The Miracle Worker

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Arthur Penn directed this 1962 film (before he went on to make a very different movie about social outsiders, Bonnie and Clyde), based on the stage play by William Gibson, who adapted his work for the screen. This movie, which covers the early life of the amazing woman, Helen Keller, is a story about someone who is not just psychologically apart from the mainstream world, but who physically is unable to interact visually, auditorily, and phonetically with her surroundings.

The movie opens with a shot upwards, almost from Helen’s crib shortly after her birth, which emphasizes that she is the prime interest in the film. Helen’s father, Captain Arthur Keller (Victor Jory), a loud ex-military man used to having his world marching to the sound of his voice, speaks with a doctor (Grant Code) following Helen’s difficult birth. The doctor says that sometimes there is “acute congestion” of the brain at birth, but that Helen will be okay. So much for the medical profession in Alabama in 1882. He does say that the baby has a great deal of energy, and as we see he is correct on that account. Helen’s mother, Kate (Inga Swenson), after her husband escorts the doctor to the door, talks to Helen, commenting that Captain Keller’s earlier remark that his wife was not used to “battle scars” shows how men don’t understand what women must endure. Indeed, the Captain and his adult son from a previous marriage, James (Andrew Prine), don’t seem to comprehend the strength of the women around them.

But, Kate’s hope for a healthy Helen quickly vanishes as she realizes her baby does not blink and can’t respond to Kate’s snapping her fingers. She screams and the Captain waves a lantern in front of Helen, with no response from the child. The narrative jumps forward to 1887, and Helen (Patty Duke, repeating the performance she gave on the stage, and winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, but looking older than Helen’s age here) tentatively walks forward toward a staircase. The shot stresses the danger in this world for her, as she can fall (and fail?) at any moment. We actually see her shadow first, implying she is not a fully formed person, given the limitations of her disabilities. She is not able to see, hear, or speak. She is next in the yard and gets caught in the white laundry, and the image of her wrapped in the fabric makes her look like a ghost. This shot again emphasizes how Helen stands apart from the other average inhabitants of the world. The analogy is repeated when we see Helen walking with outstretched arms in a field. She looks like a scarecrow, something that appears to be a person, but is not (until transformed in The Wizard of Oz, which hints at the metamorphosis to come).

There is a reflection of Helen in a Christmas tree ornament, which we can see, but Helen can’t, which tells us that she, unlike most of us, is unable to relish in the joy of the holiday. With her probing outstretched hands she smashes the Christmas ball onto the floor, its shattering mirroring Helen’s lack of being part of human celebration. In these angle shots and in subsequent dream sequences, Penn adds cinematic touches to the play source material. However, much of the movie is shot in rooms, which is where the action takes place on the stage. However, through the movement of the camera, and the employment of close-ups, Penn gives the film the power of intimacy between the audience and the actors that a theatrical performance can generate.

Because she is unable to see or hear what is around her, Helen is also a threat to others, because she has no early warning system. She knocks over objects, including her baby sibling resting in a cradle on the floor. This shot can imply resentment on Helen’s part for the child that has the physical attributes she lacks, and jealousy concerning her mother’s love for that other child. Indeed, Helen’s anger due to her frustration in not being able to connect comes out as hostility as she fights with one of the African American servant children. The Kellers have sent Helen to schools who specialize in dealing with disabled children, but they were unsuccessful in dealing with Helen. The Captain, not reconciled to the defeat of the South in the Civil War, seems ready to give up concerning his daughter. There is a suggestion of placing her in an asylum. James seems put out by Helen, saying, “She can’t even keep herself clean. It’s not pleasant to see her about all the time.” It is the woman here, Kate, who is tenacious, who has the strength to go on until all possibilities at helping Helen are exhausted. She reprimands James, reminding him of the advantages he takes for granted by telling him angrily, “Do you dare complain about what you can see?”

Helen wants to be fully part of the world she can sense through smell, taste, and touch. It is significant that Helen wants her doll, whose smooth ball for a face emphasizes Helen’s challenged existence, to have the features that function on a human being. She gestures that she wants buttons sewed on the doll’s face to represent eyes, thus making the toy look like her. It’s as if her wanting to change the doll demonstrates how she would like to be enhanced. This act shows Helen’s desire to have the advantages of which she has inexplicably been deprived. She opens and closes her mouth while putting her hands inside the opening, as if wanting to be able to express the thoughts in her head so she can communicate with those around her. At this point she only knows how to show she wants her mother by stroking her face upward, in a sign of affection. Other than that, when someone holds Helen’s hand against a person’s cheek and feels the head nod, she knows that it means “yes,” and a shake sideways means “no.”

