“A MESMERIZING BATTLE OF WILLS”

By Raymond Benson

Some say the year 1939 was the “greatest year of cinema,” and, sure, there were many memorable titles released then that remain classics today. I argue, though, that 1962 was even better. Lawrence of Arabia. To Kill a Mockingbird. Dr. No. The Longest Day. The Manchurian Candidate. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. The Music Man. Jules and Jim. And there was also Arthur Penn’s The Miracle Worker.

Based on the stage play by William Gibson (who also wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay), The Miracle Worker contains two of the most astonishing performances ever put on celluloid. Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke both deservedly won Oscars for their roles, respectively, as the teacher Annie Sullivan and the remarkable Helen Keller as a young girl. The pair light up the screen in intimate, physically-demanding scenes that become a mesmerizing battle of wills—which is what it took for Sullivan to teach Keller the fundamentals of communication.

The play was based on Keller’s own autobiography; as far as we know, the play and film are accurate depictions of what really happened. For those who are unaware, Helen Keller was born in the late 1800s and contracted scarlet fever, rendering her deaf and blind. When she was seven years old, a tutor for such afflicted children, Annie Sullivan (who was also partially blind), was hired by the family to perform what certainly became a miracle.

The process was long and grueling. Most of the story is made up of literal fights between the two, as the stubborn Keller rebels and the equally tenacious Sullivan brawls back. In one celebrated scene around a dining table, the set is completely wrecked—but as Sullivan tells the Kellers afterwards—“her napkin is folded.” The scene took five days to film.

One reason that the actors are so good in the picture is that they had just completed a two-year run of the play on Broadway. They thoroughly knew the script and each other. The studio, at first, wanted to recast the role of Sullivan with a “bigger star” because Bancroft wasn’t one. They even offered a larger budget to Penn if he would cast Elizabeth Taylor. Even Duke’s participation was in question because by the time the film was made, she was sixteen. Penn, who was nominated for a Directing Oscar, kept to his guns and insisted that the Broadway cast be in the film or he wouldn’t do it. He got his way and history was made. Sure, one can quibble that Patty Duke was too old for the part, but in the end, who cares. She’s magnificent.

Olive Films has presented a new restored Blu-ray in a no-frills package that includes no supplements—just the film and a subtitle option. But seriously, it’s all you need.

Although it’s been remade twice as television movies (one with Duke playing Sullivan), the original Miracle Worker is a monumental achievement of writing, directing, and especially acting. It’s a must-see, must-have, must-relish motion picture.

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