The Innocents (1961) - Opening Credits

Added by coroner 9 months ago on 12 February 2009 06:20

Description

Opening credits from Jack Clayton's film "The Innocents", with Deborah Kerr.

The Innocents is a 1961 horror film based on the novella The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. Directed and produced by Jack Clayton, it starred Deborah Kerr and Michael Redgrave. Falling into the subgenre of psychological horror, the film makes use of its lighting, music, and direction for its effect rather than gore and shock factor. Its atmospheric feel was achieved by Academy Award winning cinematographer Freddie Francis, who employed deep focus in many scenes, as well as bold, minimal lighting. It was filmed on location at the gothic mansion of Sheffield Park in East Sussex. The film marked the first film role for child actor Pamela Franklin.

The Innocents tells the story of an inexperienced governess, and daughter of a country parson (Kerr) who is hired to care for the niece and nephew of a callous socialite (Redgrave) at his country mansion, Bly House, whilst he continues to reside in London. He stipulates that the whole responsibility for looking after the children is hers. The gothic Bly House proves to have many dark secrets the governess discovers that her predecessor, Miss Jessel, was having an affair with the valet Quint, and that both of them died in bizarre circumstances. Thereafter, the governess starts seeing their apparitions in the house and grounds and comes to believe that the ghosts of Quint and his lover are attempting to possess the bodies of the children.

(Wikipedia)