1952 Directed by Alexander Mackendrick
London, the early 1950s. Born deaf, Mandy is mute for most of her childhood. As she reaches school age her family itself is in danger of breaking up. Christine, Mandy's mother, has heard of a residential school for the oral education of the deaf.
The child actress Mandy Miller was so convincing in this that some people thought she really was deaf; in this Ealing Studios classic (not a comedy, but a touching study of the plight of a disabled child in the 1950s), mother Phyllis Calvert and father Terence Morgan find it hard to cope with a life of silence and confusion forced on their daughter.
There are some great scenes; the mother using a squeak toy to try and get her child's attention, and failing; Mandy nearly getting run over because she can't hear a car horn; a child snaking his hand into that of Mandy's mother, but the film really does belong to this young actress who has an excellent performance…
Not sure why this Mackendrick flick is nowhere to be found in the States, but I was finally able to track down a good copy. The film is about a married couple who come to realize that their toddler, Mandy, is deaf. Drama arises when the mother decides a specialized school can do more for Mandy's development, much to the chagrin of her husband and mother-in-law (think a 1950's Seymour and Agnes Skinner).
Jack Hawkins and Nancy Price deliver standout performance full of compassion and empathy as the headmasters of the school. I'm glad to have finally seen it, but I have to say I prefer Ealing Studios' comedies over their dramas from what I've seen so far. This is very well directed, but as sentimental as you'd expect.
imagine my surprise when the film started it was a little deaf girl and not nicolas cage
Dated by today's standards, but the topic of deafness is still fascinating and very relevant as The Sound of Metal recently proved. Mandy is directed with consummate style and elegance by Alexander Mackendrick and Douglas Slocombe's striking photography of a decimated post-war London is the perfect setting for this story of isolation and misunderstanding, in which a deaf young girl is sheltered and left to her own devices by parents who naively believe this is the best thing to do, until a specialist school led by the always dependable Jack Hawkins begins to make some progress with her.
The central melodramatic conflict between Phyllis Calvert's loving mother who wants to keep her in the school and the less sympathetic father…
This tearjerker about a deaf little girl and her inspirational teacher is stylish, touching and well acted, but it's no Mandy.
A wonderful little film about a deaf girl's struggle to communicate with others. That one scene where a teacher tries to learn Mandy to use her voice for the first time is simply a brilliant piece of filmmaking and has an astonishing emotional impact.
"You know - we've been a pair of asses. We were both partly right and partly wrong."
I probably wouldn't have watched this at this hour if I hadn't already written so much about it before, but I have very little to add to my 9 year old original review (and apparently I'd seen it at least a 9 years before that) except that, thank god for Studiocanal this year, first releasing Melody in HD and now this (and both on iTunes to spare me getting into the disk habit again).
The whole film looks great in HD (perhaps thanks to Douglas Slocombe's photography - I had no idea until today that the guy who did the first three Indy…
How brilliant and underrated Alexander MacKendrick is. Before the director made Sweet of Success and The Ladykillers (two if his productions that I greatly admire) the world got a tease of his versatile mastery with this 1952 gem. The screenplay is a visceral and effective one that touches on human selfishness. Although the film truly is about Mandy, it has a focus on the decisions of the parents facing an unexpected issue of their only child being deaf. It asks whether the decisions we make for the ones we love are always prioritising them or how we will feel as a result. Neither parent can sacrifice seeing Mandy as much as usual for the sake of her developing as much…
This movie really did make me so emotional, it’s so heart warming and I absolutely loved it :’) When the teacher finally taught Mandy to say her first letter through the balloon (after trying and trying) I genuinely felt so, so happy...Mandy Miller where ever you are right now I love you mwuah<33
I have seen hundreds of movies in my life but I haven't seen too many black and white ones yes I have seen a few of the really popular ones (still really need to see citizen Kane) but I saw this one and i thought it was great and the acting from the children involved was pretty impressive so check this film out.
Liikuttava lapsikuvausten klassikko kuuromykästä Mandysta. Filmi kuvaa realistisesti aikansa kuurojen koulua sekä sivuaa koskettavasti aikuisten itsekkyyttä, jonka varjoon lapsi helposti jää. Vähemmän tunnettu Mackendrickin ohjaus, mutta hyvin herkkävireinen leffa.
