Last night we had a change of pace akin to the stories in the old ABC After School Specials. In "Girl on Approval" (1962), a 14 year old orphan is sent to live with a foster family in London. Like many youths who've been abandoned, Sheila is troubled, angry and incorrigible. At the state-run home she lives in, the staff do their best to compensate, but she's a handful to say the least. They've tried placing her several times, but in each case the foster parents have given up and sent Sheila back.
This time might be different, however. That's what the administrator "Mrs. Gardner" (Ellen McIntosh) is hoping. John and Anne Howland seem like good people, tolerant and kind, and they're young enough to perhaps be able to handle Sheila's energy, which is mostly negative and always unpredictable.
The Howlands are approved to take Sheila (hence the title), who at first doesn't want to leave the home. Mrs. Gardner is prepared for that, and tells her she can come back in a day or two if she doesn't like her new parents. Right off the bat, Sheila's sullen and mostly silent toward John and Anne, and when she does speak it's either to insult them or express her ennui. She doesn't know these people and doesn't want to know them. They aren't her real parents (her birth mother is in prison) and the only adults she's ever known are from the orphanage. For their part, the Howlands bend over backward to make Sheila feel at ease, and she does go to sleep in the nice bedroom they provide for her. They also have two young sons, and through exposition we understand that they've lost a two year old daughter prior to Sheila's arrival, which is why they decided to adopt. Initially they wanted another infant, but were affected by Sheila's history and thought they might be able to make a difference in her life.
What follows is Sheila's adjustment to her new surroundings and parents, who she calls Auntie and Uncle. More importantly, they're trying to adjust to her because she's controlling them with her behavior, which is relentlessly unpleasant. To the filmmaker's credit, the character never slips into cliche. When Sheila steals a pair of scissors, you're expecting her to slit her wrists, but that's not what happens. Nor when she steals a watch from a jeweler; you expect her criminal impulse to increase, but it doesn't. As with the Kitchen Sink genre, this movie isn't about plot, i.e. moving from a to z. Instead it's about the nuanced emotion felt inwardly by Sheila, and the way she expresses it outwardly in her attitude, depending on who she's with. If she's alone with Anne (her foster mother, played by Rachel Roberts), she's liable to be petulant, which is somewhat understandable, as it's well known that teen girls can have rivalries with their mothers, even those who aren't foster children. When she's hanging out with foster dad John (James Maxwell), however, Sheila's much more cheerful, or as cheerful as she's capable of being. She also plays to his maleness by making comments about his "broad shoulders" in a the presence of Anne, and while this is not presented as a sexual advance, nor even a flirtation, Sheila - at 14 - is old enough to know how to manipulate a man (or try to) and more importantly, how to create a rift between John and his wife, who Sheila sees as her nemesis.
Anne tries endlessly to befriend Sheila, and snaps when her efforts come to naught, often slapping the youngster in frustration and making matters worse. For husband John, it's easy. All he has to do is take Sheila to the movies and she lightens up, because he's a man. Anne finally throws in the towel and asks John if they can give Sheila back. Mrs. Gardner has told them it's okay if that happens : "Every other couple has given up before you". But John asks her to give it one more try.
To state the obvious, Sheila is crying out for a mother figure, and at one point asks the couple to tell her about her birth mother. This is one moment where Sheila is tentative, however. She asks timidly, as if she doesn't really want to know. Annette Whiteley, who plays Sheila, is fantastic. It's a sad film in many respects but never maudlin. Rachel Roberts is also excellent as Anne, Sheila's would-be mother. Their interplay gives the film it's electricity. You may remember Roberts as the headmistress in"Picnic at Hanging Rock". Her personal story is horrific, something I'd forgotten about but remembered upon re-reading, but she was an incredible actress. Good Lord, the things that happen to people.
