Bette Davis as The Nanny
I love Bette Davis films and that was the only reason why I bought this movie. If it were not for her in the lead role, I wouldn't have even bothered. This movie comes towards the end of Davis' career and it's one of her final lead roles. However, the film was not very interesting to me.

The story is good, but the film moves VERY, very, slowly. Ironically, the only character the viewer can sympathize with is the killer. The father is cold and indifferent; the mother is a whining, emotionally disturbed weakling; the aunt is okay, but she's only around to raise the victim count; and the young boy is by far the MOST ANNOYING youngster I've ever witnessed on screen. I wanted so much for Nanny to off him. Perhaps that's good acting on the kid's part, but it goes on for way too long in this film and it left my nerves in pieces.

Bette Davis does the best she can with this role. The movie itself is far inferior to her, but she gives it her all. I appreciate her willingness to play a full variety of characters, both sympathetic and unsympathetic alike. My 5 stars are strictly for her gracing this movie with her magnficent talent. Apart from her, this movie would be a total waste.

English Kabuki
It's absorbing in its own way, and it does have some incredible jolts involving children in danger, but this 1965 horror film is mostly of interest for its depiction of British anxieties regarding the corruption of the effete upper classes. Though diehard Bette Davis fans sometimes try to justify her performance here by reasoning her theatrics are in keeping with the material, she really seems like she's from another planet here: her thick eyebrows, strange wig, and whitened makeup make her seem like an elderly Kabuki version of Charlotte Vale in NOW, VOYAGER before her transformation. Wendy Craig, years before her excellent comic work in BUTTERFLIES, delivers a strange expressionistic performance as the mother of the child protagonist that seems pitched to the level of the whole production; William Dix gives a fascinating intentionally dislikable performance as the disturbed child.

The Nanny - Why Parents Need Therapy
Bette Davis as a nanny to a family of neurotic, overindulged, priviledged Brits. The plot is the little boy is coming home from the psych hospital where he's been for 2 yrs due to the suspicious drowning of his little sister. The kid's a brat but it turns out things aren't what they appear to be. I don't generally like Bette's later film roles; I don't like to see such a great actress as a psychotic clown as she was in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte. I prefer to remember her as she was in The Little Foxes or All About Eve. In The Nanny Bette combines stiff upper lip restraint with compassion, add in only a dash of psychosis. I saw this movie for the first time on the late, late, late show and it stood out in my memory for a couple of reasons. One, the world of children vs. adults, another, I felt sorry for Bette's character, the invisible nanny who missed out on a family of her own for very little in return. The quality of the film is excellent, it's restored beautifully as everything I get from Amazon.

"The Nanny" delivers...
This film is a neat little thriller. Here, Ms. Davis plays a nanny heading a household where a girl has died two years earlier. Her young brother is now returning home after staying at a correctional facility due to behavior problems immediately following his sibling's death.

When he arrives back, his mother is still near a nervous collapse and not sure she is ready to handle the boy, as he is still extremely unruly and could often use a good swack. He also accuses the nanny of killing his sister.

The film keeps you guessing and delivers some genuinely suspenseful moments as you begin to wonder what really happened and who is in danger. There's also a few shocks, and I'm usually pretty hardy in these kinds of movies.

Bette Davis' performance also brings the movie up up a notch or two. This was released in 1965, right after Davis' "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte" and a few years after 1962's thriller, "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" the film which started Davis' period of the "hag movies"...aging spinsters in dangerous situations.


The Nanny" isn't nearly as over the top as "...Charlotte" or "...Baby Jane". As a British nanny, Ms. Davis is in a more subdued role, so you can better appreciate her nuances and wonderfully expressive "Bette Davis eyes". She also again bravely shows what an aging woman looks like , without surgery and thick make-up, something I wish modern actors would allow themselves to do.

Only problems with this movie are that the psychological explanation is a bit improbable and ties things up too neatly. A twist at the end also introduces a subplot that had minimal foreshadowing and would have been nearly impossible to guess. Finally, while the movie holds interest, it doesn't always have the continued intensity that makes for a top thriller, This is all forgivable with all else this movie has going for it, but probably lands the movies closer to a 3.5 star flick.

The DVD quality is excellent. However, there is no commentary and only a few extras, such as film trailers, the movie's posters, lobby cards, etc. For that reason, you may want to rent the DVD first, to make sure it's a movie you would want to own.

Anyway, still a good movie and should not be missed by Davis fans or fans of good acting, old fashioned thrillers.

Mary Poppins she ain't...
Kind-hearted nursemaid or cold-blooded murderess? Bette Davis delivers a finely understated performance as THE NANNY, an offbeat thriller from Hammer Studios in 1965.

Following the mysterious death of little Susy Fane, her older brother Joey (William Dix) is blamed and sent to a childrens' correctional facility. Two years later, he's allowed home, but refuses to be left alone in the company of the family's long-serving nursemaid, Nanny (Bette Davis). What exactly happened that has made Joey so incredibly wary of the seemingly-kind old nurse?

Bette Davis leads the charge with an absorbing performance in THE NANNY, arguably one of her most subtle and understated performances during a point in her career when she could get very hammy (pardon the pun). Two years later she'd star in another memorable Hammer production, the delicious black comedy "The Anniversary".

William Dix (best-remembered for playing little Tommy Stubbins in the Fox musical "Doctor Dolittle"), is a marvelous young actor and holds his own with Davis in their scenes together. Wendy Craig, Jill Bennett and James Villiers are also very fine. The movie also co-stars a fifteen-year-old Pamela Franklin ("The Innocents", "Legend of Hell House").

If you enjoy a good thriller or whodunnit, THE NANNY is a superb choice.