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The Whisperers (1967), The Best Film You've Never Heard of, Featuring Academy-Award Nominee Dame Edith Evans


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A friend recently brought this beautiful film to my attention, and boy, am I glad he did. It is the story of 76-year-old Margaret Ross, a poor, frail, lonely old woman who struggles to survive and wrestles with delusions. British actress Edith Evans plays Ross, and was a Best Actress Academy Award nominee for the role (she lost to Katharine Hepburn in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner).

I think the Academy got it wrong that year. Evans' portrayal of Ross is understatedly poignant and heartbreaking. I was captivated by her performance. She made me feel Ross' pangs of loneliness. I could see the character's strength despite her fragility. I understood that a proud, intelligent woman still existed behind her sometimes confused and clouded eyes.

Her no-good criminal son and leach of a husband reappear in her life, and briefly affect the course of events, but in the end, Mrs. Ross is simply a forgotten elderly woman, struggling to survive. Evans' Oscar-worthy performance makes Margaret Ross an admirable person. Despite her pitiable circumstances, she lives her life with dignity and grace. She is a beautiful, old soul, and I am glad to have spent a couple of hours in her company.

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This was a great post.

*** MINOR SPOILERS ***

One of my favorite scenes in this movie is the final one, where Mrs. Ross walks into her apartment. Instead of assuming an accusatory stance, she bears a childlike look of anticipation, and a subtle smile on her face.

She looks around the room, hopefully, and says, "Are you there?"

With the notable exception of the kindly government employee, who was consistent throughout the film, The Whisperers were, tragically and ultimately, her only friends.

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This was a great post.

*** MINOR SPOILERS ***

One of my favorite scenes in this movie is the final one, where Mrs. Ross walks into her apartment. Instead of assuming an accusatory stance, she bears a childlike look of anticipation, and a subtle smile on her face.

She looks around the room, hopefully, and says, "Are you there?"

With the notable exception of the kindly government employee, who was consistent throughout the film, The Whisperers were, tragically and ultimately, her only friends.

I loved that scene, too. I also loved the scene where she is standing in her cluttered, dilapidated kitchen, and the newscaster on the radio reports that most of the nation's elderly are lonely, and she distractedly but sincerely remarks, "Those poor souls."

Also, when her son tells her she has confetti in her hair, and she takes a piece of broken glass off the mantel and looks for it. The thought of confetti in her hair (rather than plaster from banging her broom on the ceiling) seems entirely plausible to her.

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It has been five years since I read "Unbroken," so I can't remember everything in great detail.

...

Don't get me wrong. I think it was a fine, entertaining film.

Also, when her son tells her she has confetti in her hair, and she takes a piece of broken glass off the mantel and looks for it. The thought of confetti in her hair (rather than plaster from banging her broom on the ceiling) seems entirely plausible to her.

You need to switch away from these Human Survival Stories.

Not once did it occur to me that the "confetti" in her hair was from plaster (but it obviously was).

Speaking of brooms, her son said she didn't need to be holding one because "it's not full moon." :unsure:

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