Rendered blind and deaf by disease during her infancy, a young girl is gradually taught how to communicate by a compassionate teacher in this drama based on Helen Keller's life. The film is atmospherically shot in stark black and white by Arthur Penn, a director smart enough to realise that the physical interactions of his protagonists are pivotal for a film about a girl who cannot see or hear; the most intense scene has virtually no dialogue as co-leads Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke wrestle in the family dining room. Both actresses are very good too - Bancroft in particular - and it is a shame that the same cannot be said of the supporting cast. Inga Swenson is so histrionic as Keller's mother that she is hard to watch, with only Victor Jory as Keller's insensitive father offering a more over-the-top turn; the opening pre-credits scene in which they discover Keller's condition is particularly melodramatic stuff. Andrew Prine is also dull as Keller's brother. Fortunately, much of the screen time is taken up by the lead actresses gradually coming to understand each other in the only way that a deaf and blind person could. The film is quite thought provoking along these lines, highlighting the difficulty of functioning in a world in which one cannot communicate or understand what is going on, and while one does have to endure a second rate supporting cast, it is worth it.

The second feature of Oscar-winning director Arthur Penn (BONNIE AND CLYDE 1967), THE MIRACLE WORKER is a riveting and inspirational true story of the American deaf-blind author and lecturer, Helen Keller (Duke), and her visually impaired governess Anne Sullivan (Bancroft), who painstakingly breaks in the impregnable carapace of the disobedient Helen, and miraculously manages to teaches her how to communicate with the outer world and express her feelings through sign language.The brunt of the film's infectious potency derives from the high-octane delivery of the two leads, Duke and Bancroft reprise their roles from their award-wining Broadway play to this brilliant Black- and-White movie adaptation, against the disadvantage that both were nearly a decade older than their respective characters' real ages when the story took place, especially for Duke (who has just passed away this year at the age of 69, R.I.P.), on her cusp of adolescence, she was born in 1946, to portray a 7-year old child is too much a stretch for her, fortunately, the role is in the main a Herculean physical endeavour, covered up by her ragged garment and soiled face, her assiduous imitation pays off wondrously, it boldly resists viewer's expectation and inspires extolment.Ms. Bancroft, not quite a household name among cinema-goers at then, comes on board with her take-no-prisoners modus operandi, do whatever she can to drag Helen out of her "wild child" caprice, and it is only an outsider from the family can do, without compassion. Here, an overlong battle between her and Duke with regards to table manners can be hailed as one of the most intensely choreographed fighting sequence ever occurred on screen, all takes place in one single dining room, where dramatised tug-of-war is livened up to slapstick antics, which are not to induce laughter, but a compelling tension so viscerally sensed by viewers. All the more, Bancroft also has to come to terms with the vacillation from Helen's family, and her own traumatic past experience in an asylum with his diseased brother, where Penn and DP Caparrós deploy some unique camera tricks to a haunting and harrowing effect.The epithet "Oscar-winning actress" is an apt reward to Bancroft and Duke, but in a perfect world, Inga Swenson's heartfelt turn as Helen's loving mother Kate should also have reaped some recognition, only if Duke could have been pushed to the leading category, which would leave the spot for Ms. Swenson, a Joanne Woodward lookalike, whose career never really took off. By sheer contrast, the old hand Victor Jory, who plays the domineering father, really gets on one's nerves for chewing up the scenery.The vastly gratifying epiphany is the moment when Helen finally understands the true function of the "bridge", created by Anne, to link her closed heart with the world around her, the connection between the signed language and the items she can feel tactilely, it is so obvious in the eyes of a common sighter, but, for Helen, and all those with similar disabilities, it takes a sea change of progress. Without additional flourishes, the movie comes to its halt when Helen earns the key to embrace her life, the one would turn out to be quite extraordinary!.Cinema is an art-form catering to those who can see, something we viewers always take for granted, but indeed we should always be grateful to that, that's a golden takeaway from this hallmark theatrical piece of cinema.

Anne Sullivan, played brilliantly by Anne Bancroft was Helen Keller's teacher in real life and in film The Miracle Worker. Anne Sullivan was an American orphan born with trachoma which lead to her to be almost completely blind. She had a series of botched operations but in The Miracle Worker she could see, certainly more than Helen Keller, and her remembrances of her past trauma are depicted in a hazy visual dream-like state.Keller is played by Patty Duke, also a world class performance.Both won Oscars in 1962 for this movie.Sullivan was from immigrant, penniless Irish parents and was delegated to almshouse until age 14 when she was admitted to the Parsons School for the Blind. Her brother died in the almshouse while there perpetuating the trauma of her experience in that institution.Adept at finger spelling and armed with her own history of resilience, Sullivan takes on Helen Keller. Helen is little more than a human being who eats with her hands from everyone's plate, engages in temper tantrums that would make Jimmy Connors blush, and can only communicate in the most rudimentary form . Her family has all but given up on her when they enlist Anne Sullivan for employment as her a dogged teacher and governess for Helen.Sullivan had a gift for diagnosing and treating Keller's difficult communication problem. She transforms Helen Keller from something like a feral animal to a human being. In this sense she is a health leader not just a teacher and an intuitive caretaker.Ms. Sullivan achieved in two weeks something of a miracle. She was able to accomplish this due to her ability to empathize and look back on her own past to prevent Helen's future from being as dismal as hers might have been. "We used to play with the rats" when describing one of her childhood experiences to the the Kellers in the almshouse. The turn of the century was a terrible time to be institutionalized and conditions were characteristically inhumane.When Anne Sullivan arrived in Tuscumbia, Alabama, she was at odds with the Southern position on pre and post-slavery. The Kellers used to own slaves and this created immediate tension. Sullivan's political leanings were socialist and she was a suffragette, to boot.Sullivan's methodology was akin to family theory models which involve removing the child from the home, and in Keller's case, the overprotective arena. The family members display enmeshment perpetuating Helen's lack of social and intellectual progress. Additionally, current studies have shown that overprotective parents may be a factor in victimization and bullying of children(Georgiou, 2010). Certainly Keller would have a difficult time integrating in a new and strange environment such as an institution.ReferenceGeorgiou, S. N. (2008). Bullying and victimization at school: The role of mothers. British Journal of Educational Psychology. 78, (1), 109–125.

Arthur Penn's exhilarating 'The Miracle Worker' is a fascinating story based on the account between Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller. One couldn't even begin to imagine what Helen Keller's dark and soundless world must have been like and what a challenge it must have been for Annie Sullivan to guide her and bring some light into her silent world. 'The Miracle Worker' very effectively tells the story giving us some of the most memorable cinematic sequences such as the dining scene where Annie teaches Helen some manners. Another sequence that deserves mention for its fine simple execution is the recurring nightmare of Annie. There's some fine camera-work involved.The highlights of 'The Miracle Worker' are the sequences between Annie and Helen. Needless to say, the movie is carried by the two phenomenal lead actresses: Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke. This is reportedly Duke's first movie and what an incredible debut, that too for such a young actress! Bancroft is sublime and transcendent. This will (or perhaps already has) go down as one of the greatest performances by a lead actress. The supporting cast perform well even though they are clearly overshadowed by the leads.The only minor quibble I have is the background score. Such loud background music was a common thing in movies of the 60s. However, in this case, it can easily be overlooked due to the powerful story and performances.On a final note, 'The Miracle Worker' is an enlightening, uplifting and important film that deserves to be viewed. There have been several remakes and interpretative movies over the years following but nothing has topped Penn's movie.