![]() The Miracle Worker is worth watching for that scene alone and for this story about the “birth” of Helen Keller, who became the first deaf and blind person to earn a B.A. It’s intense, and shows why Bancroft won the Oscar for Best Actress and Duke won for Best Supporting Actress. My daughter says she already saw the film in school, so teachers see value in it, and this is a pivotal scene. So when a nine-minute scene shows “miracle worker” Annie Sullivan (Anne Bancroft) physically wrestling with a blind child who has never been disciplined in her life, it could seem like an eternity to younger viewers. And while indie films may still employ long takes, the average mainstream film has been edited to fit the shorter attention spans that seem to have evolved. For another thing, drama in the ‘50s and early ‘60s was really melodrama, and the long lingering close-ups with dramatic music may seem a little soapy to contemporary audiences. It’s more about interest or entertainment, and older films like this have a few strikes against them.įor one thing, The Miracle Worker is in black and white, and as terrific as it looks on Blu-ray, a generation born into color often has a hard time with anything other than eye-popping visuals. These days, I don’t get the sense that young people do that as much. I didn’t identify with her, but I put myself in her place. ![]() Patty Duke, who played young Helen Keller in the film, was close to my age, so naturally I pictured myself going through a similar struggle. I saw The Miracle Worker in the theater when it was first released in 1962, and it affected me deeply. ![]() Not rated (would be PG for intense scenes of struggle) ![]()
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