Kate’s persistence convinces the Captain that they should contact another school, the Perkins Institute for the Blind in South Boston, that specializes in teaching the sightless. Instead of sending Helen away, the teacher will stay with the Kellers. The woman, an Irish American who still has an accent, and is only twenty years old, is Annie Sullivan (Anne Bancroft, also recreating her stage performance, and winner of the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal). The Captain, underestimating the woman’s abilities, is upset that Annie is so young, and that this job is her first (and possibly that she is a Yankee). James is condescending when he meets Annie and says she looks like one half a governess, referring to her small size. Annie defiantly grabs her luggage away from James, asserting her self-reliance and strength. She is a graduate of the school and as Kate points out was the valedictorian of her class. Annie was blind as a child and has had numerous operations to restore her sight. She needs to medicate her eyes, and wears sunglasses because bright light hurts her. Because of her disability, she can better understand what Helen is going through. Annie’s trip from Boston is intimidating for her, as she must deal with the outside world alone for the first time (which is what Helen will have to learn to do). The noise of the train startles her and she must deal with confusing rail connections. She also has nightmares of her childhood when she was blind, and an orphan, along with her crippled younger brother.

Annie is disappointed that Helen isn’t there at the train station, so eager is the teacher to begin her work. When she sees Helen standing on the house porch, Annie slams her suitcase on the flooring so Helen can feel her arrival, and commence the interaction. Helen is a curious person and explores to find out who the new person is as she touches Annie’s hand, smells it, and explores Annie’s face. But, Helen’s vulnerability makes her cautious and she stops Annie from touching her. Helen especially wants to know what’s in the suitcase. Helen is initially polite, raising her hand to be placed on Annie’s face, and receiving the nod that gives her permission to open the suitcase. Annie wants to take it inside, but Helen, used to getting her own way due her parents’ leniency, grabs the suitcase. Annie smiles, observing Helen’s will, but by conceding the luggage, gets Helen to relieve her of her burden. In this way, they both get what they want in a sort of introductory compromise.

James agrees with the Captain’s pessimism about Annie’s success, but the Captain basically tells his son to be quiet. The father is always dismissive of his son, but James says he is agreeing with the Captain. He complains to Kate, “Nothing I say is right.” Kate, angry at James’ negative comments, tells him, “Why say anything at all?” James makes a number of snide jokes about people, putting others down to build himself up, as if trying to get the attention from his father he never felt that he received. At one point Kate basically accuses James of being a coward for never standing up to his father.

In the absence of dialogue between Annie and Helen, Annie many times speaks out loud while with her student so as to let us know Annie’s observations. In a bedroom, Helen tries wearing Annie’s hat, shawl, and glasses. Annie’s sense of humor comes through when she says that it’s a shame that’s how she looks after all the trouble she went to for the trip. Helen holds up a mirror as if to see how she looks in the get up. She probably is mimicking her mother, but the scene again illustrates how Helen longs to be part of the surrounding world. The image also demonstrates how the two are mirror images of each other, Helen being a younger version of Annie, who overcame her affliction as a child, but is still an outsider in the world because of her eyes and her background.

Helen finds the gift that Annie brought her in the suitcase. It is a doll with complete facial features. Helen is pleased with this fact, as she tries to realize herself by finding common ground in her interaction with the external. Annie gets right to work making Helen feel Annie’s fingers as she signs the letters that form words that correspond to objects. Annie tells Kate that it could be a long time before Helen isn’t just imitating action, playing a finger game, and actually understands that the hand formations refer to a means of communication. James comments that Helen will imitate anything to get what she wants. James asks Annie if she invented the sign language. Annie says humorously, “Spanish monks under a vow of silence, which I wish you’d take.” But, at this point, James is correct, since as soon as Helen gets her doll, she wacks Annie across the face, causing her to lose a tooth. She runs out of the bedroom, and locks Annie inside, the key having been placed in the outside keyhole. Helen is crafty, and hides the key. When the Captain asks Annie if there was a key on her side of the door (a foolish question), Annie, despite the circumstances, uses humor when she says if the key were there then she wouldn’t be. She says she is the only one on that side of the door, and that it looks like, “I’m the only one on my side,” of the situation with Helen.

