The Miracle Worker
by Arthur Penn
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Actor: Andrew Prine, Anne Bancroft, Inga Swenson, Patty Duke, Victor JoryDirector: Arthur Penn
Brand: MGM
Cinematographer: Ernesto Caparrós
Editor: Aram Avakian
Producer: Fred Coe
Writer: Helen Keller
Writer: William Gibson
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 106 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-03-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of The Miracle Worker
DVD Review: "I ... Love ... Helen" --- And No One Can Help But Love This Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
15-year-old Patty Duke and 30-year-old Anne Bancroft are simply magnificent in 1962's emotion-filled and heart-tugging drama, "The Miracle Worker", a film based on the true-life story of Helen Keller, who was both deaf and blind, but far from dumb.
Bancroft (Anne "Annie" Sullivan) and Duke (Helen Keller) fight tooth-and-nail throughout a goodly portion of "The Miracle Worker", which is a movie which was inspired by the real Helen Keller's autobiography "The Story Of My Life". It was, indeed, literally a "tooth"-and-nail battle for Miss Sullivan in parts of the movie, as she attempts to communicate with young Helen, with Annie getting a tooth knocked out of her head at one point thanks to a hearty smack across the face from her student.
But through an undying combination of caring, kindness, persistence, and unwavering toughness, Annie finally gets through to Helen, and by the film's final act we can see that Annie has taught Helen more than just the meaning of the words "water", "tree", and "key". Annie has taught her the meaning of the word "love" as well -- as we see demonstrated so well and tenderly in the very last moments of this motion picture.
Patty Duke's performance as Keller is so realistic and genuine, it's nothing short of awe-inspiring. Not once did I detect even the smallest sign that Patty was "acting" here. I would swear she was totally blind throughout this motion picture. And Miss Bancroft is every bit Patty's equal in this 106-minute film. The thick accent and that wonderful pair of ever-present dark glasses help to define the character of "Annie", the tough teacher, formerly blind herself, who performs the "Miracle" that Helen's family had never thought was possible.
Both Duke and Bancroft were justifiably rewarded for their laudable work in "Worker", as each received a 1962 Oscar statue when that year's Academy Awards were handed out in early 1963.*
* = No small accomplishment either, especially in that movie year of '62, which (IMHO) was one of the top years for big-screen entertainment in the history of cinema. "The Miracle Worker" shared theater space that same year with such great films as: "To Kill A Mockingbird", "Lawrence Of Arabia", "The Longest Day", "The Manchurian Candidate", "Cape Fear", "Mutiny On The Bounty", "Days Of Wine And Roses", "The Music Man", "Birdman Of Alcatraz", "Advise & Consent", and "How The West Was Won".
Bancroft beat out a pretty impressive foursome of opponents in the "Best Actress" category -- Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Geraldine Page, and Lee Remick.
While Miss Duke took "Best Supporting Actress" of '62 over the likes of Thelma Ritter, Mary Badham, Angela Lansbury, and Shirley Knight. Patty became the youngest person ever to take home an Oscar statue (at age 16, when she won the award).
"The Miracle Worker" made its USA premiere on the 23rd day of May back in 1962 (in New York City). The film, which debuted elsewhere in the United States on July 28, 1962, was nominated for three additional Academy Awards as well, including a nomination going to Arthur Penn for "Best Director" (with David Lean ultimately picking up that win for his work behind the camera of "Lawrence Of Arabia").
For a good "workout" (so to speak), without having to get up out of your chair, I'd recommend viewing Chapter #7 of this DVD. That's the chapter that contains one of my favorite scenes from "The Miracle Worker" (and one where hardly a single word is spoken) -- that being the dining-room scene with Annie and Helen, during which Annie is, in effect, telling Helen "You're going to eat your dinner using this spoon if it takes all damn night!".
That extraordinary scene is a 9-minute, non-stop lesson in perseverance and dogged determination, and is also a chance to watch in awe as two gifted actors display their finely-tuned craft. Patty and Anne must have been literally worn to a frazzle at the end of filming that lengthy scene. Heck, I was wrung out just watching it.
Inga Swenson, Victor Jory, and Andrew Prine co-star in "Miracle", and all do a fine job as the supporting cast to Anne and Patty. Jory's "Captain Keller" seems a trifle "over the top" at times (maybe a tad more than a trifle actually), but his softer, caring side emerges too, making up for his scenery-chewing moments (IMO).
Some of my favorite "Miracle" dialogue (from Miss Bancroft) -- "Mrs. Keller, I don't think Helen's worst handicap is deafness or blindness ... I think it's your love ... and pity. All of ya here are so sorry for her, you've kept her like a pet. Why, even a dog ya housebreak!"
