John Bailey on Freddie Francis & THE INNOCENTS (Jack Clayton, 1961)

Cinematographer John Bailey, ASC (The Big Chill, Cat People) discusses director of photography Freddie Francis' unique lensing of "The Innocents".
For educational purposes only. Non-commercial purposes.

[keithbell]

Gotta give props to these cinamatographers.
There are so many apsects about this movie that are so masterful I don't have the patience to list them all. But 2 of them I will:
1) when Deborah's character roamed the grounds of the Blighe estate at the beginning, the way the cameras captured her "tour" were so breathtaking it made you wish that it was in full color, at least just for that moment.
2) the way some movies had ghosts suddenly appear to frighten the viewer was so rediculous, that had I inserted myself in that movie I would have laughed so hard and I would have told the ghost to do it again.
But not in this movie! When these spirits appear, there is either this creepy music, or something about the atmosphere that you, along with Deborah Kerr, experience that makes you grab a hold of something tight because you know something unsettling is about to happen, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. And there it is! It is either studying you, silently demanding "Who are you? And just what the heck are YOU doing here?", or as the spectre in the study room slowly bending its head back and forth while weeping, even the thing on the tower that beckons you to look up, even though there are no immediate threats toward your person, still the scenes are so powerful NO CGI effect compares to it. Is it all real or just in her imagination? This is gothic psychological horror at its finest.

[TT-wxtg]

All the knowledge, all the power, all the money and they can't make movies likes this anymore.

[jochenstossberg]

In the end the Cinemascope format worked brilliantly for this film. If Clayton hadn't been forced to use it, the film wouldn't have the knockout visuals that it has. Out of adversity came a masterpiece in every department. I rewatched it last night and it's still terrific, and Deborah Kerr was quite wonderful. What a great. articulate informative interview this is. This is a treat for me.

[michaelpennington]

What a joy to listen to the process. I saw The Innocents as a boy upon release in the early 1960s. I recognized even then, how special this film was in every way.

[europainhollywood]

High marks on this series, particularly enjoyed the sequence on the candles

[psusanwestlake]

Miss Kerr felt it was her most underrated film at the time - and she knew about filmmaking as a film actress who worked with The fantastic Archers production company from her earliest films with Micheal Powell .

[psusanwestlake]

The candle scene was a wonderful explanation of technical skills of lighting, mind you those candles must have been hellish hot so close to her face,

[burgesssam]

Such a great movie, great to hear some information on it.

[timothyhopkins]

Wonderfully explained a gem in itself .

[michaelcioni]

So glad I came across this. Very interesting. The Innocents is a favorite movie of mine.

[JansteinarOlsen]

Deborah Kerr was an actor who was entertain many generations in many years.She was also play in the movie The innocents.And this was mabye one of the best horror movie who was made in the 6o centery.

[petersolomon]

I concur with John Bailey, there is nothing quite like “The Innocents”. Not one area of this sublime, disturbing film disappoints.

[makenoisepls]

I think the imagery and filmmaking is astounding but the story outdated and undercooked. Takes too long to get invested, and pulls out way too early.

[geoffjoffy]

I found it really boring and dated. Not scary at all. I switched it off after an hour. Horrible and overrated.