THE NANNY

Continuing my string of re-posts from 2009...

On the heels of MARY POPPINS, the legendary Bette Davis stars in this tame, but twisted tale out of England's Hammer House of Horror based on a novel by Evelyn Piper (who also wrote the harrowing BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING).

THE NANNY (1965, directed by Seth Holt) is a spooky little chiller that casts Miss Davis as dutiful, dowdy and subdued domestic in a proper household with a deadly secret. Joey (the captivating William Dix), a precocious 10-year-old has just been released from an psychiatric institution and we are told he has developed "a strange aversion to middle-aged females."

From the start Nanny and Joey engage in a wonderfully wicked cat and mouse game. Everything Nanny does to make his return home comfortable is rejected by the bratty, troubled youngster and we feel the pain in Bette Davis' eyes.

The boy's neurotic mother Virginia (the great Wendy Craig, who later starred in the classic Britcom BUTTERFLIES) is on the verge of a nervous breakdown for the past two years, after the drowning death of her adorable toddler daughter Susie (seen in flashbacks).

To top things off, visiting Aunt Penelope (the wonderful Jill Bennett) has a heart condition, so Nanny tries not to ruffle any feathers despite Joey's increasingly hostile antics.

You see, Joey is convinced that Nanny wants to murder him, and suspects that she is responsible for drowning his sister, the reason for him being sent away in the first place. Everyone believes that Joey was culprit.

So Joey goes on a hunger strike, refusing to eat any of the food that Nanny prepares for him. He even refuses to bathe unless Virginia makes Nanny promise to stay away from the bathroom. Boys.

With Joey's dad (the serviceable James Villiers) often away on business, he befriends a sassy upstairs neighbor Bobbie (the charming Pamela Franklin), a mod teen-ager who becomes both confidante and accomplice in pranks he plays on Nanny - like drowning a baby doll in the bat tub.

The suspense builds steadily as we learn the back story of Susie's death and we wonder who's version is more accurate–prankster Joey's or dedicated Nanny's. When Virginia is suddenly stricken with food poisoning and hospitalized, delicate flower Aunt Pen comes to stay in the house for the evening and slowly grows suspicious of Nanny's actions.

Flashbacks recount what actually happened the night Susie died and reveal a shocking secret from Nanny's past leading up to the startling climax where all is revealed. Slight spolier - a visit to an abortion doctor plays into the reveal!

I loved this film. The creepy atmosphere, the wonderful acting and Davis' remarkably restraint performance make it a sheer pleasure to watch. Though it was slow paced, I didn't want it to end. The world that director Holt created was such a fun place to visit.

The scenes with Nanny and Joey are so well acted, you wonder if Davis and the youngster got along at all on set. I give this one a big 10 outta 10.

DEGRASSI Anonymous, Part 2: SCHOOL'S OUT!

From 2009: My disappointment over the shit heap known as DEGRASSI GOES HOLLYWOOD led me back to my DEGRASSI HIGH box set to watch the 1992 TV-movie called SCHOOL'S OUT! I missed this 90-minute special when it first aired because the geniuses at WNET in New York chose to air it only once– on Gay Pride Day 1992 – at a time when attending such events was important to me, being a young gay and all.So now, 17 years later (in 2009), with the bad taste of DEGRASSI GOES HOLLYWOOD still in my mouth, I decided to give SCHOOL'S OUT a shot.It all starts out in true Degrassi fashion as class valedictorian Lucy Fernandez (Anais Granofsky) delivers a farewell address to the graduating class. Among the students is Caitlin Ryan (Stacie Mistysyn), who has skipped ahead one year to graduate before her boyfriend Joey Jeremiah (Pat Mastroianni), who has been left back. At Lucy's graduation party we learn that Lucy and Caitlin will be college roommates. At the party, we actually see Degrassi students drinking beer and smoking weed - with no judgements. Even some of the good students are getting high. Miss Goody Two Shoes Tessa Campanelli (Kirsten Bourne) thinks that her friends are "so boring" when they are stoned. Meanwhile, Joey presents Caitlin with a friendship ring that he's saved all his pennies for. He implies that it could also serve as an engagement ring, but Caitlin is not ready for that kind of commitment. She also isn't ready to have sex with him!Joey is crushed and runs out of the party and into Tessa, and he agrees to give her a "ride home". Before he drops her off, he plants a kiss on Tessa's lips. They later make a date and Joey gets to second base with her. Luckily he works in the pharmacy and has easy access to Shields brand condoms! So virginal Joey may finally get laid this summer, with our without Caitlin. Later Joey's pals gawky Snake (Stefan Brogren) and lesbian-lookalike Wheels (the late Neil Hope) discuss all matter of sexual hi jinks as they work on Wheel's crappy car. Snake is still a virgin too, but hopes his summer gig as a lifeguard will change all that.

So Joey and Tessa have sex...lots of it...so much for Tessa being Miss Goody Two Shoes! Weed=boring, sex=not so boring! While her and Joey continue to do the nasty, Caitlin goes back and forth on whether she wants to still go away to University with Lucy or stay local and be engaged to Joey. Lucy tries to convince to her choose college, but it looks like Caitlin might be giving it a second thought.Then Caitlin decides that she will give Joey what he wants for his 19th birthday, prompting Lucy shows her how to put a rubber on a banana (which she calls "Joey"). Then Caitlin puts her hair up and a condom in her purse and before you know it - they've had sex too. After the momentous event, Caitlin cries and Joey gets out of bed...
I'm sure my readers would like to see that again...(Click to enlarge even more!)
Anyways, after the sobbing and the amazing butt shot, Joey climbs into his grampa's boxers.
Meanwhile, Tessa pays a visit to the local Women's Health Clinic. Guess what? She's totally preggers - so she orders up one abortion - to go!!! Later, the whole gang is getting together one last time by the lake...and tensions are growing between Wheels and Snake. Snake is all pissy cause Wheels spent his whole summer drinking beer and working on his shitty car. Their argument includes some un-Degrassi-like words such as "shit" and "asshole." They actually come to blows, and Lucy takes Wheels outside for some air.
Things go from bad to worse when Snake accuses Joey of "fucking" Tessa while dating Caitlin...just as Caitlin walks in! What happens next is the best Degrassi line ever...

"Tessa Campanelli? You were fucking Tessa Campanelli?" CLASSIC!

Things continue to spiral outta control when Snake has to put his lifeguard training to the test to rescue Allison Hunter (Sarah Holmes) from drowning just as Wheels puts his drunk driving to the test - killing a small child and putting Lucy in critical condition! Holly shit!
Wheels winds up in prison for vehicular manslaughter and Lucy ends up blind in one eye and walking with a cane (as witnessed in the premiere episode of DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION). The whole story winds up months later at the wedding of Alexa Pappadopoulos (Irene Courakos) to Simon Dexter (Michael Carry). Not attending are Wheels, Lucy and a few others. Snake shows up at the wedding with his new girlfriend, Pam.

At the reception, Snake's future-wife Spike (Amando Steptoe) mentions to Caitlin that her daughter Emma is now in pre-kindergarden (setting the stage for Emma to become one of the central characters in DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION in 2001). The film ends with Joey asking Caitlin to dance. Awww... What a totally enjoyable and satisfying conclusion to the series and the perfect bridge to the next series. I cannot recommend this highly enough to Degrassi fans everywhere. And if I need to remind you why, there's always this...

The End.