The Innocents

Adapted from Henry James's novella The Turn of the Screw, with William Archibald and Truman Capote on the script. Miss Giddens arrives at a large country house as governess to two children. They are excessively well-mannered, excessively mature, and occasionally say strange things. Before long she begins to feel the presence of two dead people, the previous governess and a valet, and becomes convinced the children are possessed by them. All of its power is in the ambiguity: are the ghosts real, or are they what the woman has repressed? The film never says, and keeps both readings standing. The cinematographer Freddie Francis uses the wide frame and leaves its edges in darkness; in the candlelit scenes the emptiness around a face is a continuous threat. Deborah Kerr plays Miss Giddens; Jack Clayton directed. Among the best of its genre for anyone who likes quiet, slowly built horror. For a viewer who wants shocks and explanations it offers nothing.