The Children's Hour - 1961

I'd never heard of this movie, but it has Audrey Hepburn in it, and she's one of my favorite actresses.

In this movie, an insufferable child accuses her teachers of an inappropriate relationship. Even though one of them is engaged, the community quickly rallies behind the lie, and the two women are left with the shattered pieces of what used to be their school.

Much of this movie was super frustrating, because I wanted to punch a little girl in the face. She was so awful, and for some reason her grandmother couldn't see it. And then she bullied and threatened another girl into lying with her, and that just set things into a spiral. She's just terrible.

The end was a surprise, and not in a good way. It was sad and thought provoking. It showed how actions, even retroactively "fixed," can destroy relationships. Once those types of things happen, the consequences can't be taken back. It's like the demonstration I did with my kids once. I had them empty a small tube of toothpaste. Once they were done, I told them to put the toothpaste back in. They looked at me confusedly and told me it was impossible. I said it was the same with words and actions. Once they happen, you can't take them back.

I thought the movie was well done. I was sad there wasn't a happy ending, but after everything that happened, it made sense. I'm still a happy ending person, but I felt it was a good movie, and for the time it was made, it was probably pretty controversial. Good Movie!