The Chalk Garden 10/13/20

From reviewer Charlie Largent — Whenever Deborah Kerr signs on as a governess we ought to know that trouble is brewing. Teen brat Hayley Mills maliciously picks apart her new governess’s backstory, and finds enough dirt to bury the woman — but this time around Kerr isn’t as emotionally vulnerable. Why does Hayley’s (rather tame) hellion do bad things like set things on fire?   It’s all about liberating young Mills from the unhealthy influence of an unfit grandmother (Edith Evans). Ah, you can’t grow a healthy garden over a foundation of chalk…  Producer Ross Hunter grinds off the rough parts of a reportedly edgy play about upperclass rigidity; Ronald Neame directs. With John Mills and Elizabeth Sellars, on Blu-rayfrom KL Studio Classics.
10/13/20