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Personal favourite draws on superb symbolism throughout
Starring the iconic Hayley Mills, The Chalk Garden is infused with symbolism.
For example, the barren chalk garden of the title, where nothing grows because of the high lime content in the soil, represents the grandmother’s emotional sterility.
Like Laurel, the garden is lacking in food; Miss Madrigal promises to cultivate the garden and the child as their problems are similar.
The bonfires in the garden and on the beach are symbolic of Laurel’s rebellious behaviour, in contrast to the cosy fire in the library where Maitland admits to Madrigal that when it’s peaceful and calm he thinks of the house as his own.
The on screen chemistry between John Mills and Deborah Kerr is excellent in every scene in which the characters they play interact with each other.
Kerr was nominated for the Best Actress BAFTA award for her performance. In September 1983, I received a personal letter and signed photograph from her.
With memories of The Chalk Garden, she wrote: “I was thrilled, in late 1962, when my London agent Hutton Management told me that American producer Ross Hunter wanted me for the role of Miss Madrigal in The Chalk Garden. No need to read the script as it was one of my favourite plays ever.
“It was wonderful, of course, to be starring opposite Edith Evans, and Johnnie Mills having been chums for many years.
“I had not seen Hayley since she was a baby and found her quite unspoiled and natural. It was not an easy part for a young girl to play but being the daughter of a real pro, she kept the flag flying.
“I don’t remember any problems during production and we enjoyed working together enormously, and who could ever forget her wonderful performance as Laurel?”
Staircases are often used in films as a means of heightening the drama. They are a recurring motif in many of Ross Hunter’s productions of the 60s, including Portrait In Black, Midnight Lace, and Madame X.
During the climax of The Chalk Garden, a dramatic scene is played between Maitland and Laurel on the staircase of the house.
Hunter’s approach to filmmaking was very much in keeping with the populist Hollywood treatment that
concerns itself with the illusion created by pristine sets and heavily gauzed camera lenses.
Director Ronald Neame, who had been trained in realism, found working with Hunter an odd combination.
Hunter was very much a handson producer with impeccable taste, but he was also a control freak and everything had to be
the way he wanted it.
Although The Chalk Garden was a critical failure in Britain, where the media bemoaned how a celebrated British play was skewed through the Hollywood treatment, American reviewers were largely positive such as this review by David Zeitlin in Life magazine: “The Chalk Garden was no place for flowers but it
turns out to be a paradise for actors. All the performers are superb. They speak dialogue that is crystal clear, literate, sharp and, for once, unpredictable.
“Good as they are individually, they are even better collectively. The Chalk Garden is ensemble playing to perfection.”
The Chalk Garden was one of the longest-running films
at the Radio City Music Hall in New York, grossing $180,000 in its second week, and went on to earn $3.25 million in the US and Canada.
In recent decades there has been renewed interest in Enid Bagnold’s work with several revivals of the play.
For many years the film version was a lost classic waiting to be
rediscovered. Then, in 2021, Universal Pictures finally stirred themselves with a long-overdue high definition Blu-ray re-master released on DVD.
It is stating the obvious that The Chalk Garden is my personal favourite from Hayley Mills’ library. It is happily very appreciated and re-watched time and time again.