''Mandy'' is a 1952 British black and white film about a family's struggle to give their

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

daughter a better life. It was directed by

Alexander Mackendrick Alexander Mackendrick (September 8, 1912 – December 22, 1993) was an American-born director and professor, long based in Scotland. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and later moved to Scotland. He began making television commercials befor ...

and is based on the novel ''The Day Is Ours'' by

Hilda Lewis Hilda Winifred Lewis (nee Maizels, 1896–1974) was a British writer of historical and children's fiction. Biography She was born Hilda Winifred Maizels in Whitechapel, London in 1896. Her father, Joseph Maizels, was a Jewish jeweler and silv ...

. It stars

Phyllis Calvert Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill (née Bickle; 18 February 1915 – 8 October 2002), known professionally as Phyllis Calvert, was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1 ...

Jack Hawkins John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mil ...

and Terence Morgan, and features the first film appearance by

Jane Asher Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946)The International Who's Who of Women, 3rd edition, ed. Elizabeth Sleeman, Europa Publications, 2002, p. 29 is an English actress and author. She achieved early fame as a child actress and has worked extensively in f ...

. In the US the film was released as ''The Story of Mandy'', and later was sold to television as ''Crash of Silence''. A high proportion of the film looks at educational methods for the deaf in the 1950s and is very instructional in this context. It also sees the world from the deaf child's eyes.

Plot

Christine Garland has a young deaf daughter, Mandy. Her husband Harry is away from home. As they realise their daughter's situation, the parents enrol Mandy in special education classes to try to get her to speak. They quarrel in the process and their marriage comes under strain. There are also hints of a possible affair between Christine and Dick Searle, the headmaster of the school for the deaf where Mandy is enrolled. Mandy's first speech is achieved by using a balloon. She is able to feel the vibrations of sound onto the balloon and know she had made a sound. Harry Garland returns to Christine and Mandy and wants Mandy taken out of the school and sent to a private school. Christine strongly resists. Searle perseveres and eventually, the training succeeds to the point where Mandy says "Mama". Searle's boss Ackland is unhappy about the relationship between Searle and Christine and word of this reaches Searle. Word also reaches Harry Garland who is staying with his parents in a large London townhouse. Harry goes to speak to Ackland. Then he confronts Christine. He takes Mandy out of the school and takes her to his parents' house. Mandy is sad. The back garden looks onto a bomb-site where children are playing. The children ask her to play and ask her name. With her parents behind she says "Mandy" for the first time.

Cast

as Christine Garland *

as Dick Searle * Terence Morgan as Harry Garland *

Godfrey Tearle Sir Godfrey Seymour Tearle (12 October 1884 – 9 June 1953) was a British actor who portrayed the quintessential British gentleman on stage and in both British and US films. Biography Born in New York City and brought up in Britain, he was t ...

as Mr Garland *

Mandy Miller Mandy Miller (born Carmen Isabella Miller, 23 July 1944) is an English child actress who made a number of films in the 1950s and is probably best remembered for her recording of the 1956 song "Nellie the Elephant". Early life and career She was ...

as Mandy Garland *

Marjorie Fielding Doris Marjorie Fielding (known as Marjorie) (17 February 1892, in Gloucester, Gloucestershire – 28 December 1956, in London) was a British stage and film actress. Marjorie Fielding was the second daughter of John & Ellen Fielding (née Miles). ...

as Mrs Garland *

Nancy Price Nancy Price, CBE (3 February 1880 – 31 March 1970), was an English actress on stage and screen, author and theatre director. Her acting career began in a repertory theatre company before progressing to the London stage, silent films, talkies a ...

as Jane Ellis * Edward Chapman as Ackland *

Patricia Plunkett Patricia Ruth Plunkett (17 December 1926 – 13 October 1974) was an English actress, born to an Australian WW1 soldier, Captain Gunning Francis Plunkett, and Alice Park. Born in Streatham, London, she trained at RADA and had an early stage hit ...

as Miss Crocker * Eleanor Summerfield as Lily Tabor * Colin Gordon as Wollard (junior) *

Dorothy Alison Dorothy Alison (4 April 1925 – 17 January 1992) was an Australian stage, film and television actress Biography Dorothy Alison was born in the New South Wales mining city of Broken Hill and educated at Sydney Girls High School. She moved t ...

as Miss Stockton *

Julian Amyes Julian Charles Becket Amyes (9 August 1917 – 26 April 1992), known as Julian Amyes, was a British film and television director and producer. Although primarily director and producer, Amyes also had acting roles in ''High Treason'' (1951) and ...

as Jimmy Tabor *

Gabrielle Brune Gabrielle Brune (12 February 1912 in Bournemouth, Hampshire – 18 January 2005 in Chichester, Sussex) was a British actress. Career On stage from 1930, her work included appearances in cabaret, the West End, on Broadway, in films and on t ...

as Secretary * John Cazabon as Davey * Gwen Bacon as Mrs Paul * W. E. Holloway as Woollard (senior) * Phyllis Morris as Miss Tucker *

Gabrielle Blunt Gabrielle Hilda Blunt (8 January 1919 – 10 June 2014) was a British actress. She had a very long career in theatre, film and television mainly working as a character actress appearing in many British television programmes and films. Biography ...

as Miss Larner * Jean Shepherd as Mrs Jackson *

(aged six) as Nina

Production

The film's screenplay was written by Nigel Balchin and Jack Whittingham. The film was shot at the Ealing Studios in west London, and also at the

Royal Schools for the Deaf Seashell Trust (formerly Royal Schools for the Deaf) is a charity in Stockport, Greater Manchester, for children, young people and adults with sensory impairment, profound and multiple learning difficulties, and profound communication difficulti ...

outside

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Reception

Box office

''Mandy'' premiered in London on 29 July 1952, and was the fifth most popular at the British box office that year.

Awards

The film was nominated for six BAFTA awards at the 1953 British Academy Film Awards ceremony, but didn't win any. Alexander Mackendrick was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the 1952 Venice Film Festival for his direction, and the film was nominated for the Golden Lion at the same festival.IMDb: ''Mandy (1952) - Awards''
Linked 2015-04-18

References

External links

* * * * * {{Venice Film Festival Grand Jury Prize 1952 films 1952 drama films British drama films British black-and-white films Films about deaf people Venice Grand Jury Prize winners Ealing Studios films Films directed by Alexander Mackendrick Films produced by Michael Balcon Films scored by William Alwyn Films shot in London Films set in London Films with screenplays by Jack Whittingham Films with screenplays by Nigel Balchin Films shot in Greater Manchester 1950s English-language films 1950s British films