The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Miss Brodie is the kind of teacher who wants to inspire her "gurls" rather than teach them; she's the kind of teacher little girls get crushes on...As Muriel Spark's witty, fey and romantic crackpot teacher, Maggie Smith does a magnificent job conveying comedic elements of mimicry, affectations and sheer snobbery: Miss Brodie is so entertaining that we become entranced by this Scottish lass with a jumble shop mind - she's very funny. It becomes hard to accept her as a dangerous influence when the plot turns dramatic, but her scene where she states that she's "PROUD"! copped her the AA. Celia Johnson has a genuine triumph as her adversary, Mrs. Mackay, and Robert Stephens does a lot with his role as her art instructor lover. Jay Presson Allen wrote the script from his stage version, and the film was rather too conventionally directed by Ronald Neame. Unfortunately, Pamela Franklin's big confrontation scene is something of a disappointment (the fault goes back to the original novel). Overall, however, the film is a fey and rather unique treat for those who enjoy character studies of eccentric people.