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Bette Davis, Wendy Craig, Jill Bennett II, James Villiers, William Dix ... see more see more... , Pamela Franklin , Jack Watling , Alfred Burke , Maurice Denham , Nora Gordon , Harry Fowler

In this thriller (which represented something of a departure for Hammer Films, noted for their gothic period pieces), Joey Fane (William Dix) has returned home after two years in an institution for me... read more read more...ntally ill children. His sister drowned, and his family believes that Joey was to blame, despite his claims of innocence. Joey is convinced that the family's Nanny (Bette Davis) was responsible and refuses to have anything to do with her, but only neighbor girl Bobby (Pamela Franklin) agrees that there's something sinister about the woman minding the house. When Joey's neurotic mother Virginia (Wendy Craig) nearly dies after eating tainted food prepared by the Nanny, Virginia's sister Penelope (Jill Bennett) comes by to help. Penelope soon witnesses the bad blood between Joey and the Nanny, though before long she begins to think that the boy might be right about her after all. Jimmy Sangster adapted the screenplay from a novel by Evelyn Piper. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

76% liked it

811 ratings

Critics

90% liked it

10 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 33 min.

Directed by: Seth Holt

Release Date: October 27, 1965

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DVD Release Date: December 21, 2006

Stats: 119 reviews

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Nanny The Nanny The Nanny Bill Fane Aunt Pen William Dix
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Flixster Reviews (119)

  • mjgildea
    June 10, 2010
    mjgildea
    I thought for sure that The Nanny was going to turn out to be some campy and gaudy forgettable film in the twilight of the career of Bette Davis. What it actually turns out to be is a sadly overlooked powerhouse performance by Davis that's every bit as horrific as it is beautiful... read morely sad. Unfortunately you're probably going to spend most of The Nanny's 90-minute running time hating William Dix's (Joey's) guts when you're not mildly entertained by Pamela Franklin's upstairs neighbor performance. The flashbacks are well done and pretty frightening even if The Nanny isn't the standard Hammer film. It's easy to bunch this one in with What Ever Happened to Baby Jane and Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte even thought its completely different, but at the same time it reminded me more of Bunny Lake is Missing. For as short of a movie as The Nanny is it's kind of a long watch but worth it in the end.
  • jjnxn
    October 17, 2008
    jjnxn
    Bette is masterful as always, the movie is chilling.
  • thmtsang
    August 3, 2007
    thmtsang
    Creepy movie about a nanny.
  • shitfaced8
    July 4, 2011
    shitfaced8
    A really good and criminally overlooked gem from classic British Horror studio Hammer, starring the always wonderful Bette Davis. Story revolves around a young boy named Joey who was recently released from a mental institution for troubled youth. He was locked up for the accident... read moreal death of his sister who drowned in the bath tub a few years earlier. Joey maintains that he was innocent and that the family Nanny was to blame. Naturally no one believes him and upon returning home nothing has changed between him and the Nanny, who remains at their home to care for Joey's mother who is something of a grown up child herself in the wake of her daughters death. I went into this movie knowing nothing of it and was really pleased with the results. The story is really well told and your never really sure who to believe, especially since Joey's character does seem to be a rotten little hellian. Bette Davis and the kid who played Joey both delivered excellent performances, and I would strongly recommend this under seen Horror classic.
  • HenrikSchunk
    December 15, 2009
    HenrikSchunk
    From Hammer Horror comes a creepy, psychological thriller starring Bette Davis in one of the roles which cemented her late calling as nutjob and expert in playing lunatics. The film evolves around a typical family and the aftermath of a little girls death. With accusations of mur... read moreder and neglect being thrown around, the movie soon foucsses on a cat-and-mouse play between The Nanny, the son and other family members. Despite being fairly minimal in its scope and direction (which works fine by the way), the movie is unusally hard to crack and you will not know what has been going on in the oast and is going on in the present until the very end of the movie. The Nanny is not as camp and trashy as other Hammer Horror movies and reminds me of Rosemary's Baby for that matter. Bette Davis flagships the cast, but the rest is quite good as well. The movie is ot as creepy as it could have been, but when a creepy moments finally rears its head, it becomes quite edgy and disturbing, detouring from you usual horror shock toolbox and delivering deep and irritating pictures and suggestions, which is refreshing for every horror fan out there. Still, the movie revolves around one big showdown and the uncertainty of what happened in the past. Evevrything else that is going on between the family does not carry much weight and thus, the movie has the tendency to drag on, whenever Bette Davis is not on screen and takes even longer to get going.

    I would recommend this movie to every fan of Bette Davis and Hammer Horror.

    HX
  • theSwitchbladeSister
    October 26, 2010
    theSwitchbladeSister
    Bette Davis is wonderful as a sweet-yet-domineering nanny in this psychological thriller. Very chilling in moments, due largely to Davis' portrayal of the nanny.
  • jam233
    February 15, 2010
    jam233
    Bette Davis sure can portray evil well. This is one of the best of her post 1960 performances. Well acted by all, Pamela Franklin stands out among the supporting cast.The story builds up very well, and the characters are well defined.
  • gigan22
    October 26, 2008
    gigan22
    NANNY!!! That's all I would have to say for this review, but I will elaborate. It's cheesy and very mockable, but a few of the scenes are quite shocking content wise.
  • GeorgeBailey88
    April 15, 2008
    GeorgeBailey88
    Bette Davis is the glue that holds this popsicle house together. She deserved a more worthy cast. The supporting players were not horrid actors but they simply take away from the storyline. As is the case in many films where children play a central role to plot development thus r... read moreequiring most of the dialogue.

    I admire the choice to shoot this film in black and white even the direction seemed to be nearly absent at various points of the film. The story itself is fine but they didn't explore the psychology of the nanny enough to make us feel completely sympathetic towards her plight in the end.

    Be that as it may it's certainly a good Bette Davis performance.
  • AJReuRox
    April 8, 2008
    AJReuRox
    I saw this movie a long time ago and I loved it. If you love Bette Davis in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" and "Hush. Hush Sweet Charlotte" you will love this one!

View All The Nanny Reviews

Critic Reviews

Jeremy Heilman
June 24, 2009
Jeremy Heilman, MovieMartyr.com

The Nanny is not especially ambitious, so one must settle for the small pleasures and chills that it offers. Full Review

Felix Gonzalez Jr.
April 15, 2008
Felix Gonzalez Jr., DVD Review

... The Nanny holds up considerably well today as a slight, but unsettling, thriller. Full Review

Dan Callahan
March 31, 2008
Dan Callahan, Slant Magazine

A rather quiet, cautious thriller that gives Davis more room for characterization than most of her later films. Full Review

John Wirt
August 30, 2004
John Wirt, Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)

Bette Davis as the baddest of nannies. Scary in its modest way.

Christopher Smith
August 4, 2004
Christopher Smith, Bangor Daily News (Maine)

Fantastic. Davis is perfectly creepy.

Dennis Schwartz
February 17, 2004
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Bette Davis is electrifying as the prim and proper nanny Full Review

Ken Hanke
January 22, 2003
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Dreary, bizarrely overrated thriller distinguished only by Bette Davis.

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Howard Thompson
May 10, 2005
Howard Thompson, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

January 1, 2000
Chicago Reader

Click to read the article Full Review

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