The meaningful humor continues, as James is bringing a ladder to rescue Annie, but the Captain dismisses him. But then he counters himself and tells him to bring a ladder. The Captain’s lack of respect for his son is in evidence here as he automatically dismisses him even when he is doing the right thing. The Captain, out of old-fashioned chivalry and condescension toward women, won’t allow Annie to climb down the ladder herself, and insists on carrying her, despite her protests that she can take care of herself. Annie tells the Captain that she will search for the key so he won’t have to replace the door. The Captain does get off a good line when he advises her not to look in rooms that can be locked, suggesting she may be prone to self-confinement (another obscure reference to how Annie is connected to Helen). James echoes his father’s joke (again subconsciously seeking his approval), when he tells Annie it might be best if they leave the ladder out, in case she repeats her mistake.

After this commotion, Helen sits motionless next to the outside water pump. Annie stays with her as the others go inside the house. Annie remains still, and Helen, sensing no motion around her, takes the key out of her mouth and drops it in the well. Annie acknowledges Helen’s sneaky ways, but says that she will not be gotten rid of so easily. She says she has no place else to go. Her statement shows her tenacity, but it also points to Annie’s aloneness in the world.

The combination of her family indulgence, rebelliousness, and frustration over her situation, makes Helen very difficult for Annie to control and teach. Helen breaks things, like a pitcher of water, spills ink, and stabs Annie’s hand with a needle when the teacher tries to take away her knitting at bedtime. Kate gives her daughter something to eat to get Helen to comply. Annie is outraged that Helen is rewarded after hurting her. The longest and toughest battle between the two (and the one with hardly any words) occurs at dinner in a marvelous piece of orchestrated action, which contains humor, too. It feels like one take, but multiple camera angles are used. Annie watches with a stern look on her face as the men have a conversation about the military loss at Vicksburg as Helen circles the table, grabbing food off of each person’s plate. She is not treated like a cooperating member of society so she does not act like one. When she reaches Annie’s chair, she refuses to let Helen take her food. Of course Helen is outraged, and Annie dismisses everyone from the room except she and Helen. The girls tries to unseat Annie by pulling her chair out from under her repeatedly. Annie uses the smell of the food as an enticement to lure Helen, but she wants her to sit at the table and eat her meal with a spoon. Helen holds onto her chair with her hands so she won’t be able to comply. Annie forces food into her mouth with the spoon, and Helen spits it out, sometimes in Annie’s face. Helen slaps Annie, who returns the smack with enough firecenss that Helen thinks better of hitting her again while in mid swing. Annie gives Helen a succession of spoons which the girl repeatedly throws onto the floor. In the end, Annie appears at the outside door to the house looking disheveled and exhausted. She tells Kate that Helen ate her food with a spoon and folded her napkin. Annie says, “The room’s a wreck, but her napkin is folded.” Sometimes there is collateral damage when reaching a worthwhile goal.

We get more of Annie’s daydreams and nightmares about her childhood. These memories appear as fuzzy images, which match her difficulty with seeing, and contain discouraging adults saying that children who are blind aren’t able to learn how to read and write. So, Annie knows about how people can put obstacles in the way of individual achievement by giving up on children, and, thus, her history resonates with Helen’s situation. This connection is cemented by seeing her walking with outstretched arms, just as we saw Helen at the beginning of the movie. The young Annie, despite the negativity around her, wanted to get an education and improve herself, even if it meant leaving her brother to do so.

