The Miracle Worker

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Film Description

Arthur Penn's accomplished screen re-telling of William Gibson's play about the life of Helen Keller, and the stubborn attempts of her Irish governess to get her to speak. Deserved Oscar-winning performances from both Bancroft and Duke.

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Review by Alex Davidson on 28th April 2004

The Miracle Worker is one of the best American films ever made. Whereas current films about the disabled patronise their protagonists, depicting their characters as victims, this movie gives us Helen (Patty Duke), a blind, deaf and dumb girl whose family despair of her tyrannical behaviour. When teacher Annie Sullivan (Anne Bancroft) enters the girl's life to help her learn to communicate, however, there follows an incredible war of nerves that makes for compulsive viewing.

The film refuses to be sentimental – Duke never plays cute, and Arthur Penn never manipulates the audience into pitying the child. Though her developing relationship with her teacher is extremely moving, this is achieved through the brilliance of the direction and performances, rather than the clichés that crop up in current films dealing with similar issues (e.g. the teacher never has a moment of self-doubt that she will succeed – indeed, in one fantastic scene Bancroft shouts furiously: “I treat her like a seeing child because I ask her to see, I expect her to see!”)

In one of the film’s most famous scenes, Bancroft tries to get Duke to eat her food with a knife and fork. The scene last for almost ten minutes, and there is barely any dialogue, yet the intensity of the film is astonishing, as the audience witnesses a battle of wits between two extremely stubborn women. When Duke uses her hands to eat, Bancroft claws the food from out of the girl’s mouth. When Duke slaps her teacher, Bancroft slaps her harder. These are not the scenes of a director wishing to sentimentalise his characters.

Yet by the end of the film, both Bancroft and Duke have won the audience over. The moment when the teacher finally gets through to the Helen is one of the most moving in the history of cinema.

In a rare instance of the Academy getting it right, The Miracle Worker won Oscars for the performances of Bancroft and Duke. It deserved many more. This is Penn’s finest work, which in a career that includes Bonnie and Clyde and Little Big Man is no small achievement. Highly, highly, highly recommended.

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