Also, when Martha reminisces about college and first seeing Karen. I agree with a previous poster - you can see the love in her eyes...

Basically all of Martha's encounters with Lily... A previous poster mentioned the one about God punishing her and Martha responds something to the effect of "He's doing all right." Also, when Martha kicks Lily out of the house after she returns from "the theatre."

Another great scene (kind of frightening) is when Audrey is breaking down the door to see the noose. Scary stuff.

Lastly, the final scene when Audrey is holding her head up, knowing that Martha is always there no matter what.

God, such a beautiful movie.

sometimes you make me feel like i'm living at the edge of the world...

[–] MimiMascara 19 years ago

We're doing this play at my school. I play Evelyn. It's intersting hearing all the descriptions of the movie, because there are a lot of parts in the film that aren't in the original script. It's a very creepy show, and I'm going to be renting the movie very soon.

[–] Landslide54321 19 years ago

I would have to say my fave. scene is when Martha and Karen are in the kitchen and Marth is telling Karen about the first time she saw her running across the campus yard. You can really here the love Martha has for Karen in this scene.

"For me, the only things of interest are those linked to the heart." Audrey Hepburn

~WHO-DEY~!!!

[–] Piafredux 19 years ago

I most like Karen (Hepburn) and Joe's (Garner's) scene in which Karen tells Joe to ask THE question he'd refrained from asking her. Karen knows that Joe's thought long and hard about what he's been suspecting (even though, to Joe's character's admirable - yet human - scruples, he doesn't want to believe it and feels himself squalid for even thinking such a thing), yet it's not when Joe asks the question but when Karen feels she KNOWS he's DECIDED to ask the question that her eyes chill: THAT's acting! - THAT's drama.

Also, I most like this scene because after Joe asks the question Hepburn's acting, in voice and eyes, tells us all we need to know about her sense of the unjust world, about how things - how destiny perverted by a juvenile craven lie - simply must play out separately for her and Joe.

Secondly, I like the scene of Martha's confession to Karen of her unrequited "I've never felt this way about anyone else" love for Karen. I like it because I've been with women, and with men, who have lived that same intense moment; and to see and feel the nakedness of another person so intimately is all at once, breathtaking, awe-inspiring, terrible, and glorious. So, then, must Helman have also experienced such intimacy with soul-naked persons, and her talent, skill, and fortitude in writing this scene as tenderly and as powerfully as she wrote it are indeed remarkable.

[–] greendimension 19 years ago

there was a touching scene was when Martha was under extreme duress when she 'believed' she was gay and Karen's eyes glistened with tears. her expression showed that she pitied & loved Martha. i dont believe the character was a lesbian, Martha was under a lot of stress and confused that she started to doubt herself. the problem with society is that ppl are cold and if an expression of love and warmth is shown to a member of the same gender, it is interpreted as homosexual. Martha was in an emotional turmoil with the shame and disgrace that she became unsure of herself and feared that the love she had for Karen was dirty that even the casual touch she gave Karen caused her to recoil. At this point Martha may have felt that even a hug meant that she had a thing for Karen. Martha had been pressured (nevertheless by aunt Millie and other biddies) to get married and such but for some ppl their time has not come and she was career oriented. she was jealous of Karen and dr. carter b/c as i saw it she most likely had wished their success would happened to her. she also was in fear of losing the school. that was the basis of her jealousy. During the ironing scene, she blurted out the all the effort to start and maintain the school would be "shot to hell". after Karen reasured her that it wouldnt Martha was appeased. If it werent for Mary who spied them afterwards, the storyline wouldve taken on a different direction but Mary's rumors fueled the fire. Martha was highstrung to top it off which contributed to her breakdown. when Mrs. Tilford arrived to beg forgiveness the teachers were right in rejecting her since their lives and careers were destroyed. Mrs Tilford admitted that it was a lie which caused Martha to feel that she dug an extra hole in the ground for admitting to Karen something that wasnt true. this was the early 60s where morals and standards were much higher than today, and most likely Martha felt that she could not face her best friend anymore.

[–] presley25 19 years ago

Martha may or may not have been a lesbian, but to my mind there is no question that she was in love with Karen. What label that gives her is another question entirely, and the point of the film is that she may never have asked herself that had the lies and rumours not forced her to.

I think this film is fantastic. Subtle and dramatic all at the same time.

[–] thomasdosborneii 19 years ago

Nice little homophobic's response...first, really struggling hard to "prove" that Martha "wasn't gay," and then that ending line, "this was the early 60s where morals and standards were much higher than today...." Amazing how someone can sit through a whole powerful film with top-notch performers completely fail to learn a thing. I'll tell you the facts straight out: homosexuality is not immoral, nor is it a lessening of any "standard".

[–] greendimension 19 years ago

oh brotherrrrrrrrr

just try to explain the film where the accusers come clean and admit their libels and here it comes the 'h' word, homophobic!!!!
things have gotten to the point where people want to blur the line between right and wrong just to suit themselves.

[–] warhawk92 19 years ago

Watched this movie with a few friends- at the ending scene (where Karen runs back to house) we thought that the cameraman had just discovered the zoom feature on his camera, because he did way too many close-ups. It kind of ruined the scene-it turned something sad into something humorous.

[–] forkdork45 19 years ago

I like the ending where she is walking away from everyone at the funeral

[–] thomasdosborneii 19 years ago

I hardly think that William Wyler "just discoved the zoom feature on his camera"--he was directing films before you were even potty-trained. And there certainly wasn't anything humorous about it; this was one of the most effectively-filmed scenes I have ever seen and it took full advantage of Audrey Hepburn's brilliance, to which few current actresses can hold a candle, which is probably why it seemed so "strange" to your young and inexperienced eyes. I was filled with alternating feelings of suspense, foreboding, hope, and fear, all exploited and enhanced by the close-ups of Hepburn's face, the only place one needed to look to see all the emotions and the whole story play out. When, finally, her eyes moved upward, my heart sank, because then I knew that what she was witnessing was death by hanging. Just simply moving her eyeballs revealed it all.

[–] Stephie1405 19 years ago

Ya, we're doing the play at my school too, and I play Evelyn. It is very funny to see what's in the play and the movie. For instance, in the play SPOILER, Martha doesn't hang herself. She shoots herself. ANd there is no funeral. I really enjoy this play. It's beautiful.