The Chalk Garden (1964)

An emotionally disturbed teen (Hayley Mills), who is a pathological liar, has run through a series of governesses until she meets her match in Miss Madrigal (Deborah Kerr), a woman with a secret past. The girl's determination to discover that secret and its revelation and consequences is the crux of the film. Based on the play by Enid Bagnold and direced by Ronald Neame (PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE). I've not read Bagnold's play but I understand the film has been cleaned up a bit for movie audiences and not so complicated as its theatrical version. What remains is a poignant tale of an unhappy childhood at risk if it isn't caught in time. It's a solid, if uncinematic, film. It's nice to see the young Hayley Mills in a role that challenges her instead of the usually wholesome Disney roles she played but the entire film is superbly acted by all involved including John Mills as the household's butler, Elizabeth Sellars as the girl's mother and in a terrific Oscar nominated performance, Edith Evans as the girl's grandmother. There's a solid underscore by Malcolm Arnold. With Felix Aylmer in the only other substantial role in the movie.