A little bit about the real Helen and
The real-life story of Helen Keller is one of the most remarkable in history. After scarlet fever rendered her blind and deaf at the age of only 19 months, Helen would eventually learn to read (in multiple languages), and she would go on to write more than a dozen books! She also learned to speak. Helen even graduated (with honors) from Radcliffe College in 1904.
Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in the small northern Alabama town of Tuscumbia. When she passed away (just weeks before her 88th birthday) on June 1, 1968, Helen was one of the most-admired women in the world, having become friends with ten U.S. Presidents and also having received honorary degrees from several different universities worldwide.
Helen was just seven years old when the events depicted in "The Miracle Worker" actually took place in the late 1880s. Patty Duke, quite obviously, was much older than that when called upon to portray the 7-year-old Helen, and Patty was almost not cast as Helen for the film. But, despite the discernible age differential, Duke was given the part .... and movie-lovers are all the better for that wise casting decision.
A webpage containing an excellent mini-bio on the life of Helen Keller can be found here:
www.nndb.com/people/074/000046933/
The 100th Anniversary ("Centennial Edition") of Keller's autobiography, "The Story Of My Life", is available at Amazon. Here's a quick link:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451528255/qid=1139542669
Anne Sullivan was born Johanna Mansfield Sullivan in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts, on April 14, 1866. In 1886, Anne was named class valedictorian of the "Perkins Institute For The Blind". The following year, in March of 1887, she began her work with Helen. Sullivan died in New York at the age of 70 on October 20, 1936.
This MGM "Vintage Classics" DVD, released in March 2001, sports a very fine-looking version of "The Miracle Worker" in its original Widescreen (1.66:1) aspect ratio. The video is not enhanced via the anamorphic process, but the black-and-white film looks quite detailed and sharp nonetheless. A few spots have a slightly washed-out look, but overall it looks great to my eyes. Close-up shots of the actors' faces are especially pleasing and blemish-free. Miss Bancroft looks just fabulous in her screen-filling close-ups here.
An example of how good the movie looks on this disc can be obtained by watching the Theatrical Trailer for the film (which is included here as the DVD's lone Special Feature). The 1-minute, 45-second trailer is filled with dirt specks and lacks the crispness of video quality that can be found in the film itself.
As far as the audio goes, all of the dialogue is clear and easily understood. MGM Home Entertainment has provided three different Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono soundtracks for this disc -- in English, French, and Spanish. All three of these DVD soundtracks, however, do have quite a bit of background hiss and are a bit scratchy-sounding underneath the dialogue. But this minor audio imperfection didn't keep me from enjoying every last minute of this movie.
Given what I can detect on the movie's original English soundtrack, it appears that the filmmakers were forced to do a lot of dubbing of dialogue after several of the outdoor scenes were filmed, in order to make the actors' words more clearly audible. I'm very grateful for this dubbing, too, because I have a feeling that without it the viewer would be left to scratch his or her head in a "What did he say there?" manner during some scenes (particularly during the very funny "ladder" scene, which features Miss Bancroft being piggybacked to safety by Captain Keller). The dubbed scenes seem to be done quite well, though, in that they don't sound overly artificial, with the end result being bold and clear dialogue during those out-of-doors re-dubbed parts of the film.
Other DVD Stats:
>> Subtitles are available in French and Spanish (but not English).
>> The Chapter count is 16, with four separate Sub-Menus for direct chapter access.
>> Menus are simple and non-animated, without music.
>> No booklet or insert.
>> Keep Case box.
"The Miracle Worker" (1962) is a brilliant and touching character-driven story, featuring two acting performances by Miss Bancroft and Miss Duke that can never be forgotten. This is a motion picture (and a DVD) to be treasured for a lifetime.
Description of The Miracle Worker
Starring in what is quite possibly the most moving double performance ever recorded on film (Time), Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke are remarkable in their OscarÂ(r)-winning* portrayalsof Annie and Helen. Ennobling and uplifting (Variety), this inspirational story of courageand hope is one of the finest works of art in the history of motion pictures (Boxoffice). Locked in a frightening, lonely world of silence and darkness since infancy, 7-year-old Helen Keller has never seen the sky, heard her mother's voice or expressed her innermost feelings. ThenAnnie Sullivan, a 20-year-old teacher from Boston, arrives. Having just recently regained her own sight, the no-nonsense Annie reaches out to Helen through the power of touchthe only tool they have in commonand leads her bold pupil on a miraculous journey from fear and isolation to happiness and light. *1962: Actress (Bancroft); Supporting Actress (Duke)Bestsellers in DVD
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