The Nanny

The Nanny is a 1965 British suspense film directed by Seth Holt, and starring Bette Davis, Wendy Craig, and Jill Bennett. Davis appears as a supposedly devoted nanny caring for a 10-year-old boy recently discharged from a home for disturbed children. It is based on the novel of the same title by Evelyn Piper (a pseudonym for Merriam Modell) and was scored by Richard Rodney Bennett. It was made by Hammer Film Productions at Elstree Studios. Plot Joey spends two years at a school for emotionally disturbed children after being blamed for drowning his younger sister Susy. The school's headmaster informs Joey's father, Bill, that his son harbours an intense dislike of middle-aged women. This extends to the family's nanny, whom Joey distrusts and disrespects. When Joey returns home, he refuses to eat the meals Nanny prepares because he suspects she may poison him. He abandons the room Nanny has decorated for him and moves to one with a strong lock on its door. Joey's rude behaviour upsets his neurotic mother, Virginia, who is prone to melancholy and crying spells, still grieving over the death of Susy. Nanny comforts Virginia as she did when she cared for her and her sister Pen when they were children. In a flashback, Nanny leaves the house for an appointment. Joey is playing by himself with his father's model railway. Susy threatens to tell their parents on Joey for being disobedient because he is not supposed to. She wants to play with him, but he tells her to go away.