The Chalk Gardens DVD - (1964) - Deborah Kerr, Hayley Mills**

The Chalk Garden is a 1964 British-American film directed by Ronald Neame. It stars Deborah Kerr and Hayley Mills and is an adaptation of the 1955 play of the same name by Enid Bagnold An elderly woman hires a governess, Miss Madrigal (Deborah Kerr), with a mysterious past to look after her disturbed and spoiled teenage granddaughter Laurel (Hayley Mills), who has seen off many previous governesses. Laurel feels intense jealousy and resentment of her beautiful mother who lives elsewhere with her new husband, and has been taught by her Grandmother to hate her mother. When Miss Madrigal arrives, Laurel is intrigued by her apparent lack of a past, and tries to investigate who she is and to "expose" her. Through this investigating, Laurel helps precipitate the climax of the film where it is revealed that Miss Madrigal was convicted of murdering her step-sister 15 years ago and was sentenced to death, though the sentence was commuted and she'd been in prison since then. Instead of running away from this fact once it is revealed, Miss Madrigal uses this painful revelation to convince Laurel and her Grandmother that she was once like Laurel, and that Laurel should leave her Grandmother's toxic environment and go to live with her mother, where she can grow into a better person. Laurel understands Miss Madrigal's self-sacrifice as an example of love, and follows her advice to live with her mother.

Starring - Deborah Kerr, Hayley Mills