One of the quiet ones

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Movie
German title One of the quiet ones
Original title The Quiet One
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1948
length 65-67 minutes
Rod
Director Sidney Meyers
script Helen Levitt
Janice Loeb
Sidney Meyers
James Agee (Comments)
production Janice Loeb
music Ulysses Kay
camera Richard Bagley
Janice Loeb + Helen Levitt
(documentary sections)
cut Sidney Meyers
occupation

One of the quiet (Original title: The Quiet One ) is an American documentary from 1948. Directed by Sidney Meyers . Gary Merrill tells the story of an emotionally disturbed African American boy, played by Donald Thompson , who is in danger of going off the beaten track.

content

Ten-year-old dark-skinned Donald Peters is one of the boys who have been misconducted at the Wiltwyck School for Boys in Esopus, New York , to attend a rehabilitation program. Donald is a very reserved boy who grew up isolated from what was going on around him. He is unable to articulate himself intellectually or emotionally. He hardly speaks and seldom smiles. Donald's father left the family when the boy was very young, whereupon Donald's mother turned to another man, which also had an impact on her relationship with Donald, whom she rejected and neglected in favor of her now new family. Before the boy came to Wiltwyck, his life was more than hard. Since he was only tolerated and punished with disregard by his stepfather, his mother finally pushed him off to the overwhelmed grandmother, who, however, had little to do with Donald and often beat him out of anger that he had been imposed on her. Donald also did not get along in school and was ostracized. His overstrained teachers were of no help to him. So Donald built a wall of silence around him, behind which he hid his fear and bitterness. As a result of his loneliness, he was often alone in the city, and his anger at anything and everyone eventually escalated into destructive actions. With this background he ended up in Wiltwyck.

In Wiltwyck he for the first time gained something like trust in Clarence Cooper, one of the supervisors and advisors at the school. Ms. Johnson, a teacher, also tries to help the children deal with their problems through project work. One day when the boys were working with clay, Donald brought back memories of a day at the beach with his family that were so negative that he was completely disturbed for the rest of the afternoon. It is Clarence who comforts him and conveys something that Donald was previously unfamiliar with, and sets in motion a slow change in behavior. Donald begins to participate more actively in class and learns to read and also to interact with the other children. When the children are making something in class, Donald forms a bowl that he wants to give to his mother. However, he learns from the psychiatrist that his mother has disappeared. Donald thinks about it for a while and makes the bowl in which he has placed a plant, then Clarence as a present - a step forward on his way to healing his soul.

But the boy is not yet stable enough to understand why he needs to share Clarence's attention with the other boys. As a result of this jealousy, he wants his gift back and causes destruction in the boys' dormitory. The teachers react calmly as Donald is to be given time to deal with his problems. After Donald Clarence steals a lighter, he runs away, but is now able to see that this is not the solution and returns to school. He gives his property back to the likeable Clarence and makes more and more contact with the boys of his age and begins to feel comfortable in their company. Although he has not yet fully overcome his pain, Donald is on his way to mental recovery.

production

Production notes

The film was produced by Film Documents Inc., distributed by Mayer-Bursty Inc. It was the first production by Film Documents Inc., which had been formed two years earlier. The film introduces the action with the words: “This film was shot in New York City at the Wiltwyck School in Esophus, New York. Wiltwyck is a school in New York City for boys who have responded with severe personality disorders to neglect within their families and surroundings, and who were otherwise unreliable for various reasons of age, religion, race and behavioral disorders. ”According to reports, the story is based on case stories from Wiltwyck.

background

Donald Thompson, who plays the main character, was not a professional actor. Since his father didn't want him to miss school lessons in order to be available for filming, filming had to be coordinated so that Thompson's shots were shot after school and on the weekends. Filming took place during the summer when Thompson was temporarily living in Wiltwyck with other boys. Clarence Cooper was actually an advisor and mentor in Wiltwyck. Paul Baucum, who played Thompson's stepfather, was actually a musician. The only professional actors in the film were Estelle Evans and Sadie Stockton, who played the boy's mother and grandmother.

Loeb and Levitt had previously made a short film in East Harlem , from which, according to Variety , several scenes found their way into this film. According to the magazine, although the main actor is black, the film does not make any statements about racist problems, but rather develops a story that could have happened to any child.

Hollywood Reporter said the film cost around $ 30,000 to make.

publication

The Quiet One premiered in the United States in 1948. The film opened in New York on February 12, 1949. In Denmark it was shown from February 12, 1951 under the title Et barns ensomhed , later television title: Den tavse . In Italy it ran under the title L'escluso . In the Federal Republic of Germany, the film was shown for the first time on March 6, 1961 in the ARD program under the title One of the silent ones .

criticism

Bosley Crowther of the New York Times was full of praise for the film, which deals with the experience of a "ten-year-old Harlem Negro boy" who is cruelly rejected by his family but saved by the supervisors at Wiltwyck School. A group of local filmmakers have created a "real masterpiece" in the sense of a documentary drama. In essence, this is the story of every child who is hungry for love and who rebel in some antisocial way in the misery of that hunger. The psychology of a child and the patience that is required to help him rediscover his heart and regain strength are also explained clearly. Crowther found words of praise for all those involved in the film, and the film is rounded off by the really “poetic comments” written by James Agee and spoken by Gary Merrill, and by the “finely tuned music” by Ulysses Kay.

The lexicon of international films confirmed that the documentary was “well photographed”, but stated that it was “too full of popular psychology in the commentary”, but then came to the overall verdict: “On the whole, however, a sympathetic film lesson against the lovelessness. "

Moviepilot confirmed to the documentary film about a black youth from New York that it is shown how he is "saved with a lot of love and effort from getting off the rails and starting a career as a gangster".

Awards

The film won the NBR Award in the "Top Ten Films" category in 1949 . Sidney Meyers also won the International Award at the Venice International Film Festival and was nominated for the Golden Lion .

Janice Loeb, who also acted as cinematographer, screenwriter and producer, was nominated for an Oscar in the category "Best Documentary" for her film at the 1949 Academy Awards , but was left behind against Orville O. Dull and the film The Secret Land , which is about Operation Highjump , a US Navy program to explore Antarctica .

At the 1950 Academy Awards , Janice Loeb was nominated for an Oscar with Helen Levitt and Sidney Meyers for the film in the “Best Original Screenplay” category. However, the trophy went to Robert Pirosh and the war film Kesselschlacht , which illustrates an episode of the Battle of the Bulge .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d The Quiet One (1949) - Notes. In: Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved December 7, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b One of the silent ones. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 7, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. ↑ Bosley Crowther : "The Quiet One", Documentary of a Rejected Boy, Arrives at the Little Carnegie In: The New York Times , February 14, 1949 (English). Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  4. ↑ One of the quiet at moviepilot.de. Retrieved January 23, 2017.