{"id":6077,"date":"2009-07-03T19:35:04","date_gmt":"2009-07-04T02:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6077"},"modified":"2021-01-29T13:42:43","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T20:42:43","slug":"nanny-the-1965","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6077","title":{"rendered":"Nanny, The (1965)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[<strong>Note:<\/strong> The following review is of a non-Peary title; click <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=4388\">here<\/a> to read more.]<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Nanny understands&#8230; She&#8217;s on your side!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Nanny-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Nanny-Poster-198x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-66778\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Nanny-Poster-198x300.png 198w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Nanny-Poster-677x1024.png 677w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Nanny-Poster-85x128.png 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Nanny-Poster-179x270.png 179w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Nanny-Poster.png 727w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA young boy (William Dix) recently released from a mental institution is convinced that his nanny (Bette Davis) is out to kill him; but neither his no-nonsense father (James Villiers) nor his mother (Wendy Craig) &#8212; emotionally fragile after the drowning death of her young daughter (Angharad Aubrey) &#8212; believes him.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bette Davis Films<\/li>\n<li>Governesses and Nannies<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;No One Believes Me!&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Psychological Horror<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nSome film fanatics would understandably consider nearly every movie Bette Davis starred &#8212; or co-starred &#8212; in to be a &#8220;must see&#8221; film, simply for her presence; while I wouldn&#8217;t go quite that far (I&#8217;m not a fan of <em>All This, and Heaven Too<\/em>, just to name one instance), I do believe her work in <em>The Nanny<\/em> &#8212; a worthy psychological thriller in its own right &#8212; was unjustly overlooked by Peary in his <em>Guide for the Film Fanatic<\/em>, and deserves mention here as a Missing Must See Film. It was made three years after Davis&#8217;s Oscar-nominated title role in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2144\"><em>What Ever Happened to Baby Jane<\/em>? (1962)<\/a>, and was clearly meant to capitalize on her new role as Mistress of Grand Guignol (check out her over-the-top beetle brows!). As always, however, Davis invests herself fully in her character, adding layers of nuance to what could easily have been a mere caricature; watch her eyes alone to see what a remarkably versatile and meticulous performer this star really was. <\/p>\n<p>The script (by Jimmy Sangster, based on a novel by Marryam Modell) is consistently suspenseful and well-constructed, leading one to question who&#8217;s really disturbed &#8212; Joey? Nanny? &#8212; until close to the end, when deep, dark truths are finally revealed; yet even knowing the film&#8217;s secrets doesn&#8217;t prevent repeat viewings from being a pleasure, given that one simply watches the characters with new insights. Much of the film&#8217;s success is due to the fine performances given by the entire cast. Dix may get on your nerves playing obnoxious little Joey, but this is exactly what he&#8217;s meant to do, and he&#8217;s certainly more than simply a bratty little whiner; we genuinely believe he&#8217;s scared for his life, and doing what he can to protect himself from deathly harm. Meanwhile, Craig is appropriately on edge as Joey&#8217;s jittery mother, who means well but is too emotionally fragile to be of much use as a guardian, and Jill Bennett is well cast as her more level-headed sister. Henry Waxman&#8217;s atmospheric cinematography and Richard Robert Bennett&#8217;s creepy, memorable score contribute towards <em>The Nanny<\/em>&#8216;s status as an all-around good show, one film fanatics will surely want to check out at least once. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Director <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0392519\/\">Seth Holt<\/a> didn&#8217;t make many other films, but he did direct the fine suspense thriller <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=122\"><em>Scream of Fear<\/em> (1961)<\/a>, starring Susan Strasberg.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bette Davis as Nanny<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/nanny-davis.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/nanny-davis.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6079\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>William Dix as Joey<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/nanny-dix.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/nanny-dix.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6080\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Wendy Craig as Joey&#8217;s mother<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/nanny-craig.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/nanny-craig.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6081\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Jill Bennett as Aunt Pen<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/nanny-bennett.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/nanny-bennett.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6082\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Pamela Franklin in a bit role as Joey&#8217;s neighbor friend, Bobbie<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/nanny-franklin.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/nanny-franklin.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6083\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Angharad Aubrey as little Susy (in flashbacks)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/nanny-aubrey.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/nanny-aubrey.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6084\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Harry Waxman&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/nanny-cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/nanny-cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6085\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A genuinely disturbing and suspenseful script<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/nanny-suspenseful-script.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/nanny-suspenseful-script.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6086\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Richard Rodney Bennett&#8217;s memorable score<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, for Davis&#8217;s performance, and as an all-around good psychological horror flick.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Good Show<\/li>\n<li>Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0059496\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1965\/11\/04\/archives\/bette-davis-as-nanny.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/films\/2000\/08\/03\/the_nanny_review.shtml\">BBC Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/the-nanny\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[Note: The following review is of a non-Peary title; click here to read more.] &#8220;Nanny understands&#8230; She&#8217;s on your side!&#8221; Synopsis: A young boy (William Dix) recently released from a mental institution is convinced that his nanny (Bette Davis) is out to kill him; but neither his no-nonsense father (James Villiers) nor his mother (Wendy Craig) &#8212; emotionally fragile after the drowning death of her young daughter (Angharad Aubrey) &#8212; believes him. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Bette Davis Films&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6077\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-missing-title-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6077"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66779,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6077\/revisions\/66779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}