The Children's Hour
The Children's Hour

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- 78/100 based on 17,644 votes

Karen Wright and Martha Dobie are best friends since college and they own the boarding school Wright and Dobie School for Girls with twenty students. They are working hard as headmistresses and teachers to grow the school and make it profitable. Karen is engaged with the local doctor Joe Cardin, who is the nephew of the powerful and influential Mrs. Amelia Tilford. While the spiteful and liar Mary, who is Amelia's granddaughter and a bad influence to the other girls, is punis... (Full plot summary below)

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Actors in The Children's Hour:

Shirley MacLaine
Audrey Hepburn
James Garner
Miriam Hopkins
Fay Bainter
Karen Balkin

Full Plot Details

Karen Wright and Martha Dobie are best friends since college and they own the boarding school Wright and Dobie School for Girls with twenty students. They are working hard as headmistresses and teachers to grow the school and make it profitable. Karen is engaged with the local doctor Joe Cardin, who is the nephew of the powerful and influential Mrs. Amelia Tilford. While the spiteful and liar Mary, who is Amelia's granddaughter and a bad influence to the other girls, is punished by Karen after telling a lie, Martha has an argument with her snoopy aunt Lily Mortar in another room. Lily accuses Martha of being jealous and having an unnatural relationship with Karen. Mary's roommate Rosalie Wells overhears the shouting and tells Mary what Mrs. Mortar had said about her niece. The malicious Mary accuses Karen and Martha of being lesbians to her grandmother and Amelia spreads the gossip to the parents of the students that withdraw them from the school. Karen and Martha lose a lawsuit against Amelia and have their lives destroyed. Further, Karen calls off her engagement with Joe when he asks her if what was said about Martha and she was true. The lie ends in a tragedy.

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Movie Reviews

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) - 8/10 by Ken HankeCloser to the play than Wyler's first effort at the story, but oddly less compelling.
EmanuelLevy.Com - 8/10 by Emanuel LevyThough well-acted by Shirley MacLaine and Audrey Hepburn, this second version of Lillian Hellman's play about the malice of lies is not as powerful as the first, in 1936, also helmed by William Wyler.
Ozus' World Movie Reviews - 7/10 by Dennis SchwartzHeavy-handed and can't shake its languor.
Austin Chronicle - 5/10 by Marjorie BaumgartenDespite wonderful performances from all the actors, Wyler’s attempt to retell the story in a more forthright manner still seems to pussyfoot timidly around the issues.
The New Yorker - 5/10 by Pauline KaelMiriam Hopkins, of the original cast, is around to lend a sense of continuity to the remake, but Wyler still seems unable to confront the material. This is Mature, Adult drama, and hence something of a bore.
The New York Times - 4/10 by Bosley CrowtherIt is hard to believe that Lillian Hellman's famous stage play, The Children's Hour, could have aged into such a cultural antique in the course of three decades as it looks in the new film version.
User Review - 10/10 by Alex RI saw this for classic movie night and all I can say is just like all of the other Audrey Hepburn movies I saw this movie was incredibly brilliantly excellently fantastically amazing and it touched my heart and it was inspiring it was soooo sad at the end when Shirley Mclaine's character killed herself because she was in love with Audrey Hepburn's character but Audrey Hepburn's character was engaged to James Garner's character. That little girl Mary that made up the rumor of them being lesbos all I want to do is become Batman and Gregory Peck becomes Nightwing and we teach that little girl a lesson about lying and blackmailing 8th best Hepburn movie ever 1. Breakfast at Tiffany's 2. Roman Holiday 3. How to steal a million 4. Sabrina 5. Funny Face 6. My Fair Lady 7. Love in the Afternoon 8.The Children's Hour Happy Birthday Audrey Hepburn -5/4/13
User Review - 10/10 by Christopher BWhat happens when a child mistakes tough love for bullying? tragedy. Among the best performances by each of the 3 leads.
User Review - 10/10 by Keenan SAudrey Hepburn has many great films under her belt, but I personally think that this film is among her all-time greatest. This film tackles what is still a very touchy subject matter, when a vicious little girl spreads a rumor that the two women running her school are lesbians, which then tears their lives apart, as well as revealing secrets between the lifelong friends. I've read some comments from people who view this film as dated or that didn't like how the character Martha Dobie deals with such an issue, which baffles me because this film came out in 1961, making it fit perfectly with a time that didn't agree with such subject matter and it also makes the film more emotional and gripping. Perhaps I identified more with this film than the average viewer since I'm gay, but I think this film resonates effectively even today's more tolerant society since the gay issue is still a very touchy subject. Overall though, The Children's Hour serves as a superb parable about how lies can destroy lives in an instant, and how no amount of apologies can fix the resulting damage. The Children's Hour is gripping, emotional, and heartbreaking. If you love a good drama dealing with touchy subject matter, then you have to see this film because it packs one hell of a punch.
User Review - 10/10 by Kevin LHe visto bastantes peliculas a las que les he dado una calificacion perfecta, a veces basta tan solo con que me gusten, pero juro por mis futuros nietos, que jamas la he dado con tanto corazon como hoy. De no ser por las dos actrices principales, dos de mis favoritas, posiblemente nunca habria visto esta maravilla. Que curioso que las peliculas que veo por accidente sean las que terminan atrapandome y mas que eso, sacandome una ola de sentimientos que muy pocas veces doy. A partir de hoy, la vere por siempre. Estoy destrozado, nunca habia visto una cinta de este calibre y que pase desapercibida por todos, no se si me alegro de que no sea muy conocida o me molesto por eso. Las palabras mas sinceras que he ofrecido y nada mas...

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