At any rate, "Girl on Approval" is a realistic portrayal of what might happen when an adolescent orphan is finally placed with foster parents. As noted, despite Sheila's near-constant belligerence, only small things happen, not big things, but it all adds up for Anne, who wants to send Sheila back. We saw similar petulance in "Tomorrow, the World!", which you might recall was the film about a Hitler youth boy (played by Skip Hoemeier) who came to live in America. He was so rigid and formal, and it was determined that he was unable to cry. If a child cannot cry, he or she can't grieve properly, and thus can't "let go". That's what Sheila's plight is about. It's not so much that she misses her birth mother, because she's never known her, but she's also never known a mother's love. Now she has Anne, who's trying to love her by being helpful and kind, but it's not enough because Anne is grieving for her own lost child - or denying that grief - and her patience with Sheila only extends so far.
The drama does climax when Sheila runs away, ending up in a bad part of town where she is approached by a prostitute and her pimp. I won't reveal what happens, except to tell you that it follows in the pattern of the film. In other words, it isn't startling.
I give "Girl on Approval" Two Big Thumbs Up. Sheila and Anne are each heroes in their own way. Highly recommended. ////
The previous night we had another Shorty with a Simple Plot, similar in style to "The Painted Smile" from about a week ago. "One Way Out"(1955) stars John Chandos as a jewel ring mastermind. As the movie opens, a girl walks into a seedy East End coffee shop, hysterical and begging to talk to "Joe" (Victor Platt), the regular counter man, who's off for the night. The next day, she's found dead in the river. The one clue that's discovered is a diamond necklace on her neck. It's stolen. The case is handed to "Detective Harcourt" (Eddie Byrne). He's about to retire, has only two weeks left, but figures he can handle one more case. And, he's pretty sure he knows where the necklace came from : "Danvers" (Chandos), a known criminal the police have never been able to bust. Chandos is extremely clever, hiring others to do his dirty work. He always has an alibi, and this time it's "Leslie Parrish" (Lyndon Brook), a button down young man who's Chandos' #1 jewel thief.
But Parrish has screwed up by giving his girlfriend the stolen necklace. She's the dead girl in the river. "Don't you know they can trace it back to me"?!, he exclaims.
Parrish apologizes, then Chandos shrugs it off and concocts a plan to ensnare the retiring Inspector. In a clever bit of plotting, Chandos has Leslie go after Harcourt's daughter, who works in a local music store. Leslie is known as a ladies' man; he talks "Shirley" (Jill Adams) into a date. That night, he pulls the old "your car just broke down" routine, by yanking her distributor cable while the pair are stopped on a dark road.
Leslie then sends Shirley to a GARE - ahge (British pronunciation) to ask for help, and while she's talking to a mechanic, a thug storms in - prearranged by John Chandos - to clobber the man and steal the money in his register. This is intended to frame Shirley, and it works. She's scared to death by the encounter and, seeing the unconscious mechanic, she runs away, back to her car and Leslie, who's been "patiently waiting" (yeah right).
He suggests they split the scene immediately, but she isn't sure : "Shouldn't we wait for the police to arrive"?
"Do you want them to arrest you for murder"?, Leslie asks, trying to increase her fear. She's completely freaked out already, but responds rationally : "How do you know he's dead"? "I don't", replies Leslie, "but he could be. And you were seen running away"! He's got Shirley all double-talked by now. It's a total frame up. Back at home, she first tries to bluff when the morning paper is delivered, but when Dad gets sees the headline and gets suspicious, she confesses all.
Now remember, he's about to retire, so his instinct is to protect his daughter, who he knows is being framed but might be found guilty in a court of law. So he goes to John Chandos to cut a deal, which he's disgusted to have to do, but he's gotta clear Shirley. Inspector Harcourt winds up accepting a bribe, in which he'll leave Chandos alone, and in turn Chandos will call off the frame up of his daughter. At first, the deal doesn't hold and the frame up proceeds, all the way to the Police Commisioners office, where the Commish suspects Harcourt is covering something up.
The remainder of the 60 minute film is a boil down to the inevitable confrontation between Chandos and the retired detective. It's a no-frills teeth gritter, but "One Way Out" is effective due to tight direction and strong performances, particularly that of John Chandos as Danvers, the schlumpy sociopath. Two Big Thumbs Up.
So there you have it, a social drama and an ironclad crime thriller. We're gonna stick with our Brit Films as long as we can find 'em. Hope you're enjoying them as much as I am. Now it's time for Aliso Canyon. Have a great evening, I send you tons of love as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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