Annie’s humor continues to surface. After the dinner scene, Helen runs away from Annie, afraid of her. When the Captain says to Annie that if she wants to stay, “there must be a radical change of manner,” Annie asks, “Whose?” although we know he means he wants Annie to behave differently. Annie concedes that the situation is hopeless in the current surroundings. Kate thinks she is giving up, and she, unlike the males, is continually hopeful. She says at age six Helen uttered a version of the word for water, so the mother believes Helen has it in her to understand how to attach words to things. Annie is not giving up. She wants to make Helen completely dependent on her. She asks that the two of them along with the servant boy Percy (Michael Darden) live in a cabin that stands on the property. Annie argues that Helen’s greatest handicap is the way the parents overindulged her with “love and pity.” She says to Kate, “you’ve kept her like a pet. Well, even a dog you housebreak.” When the parents concede that they considered putting Helen in an asylum, Annie tells of her own horrific story growing up in one of them. She and her brother, “used to play with the rats because we didn’t have any toys.” There were crippled, blind, and dying old ladies that had contagious diseases. She and her brother were put in with them. There were also younger women, “prostitutes mostly, with TB and epileptic fits.” She also implies that there were pedophiles there. Her brother, who had a tubercular hip, died eleven years prior. She says the experiences there made her strong, and she recognizes the strength in Helen. The Captain agrees to give her two weeks to work the miracle of the title.

Helen’s first response in the cabin with Annie is to thrash about. James comes by and again questions the point of her efforts. Annie again shows her tenacity, telling him she’d rather be dead than give up. He asks how will she reach Helen. Betting on Helen’s hunger for knowledge, Annie says, “I’m counting on her. That little head is dying to know.” Annie uses the boy Percy as an intermediary. Annie manipulates Percy’s fingers to form letters. Helen becomes jealous when she feels what Annie is doing. The girl eventually pushes Percy out of the way so that she can be the recipient of Annie’s finger formations. Annie then rewards her with milk for letting Annie touch her again. Annie eventually gets Helen to comb her hair and dress herself. In one scene Helen holds a an egg that is starting to hatch. Annie says that she hopes that Helen, like the emerging chick, will break free from the disabilities and parental protection that confine her so that she can flourish as an individual.

After the two weeks are up, The Captain and Kate want their child back. The Captain is content with the fact that Helen has come a long way by learning how to take care of herself. But Annie says that she wanted to teach Helen “what language is. I know without it to do nothing but obey is no gift. Obedience without understanding is a blindness too.” Annie wants Helen to gain insight into what she is doing, not just blindly repeat actions to get rewards. But, the Captain, playing the male reconciliation card again, says that they are very satisfied with what Annie has accomplished. Helen is “more manageable, cleaner,” and “cleanliness is next to godliness.” Annie is not one to be so easily satisfied and says, “Cleanliness is next to nothing.” The Captain uses religion to justify being content with smaller victories when he says to Annie, “I think you ask too much of her and yourself. God may not have meant Helen to have the eyes you speak of.” Annie’s response is, “I mean her to.” Annie is not content to relinquish her attempts at reaching a goal by surrendering to some concept of destiny.

But, the Captain refuses to give Annie more time. They return to the Keller house where Helen now feels her previous behavior will again be indulged. At dinner, Helen sits at the table, but continually throws her napkin on the floor. While her mother is willing to let this behavior slide, Annie won’t tolerate it. She tells Kate basically what Escalante says about his students in Stand and Deliver (which was discussed here recently) - that children will live up to expectations. (That film and this one are great inspirational movies about teachers and students).

During her tantrum following the napkin throwing, Helen tosses the water out of a pitcher. Annie takes Helen outside to fill the pitcher. James, finally getting some backbone, confronts his father, stopping the Captain from interfering with Annie. James tells the Captain he is wrong here, and accuses him of self-righteousness when he says has he never considered the possibility that he could be wrong? At the well (a metaphor for a place from which one draws sustenance, in this case knowledge for the brain?), Helen has an epiphany. Feeling the water on her hands, she repeats the attempt to say water that her mother said she tried when a baby. Annie jumps at the opportunity and signs the words for water, ground, pump, etc., as Annie touches the objects and wants to know the combination of letters that name them. Helen rings the dinner bell on the house porch, symbolically communicating loudly to those that can hear her joy about her newly found discovery. Her parents hug her as Annie happily proclaims that Helen “understands.” Helen points to Annie and wants to know the word for her. Annie signs the word “teacher.”

Helen finds a key in her mother’s pocket, which symbolizes that through drive and persistence, Annie and Helen, with support from her mother (all females), were able to find the “key” to freeing Helen so she could become part of the world. No more locked doors. Later that evening. Helen finds Annie sitting on the porch. She sits in her teacher’s lap and kisses her. Annie signs the word for “love.” With affection and persistence, outsiders can become insiders, and miracles can happen.

The next film is Kramer vs. Kramer.