****
The lives of a woman, her best friend, and her fiance are disrupted when an incorrigible child falsely claims that the latter two are having an affair at the women's boarding school. Smartly cinematic adaptation by Lillian Hellman herself of her 1934 play The Children's Hour, and a powerful drama with splendid performances all around, including those of the children. Notably alters the bratty girl's lie (because the Hays Code wouldn't allow any suggestion of lesbianism), but beautifully preserves the essence of the story, proving that the best adaptations aren't always the most literal. Hellman also alters the ending, which should please all but the clinically depressed. Hellman's original story and title were restored in the 1961 remake, also directed by Wyler.
The lives of a woman, her best friend, and her fiance are disrupted when an incorrigible child falsely claims that the latter two are having an affair at the women's boarding school. Smartly cinematic adaptation by Lillian Hellman herself of her 1934 play The Children's Hour, and a powerful drama with splendid performances all around, including those of the children. Notably alters the bratty girl's lie (because the Hays Code wouldn't allow any suggestion of lesbianism), but beautifully preserves the essence of the story, proving that the best adaptations aren't always the most literal. Hellman also alters the ending, which should please all but the clinically depressed. Hellman's original story and title were restored in the 1961 remake, also directed by Wyler.
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