Μύ The title might sound cheesy and some will groan when they learn that this is a Hammer film, but "The Nanny" is easily one of the best British psycho-thrillers committed to celluloid. There's no gore, there's little violence but there is the formidable, screen-dominating Bette Davis.
It might seem hard to believe that Davis is the villain of the piece, especially as the film opens to her feeding the pigeons in the park and even cracking a slight smile at the playing children. It's an image that director Seth Holt is careful to maintain for most of the film.
Thrown against this dear woman of seemingly endless patience is horrible, brattish Joey (William Dix) who's been staying in a special school for the past two years following the tragic death of his younger sister. The circumstances surrounding her demise are unclear but both Mother (Wendy Craig) and Father (James Villiers) seem to blame young Joey.
He knows different and in the wake of his pathetic and worry-ridden mother and spineless father, he has to protect himself. Unfortunately no one believes his accusations against wonderful Nanny who keeps a tight reign on the household. In fact everything he does comes out as bad behaviour.
And therein lies the cleverness of the film. While Davis is the epitome of calm and tolerance, young Joey is just a horrible little boy. Holt pushes this image so far into the film that you end up with nothing but sympathy for Davis. Then, of course, comes the twist but it's not as obvious as you might think and it adds an unsettling edge to the finale when Nanny finally loses patience.
