VeteranLight
I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
FuzzyTagz
If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
meathookcinema
This is a British film which stars Bette Davis as a nanny for a family living in London in which a young boy has been sent away for supposedly killing his sister. The boy is due to be released after two years and return to his family home and under Ms Davis' supervision.The boy vehemently protests his innocence and insists that instead it was the nanny who committed the terrible deed. Is he right? Or is the nanny indeed guilty?There's already the almost unspeakable taboo of a child killing another child within this film which gives it a grittiness right from the get go. The household in question is steeped in Gothic tension even though it is in fact light and airy. No Baby Jane mansion here.There's also the stifling formality of English life at this time. There are so many manners and formalities at play that are overwhelmingly suffocating and claustrophobic. Within the film there is also a delicious generation gap which underlines this and presents a tangible 'Old vs new' scenario. The boy in question, Joey forges a friendship with a 14 year old girl who lives in the same building. She dresses like a hip 60s girl, all white lipstick and black eyeliner. When we see within her bedroom Joey gazes up at a Beatles mobile she has hanging from the ceiling and at one point we see her reclining on her bed reading a copy of the girls magazine Jackie which has a pin up of Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones on its back cover. Beautifully acted (especially Ms Davis of course whose character has a pair of the ugliest eyebrows ever captured on film) and elegantly directed, this is one of Hammer's finest films.Of course this would only have been made with Ms Davis if Hollywood wasn't casting the very best stars of yesteryear anymore. Every cloud has a silver lining. What was Hollywood's loss was very much Hammer's gain.
PrometheusTree64
Too rarely seen, THE NANNY is arguably the last good, textured role Bette Davis played on the big screen.A subtle psychological thriller about a mental competition between an English governess and a 10-year old boy suspected of murdering his sister, THE NANNY is as low-key and understated as WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE and HUSH...HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE were baroque.A surprisingly effective "small" film, this is no schlock horror picture by any stretch. It's really quite poignant and chilling.And perhaps it's the London locations, but the picture has that odd, resonant feel to it of being at the very fulcrum of the '60s somehow from which you can taste both the Cold War doom of the first half of the decade and the languid angst of the latter half. (Not that movie gets in any way sociopolitical, of course).
Spikeopath
The Nanny is directed by Seth Holt and adapted to screenplay by Jimmy Sangster from the novel of the same name written by Evelyn Piper (AKA: Merriam Modell). It stars Bette Davis, Wendy Craig, William Dix, Jill Bennett, James Villiers and Pamela Franklin. Music is by Richard Rodney Bennett and cinematography by Harry Waxman.The Fane family, their Nanny, a tragedy and young Master Joey Fane just released from a school for disturbed children. Secrets will out...A psychological thriller of some substance from Hammer Film Productions, The Nanny thrives on deft story telling and acting of quality from Bette Davis.There's a slight annoyance that the mystery element of the story struggles to command interest, because the title of the film kind of tells us what is wrong in the Fane household equation, but the constant battle between young Joey (Dix excellent as a kid being stubborn and aggressive, but alienated) and Nanny Bette is riveting.Holt builds the core of the story patiently, the Fane house is a fraught place, Craig's mom is perched on the edge of a break down, Villiers' papa a stiff backed type not nearly at home enough and emotionally cut off from the worries of his wife and child. Hovering over them all is Nanny, smoothly weaving about them, holding sway with an unnerving calmness, it's a calm before the storm scenario and once the truths come tumbling out the best impact has been garnered due to the unfussy and unhurried work of the production team.Filmed suitably in black and white and primarily shot in the confines of one home, picture has atmosphere and oppressive feeling in abundance. The lack of that mystery intrigue, and a less than barn storming finale, stop it from being in the top tier of the Hammer-Psycho-Chiller list, but it's easy film to recommend to fans of the genre and especially to fans of the irrepressible Madame Davis. 7.5/10
Witchfinder General 666
No, it's not an annoying sitcom from the 90s, but a creepy 60s thriller from the masters of British Horror. Probably director Seth Holt's most famous film, "The Nanny" of 1965 is a different, but highly suspenseful thriller from the great British Hammer Studios. While the Hammer Stuidos are best known for their stylish Gothic Horror films, they also produced a bunch of tense Hitchcockian thrillers, of which "The Nanny" is probably the most widely known. After the success of Robert Aldrich's "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane" (1962) and "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte" (1964), the aging Bette Davis had established herself in the Horror/Thriller genre, and "The Nanny" definitely is a film that strongly relies on this great leading actress.Having spent a longer period of time in a special boarding school for disturbed children after his baby sister's mysterious death, 10-year old Joey is released to go home to his parents' house. The incident has left his mother with clinical depressions and hysteria, and his father is constantly busy. From the moment he is picked up from the boarding school, the boy shows extreme animosity towards the nanny, refusing to eat anything that she cooks and accusing her of trying to poison him. The nanny reacts with kindness to all his accusations. However, there is something uncanny about this constantly friendly and devoted elderly lady...Bette Davis delivers a truly chilling performance in the role of the superficially friendly but sinister Nanny. 10-year old William Dix is also amazingly good in the lead. The film is creepily shot in black and white and the storyline bears several interesting twists. One of the film's greatest assets is the fact that it manages too keep up the suspense, and even the mystery about who is telling the truth. The twists are unpredictable, and it isn't clear until the film's climax whether the nanny is evil, or just the victim of a disturbed boy's morbid fantasy. Overall this is a truly suspenseful and sometimes disturbing thriller that should definitely not be missed by my fellow Hammer fans. Personally, I still prefer Hammer's Gothic Horror films, but "The Nanny" definitely is a film that all lovers of suspense should appreciate. Highly recommended.
