The Chalk Garden (1964)

The Chalk Garden is a 1964 British drama directed by Ronald Neame, based on a successful play by Enid Bagnold. It has a dream cast headed by Hayley Mills, John Mills, Edith Evans and Deborah Kerr.

Laurel (Hayley Mills) is a troublesome bratty teenager who lives with her grandmother Mrs St Maugham (Edith Evans) in the latter’s country house. Mrs St Maugham evidently has serious money and perhaps Laurel suffers from being just a bit too privileged.

It’s time once again to hire a new governess for Laurel. This is a regular occurrence. So far Laurel’s record is driving away three governesses in the space of a week. When Miss Madrigal (Deborah Kerr) arrives to be interviewed the first five applicants for the post have already fled in terror. Miss Madrigal has no qualifications and no references and does not care to reveal anything at all about her life and experiences. She obviously has no chance of getting the position except for one thing. She is not afraid of Laurel. Every other governess has been terrified by the child.

Laurel has been living with her grandmother since her mother Olivia remarried. Laurel reacted very very badly to her mother’s remarriage. Old Mrs St Maugham is determined to keep Laurel. She strongly disapproves of Olivia. Laurel claims to hate her mother but as Miss Madrigal soon realises it’s best not to take anything Laurel says too seriously or too literally.

Miss Madrigal may have an ally of sorts in the person of the butler Maitland (John Mills). Maitland is very keen for Laurel to have a governess because otherwise he will be stuck with looking after her. He doesn’t dislike Laurel but she’s quite a handful. Enough to give a butler nightmares.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Deborah Kerr but I have to admit that’s absolutely right for this rôle and she gives a fine nuanced performance as a woman with problems of her own trying to deal with a troubled teenager. John Mills is, as always, splendid. Edith Evans gives the sort of performance you expect her to give - outrageous but wonderful. The supporting cast includes one of my favourite British character actors, Felix Aylmer.

But this movie belongs to Hayley Mills. She gives a performance that is totally over-the-top but at the same time very finely judged. She knows just how far to go, and she makes Laurel obnoxious, spoilt, spiteful, vulnerable, confused, adorable and very sympathetic.

Hayley Mills had an intriguing early career, alternating between fluffy Disney movies and very serious very demanding dramatic rôles and giving some extraordinarily interesting, subtle and powerful performances in movies like Whistle Down the Wind and the superb Sky West and Crooked. In The Chalk Garden she’s like an acting tornado, which is exactly what was required of her.

This is a melodrama produced by Ross Hunter for Universal and it has a definite Ross Hunter vibe to it. Any movie produced by Ross Hunter ended up being a Ross Hunter movie, with his characteristic visual style and the Ross Hunter feel. He was an interesting example of the producer as auteur. Ronald Neame directed (and he was a talented director) but it doesn’t feel like a Ronald Neame movie. It feels like a Ross Hunter movie.

This is certainly melodrama. The plot contains the kinds of coincidences that would seem far-fetched in any other genre but in melodrama you just accept such things. It’s also a movie that positively wallows in emotional angst. But that’s what melodrama is all about. If you don’t love melodrama you’re not going to like this movie. If you do have a fondness for the genre you’ll be in movie heaven.

What saves it is the quality of the performances. Characters who would have been impossibly cloying and irritating and phoney in lesser hands come alive in the hands of Edith Evans, John Mills and especially Deborah Kerr and Hayley Mills. We end up caring about these people. The performers are even able to get away with some excruciatingly portentous dialogue.

What also saves it is the fact that Laurel is such an interesting character. This is a coming-of-age movie but it’s not a sexual or romantic coming-of-age movie. Laurel is sixteen but is in many ways still a little girl. As the story progresses she has to learn to deal with other people in an adult way and to take on a few adult responsibilities. She resists this. She wants to live in her own world, a world in which she makes the rules and the outside world, the grown-up world, is excluded. But eventually she will have to enter the adult world. It’s very unusual, and very interesting, to see a coming-of-age movie that sees the transition to adulthood as being about more than just sex and love.

We’re horrified when Laurel hurts other people but we understand that she simply isn’t aware that she is doing so. Other people are not quite real to her. But we don’t want Laurel to be hurt because, like Miss Madrigal, we can see that she behaves badly because she’s scared and confused rather than malicious.

There’s also a sub-plot which is a kind of mystery, but not in a conventional sense. It involves one of the characters who has a secret. The revelation of that secret is predictable in some ways, except that there’s a key piece of the puzzle that is tantalisingly never revealed.

The Imprint Blu-Ray looks great and includes an audio commentary by Kat Ellinger.

If you’re a fan of Ross Hunter’s movies you’ll enjoy The Chalk Garden a great deal. If you’re a Hayley Mills fan it’s a must-see. I fall into both those categories so I liked this film. Highly recommended.