The Nanny [M]

Two years ago young Joey was accused of drowning his sister in a bath and then was sent away to an institution for therapy as he claimed that it was the Nanny who was responsible. Now he has been released and has come home, but as soon as he gets there and sees Nanny again, he reverts back to accusing her of his sister’s death. Joey’s suspicions of the woman become more grounded when his mother is poisoned and his aunt suddenly dies. With no grownups on his side, Joey engages in a deft game of cat-and-mouse with his sweet-faced but shady Nanny in order to find the truth. 

Starring one of the great divas of the screen, Bete Davis, The Nanny is a spine-tingling, psychoanalytical thriller that will have you guessing right up to the very end. 

Two years ago young Joey was accused of drowning his sister in a bath and then was sent away to an institution for therapy as he claimed that it was the Nanny who was responsible. Now he has been released and has come home, but as soon as he gets there and sees Nanny again, he reverts back to accusing her of his sister’s death. Joey’s suspicions of the woman become more grounded when his mother is poisoned and his aunt suddenly dies. With no grownups on his side, Joey engages in a deft game of cat-and-mouse with his sweet-faced but shady Nanny in order to find the truth. 

I can still maintain that black and white cinema just heightens everything about a movie. For dramas, comedies, and romances, black and white just brings a large portion of elegance and class to the picture and watching them in a modern ages such as now, it just makes you feel so cultured and even artistic. For the horrors and thrillers, black and white makes it even scarier and causes the film, even if it’s a lesser grade of movie, stay with you and really haunt you. Horror movies nowadays have to resort to copious amounts of blood and special effects that make your stomach churn and you turn away from the screen in revulsion. By no means a terrible thing, the filmmakers are still getting the desired response from their audiences, but give me black and white terror any day! 

The story of The Nanny is a wonderful, even Hitchcock-esque one filled with excellent psychoanalytical themes including guilt complexes, the difference in perceptions of children and adults, and then the effects of neglect on the mind. The story is packed to bursting with wonderful twists and turns of the plot and quite a lot of plot misdirection and deception, which keeps going right up to the very last scene. It really is a movie of you-think-you-know-but –you-have-no-idea and it’s absolutely fantastic because it keeps you enthralled for the entire duration!

Bette Davis stars as the shady Nanny and Bette, beautiful and irrepressible diva of the screen that she is, delivers a performance that is sweet-faced and proper, but then has lapses of sugary sinisterness and daggers. For the entire movie she’s got you right where she wants you and she never lets you go until the credits roll. 

Starring William Dix, Wendy Craig, Jill Bennett, James Villiers, Pamela Franklin, and Jack Watling, The Nanny is a wonderful thriller filled with suspense, drama, complexes of all kinds, and memorable performances. It will keep you guessing right to the very end.