Thursday’s Children **** (1954, dir Lindsay Anderson) – Classic Movie Review 1411

Director Lindsay Anderson’s rousing 21-minute 1954 British short documentary film about the education of deaf children at The Royal School for the Deaf in Margate, Kent, won the Academy Award in 1955 for Best Documentary Short Subject.

The deaf children are shown painstakingly learning what words are through exercises and games, practising lip-reading and finally speech. The film is a remarkable celebration of the children’s cheerfulness and courage in adversity.

Anderson wrote and directed Thursday’s Children in collaboration with Guy Brenton, a friend from his Oxford University days. The film is narrated by Richard Burton.

England’s first public institution for deaf children known as the London Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb Children of the Poor was started in London in 1792. The Royal School for Deaf Children opened its branch in Margate in August 1876 and later moved the entire operation from London to Margate.

Indian-born British feature film, theatre and documentary director and film critic Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a leading light of the Free Cinema movement and the British New Wave.

Anderson is best remembered for his Mick Travis trilogy that star Malcolm McDowell: If…. (1968), a satire on public schools; O Lucky Man! (1973), a Pilgrim’s Progress inspired road movie; and Britannia Hospital (1982).

http://derekwinnert.com/if-classic-film-review-91/

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1411

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com/