The 1961 film directed by Jack Clayton called The Innocents is a very good adaptation of the 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw, that was written by Henry James. I think the director did a great job of making the book a classic scary movie, but there were a couple of scenes in the movie that I had some issues with. I think the some of the scenes should have been filmed differently.
One part of the movie that I did not like was a recurring scene. In the movie, Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr) suspects that the children could see the ghosts. She even questions them about it and talks to them about the ghosts, Peter Quint (Peter Wyngarde) and Miss Jessel (Clytie Jessop), at several points in the movies. It is these scenes that I thought should have been done differently. Every time she would ask Miles (Martin Stephens) and Flora (Pamela Franklin) about the ghosts, the children would not react to her. They would sit there and have a blank stare on their faces. This did not make any sense to me. The children obviously heard her speak. I think the scenes were done this way to create some sort of suspense, but it did not work for me.
Another part of the movie that I thought should have been done differently is the two kisses between Miss Giddens and Miles. In one scene, Miss Giddens and Miles have some sort of long conversation, and they kiss. This kiss seemed to be more than just a friendly kiss to me. It was distasteful in my opinion, and does not need to be in the movie. I think this scene would have been just as effective without the intimate kiss. The second kiss happened after Miles dies when She makes him say Quint's name. I think this was just as unneeded as the first one. The kisses were in the movie to show some sort of sexual attraction between them, but I do not think it is a relevant part of the story line. The original book did not contain a sexual attraction between Miles and Miss Giddens, and I am not sure why the film makers decided to add it in.
I think that this film was a good movie overall, but it would have been much more appealing to me if the director would have not created a sexual attraction between Miss Giddens and Miles and changed the other scenes I discussed.
