The Miracle Worker
Posted on April 14, 2008 at 8:00 am
A+| Lowest Recommended Age: | 4th - 6th Grades |
| MPAA Rating: | NR |
| Profanity: | None |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: | Drinking |
| Violence/ Scariness: | Some violence, characters injured |
| Diversity Issues: | A theme of the movie |
| Date Released to Theaters: | May 23, 1962 |
Today is the 142nd anniversary of the birth of one of the most extraordinary teachers in American history, Annie Sullivan, who gave a little blind and deaf girl the power of language. William Gibson, who wrote two plays about the teacher and her student, says that when people refer to “The Miracle Worker” as “the play about Helen Keller,” he replies, “If it was about her, it would be called ‘The Miracle Workee.'” Sullivan, herself visually impaired, was first in her class at the Perkins School for the Blind. When she went to work for the Keller family she was just 21 years old. And Keller, who was blind and deaf due to an illness when she was 19 months old. When Sullivan arrived, Keller was almost completely wild, without any ability to communicate or any understanding that communication beyond grabbing and hitting was possible.
Every family should watch the extraordinary film about what happened next, and read more about Keller, who, with Sullivan’s help, graduated from Radcliffe magna cum laude and became an author and a world figure.
Ann Bancroft and Patty Duke won Oscars for their performances as Sullivan and Keller, repeating their Broadway roles and Duke later played Sullivan in a made-for-television adaptation. In this scene, after months of teaching Keller to fingerspell words, Sullivan is finally able to show her that language will give her the ability to communicate, with a new world of relationships, feelings, and learning. No teacher ever bestowed a greater gift.
Monday After the Miracle
Four women in post-WWI London get away from winter chill when they take a villa in Italy. All of their lives are transformed through the unexpected connections they make with each other.
A girl prepares Thanksgiving dinner for her estranged family, including her mother who is dying of cancer. Beautifully written and directed and unexpectedly heartwarming, with brilliant performances from Katie Holmes (pre Tom Cruise), Patricia Clarkson, Alison Pill, and Derek Luke.
A silly story about a chorus girl sent on a diplomatic mission is an excuse for singing and dancing from Doris Day and Ray Bolger.
: The Shaping of Our Mythic Tradition — an exploration of the psychology, history and biology of myth, and an introduction to the Western mythos.
: The Shaping of the Eastern Tradition –an introduction to the great mythic traditions of South and East Asia
Charlton Heston, who died this morning at age 84, had the screen presence for larger than life, heroic roles, and often appeared in films with religious themes. He will be best remembered for his Oscar-winning performance as 
and for appearing as Moses in 
. He also played John the Baptist in 
. Heston created audio recordings of 
and provided voice talent for a series of animated Bible stories for children. 
as a policeman who lives on the border, literally and metaphorically, and in a rare romantic comedy, “The Private War of Major Benson.” Whether he was leading a circus (
) or a stranded team of astronauts (
) or even trying to survive as the last man on earth (
), his conviction and commitment made him the essence of a movie star.
