It is amazing that Bette Davis disparaged this great film as a failure and blamed 9 year-old Kevin for not being affectionate enough! She complained so much on the set that the boy wouldn't cry on cue, that his poor mother had to resort to pinching and slapping him. In fact, just about everything about this film is perfect, the acting, the pacing, the music, the subject, the casting, the gorgeous black and white photography. Although there is a well-crafted plot, the real protagonist of Storm Center is not a nice librarian and a bookish boy, but an entire town going mad with fear, afraid of its own shadow. Sure it is `preachy', but what a sermon! How many movies can deliver this sort of inspiration? The great seriousness of the film's purpose elevates it above most others.
The individual characters are symbolic, sketchy, and that's exactly as it should be. A second-rate film would have gotten off on tangents, emphasizing the purely anecdotal aspects. This is the quintessential anti-censorship and anti-bigotry film, a passionate outcry for tolerance, reason and compassion, like `Harvey' (1950). The film's nobility and beauty is evident in its refusal to draw caricatures. Even the bad guys are presented as human beings, and one finds oneself liking them. But beyond the message, there is great esthetic satisfaction. I would call it a work of art.
Bette Davis' performance is flawed, in stark contrast to little Kevin's near perfection. But her overacting can be enjoyed too. A touch of camp is a good thing.
Kevin Coughlin had a happy life and a tragic end. At age 30 he was killed in a hit-and-run accident.
He was one of the finest, funnest and also most earnest people ever to work in Hollywood. Storm Center is his first film.
The individual characters are symbolic, sketchy, and that's exactly as it should be. A second-rate film would have gotten off on tangents, emphasizing the purely anecdotal aspects. This is the quintessential anti-censorship and anti-bigotry film, a passionate outcry for tolerance, reason and compassion, like `Harvey' (1950). The film's nobility and beauty is evident in its refusal to draw caricatures. Even the bad guys are presented as human beings, and one finds oneself liking them. But beyond the message, there is great esthetic satisfaction. I would call it a work of art.
Bette Davis' performance is flawed, in stark contrast to little Kevin's near perfection. But her overacting can be enjoyed too. A touch of camp is a good thing.
Kevin Coughlin had a happy life and a tragic end. At age 30 he was killed in a hit-and-run accident.
He was one of the finest, funnest and also most earnest people ever to work in Hollywood. Storm Center is his first film.