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The Chalk Garden – Blu-ray

Chalk Garden Blu-ray
The Chalk Garden

A new release from Indicator with a special feature on the score by Malcolm Arnold.
Ronald Neame directs this adaptation of Enid Bagnold’s play which tells of a haughty matriarch (Edith Evans) who employs a governess (Deborah Kerr) with a shadowy past to take care of her troubled teenage granddaughter (Hayley Mills), and her neglected garden. John Mills plays the butler who develops a soft spot for the governess and navigates the fraught interpersonal relationships of the house. A hit with audiences upon its original release, The Chalk Garden benefits from an emotional score by Malcolm Arnold, a nuanced screenplay by John Michael Hayes (Rear Window) and tasteful photography by Arthur Ibbetson (Where Eagles Dare).

You can order it here.

Special Features

  • Clever Conversation (2021, 22 mins): appreciation of Malcolm Arnold’s score by author and musician David Huckvale
  • Isolated music and effects track
  • High Definition remaster
  • Original mono soundtrack
  • Audio commentary with film historians Lucy Bolton and Josephine Botting (2021)
  • The BEHP Interview with Ronald Neame (1991, 107 mins): archival audio recording, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring the acclaimed director in conversation with Roy Fowler
  • Fertile Ground (2021, 8 mins): assistant production accountant Maurice Landsberger remembers filming at Eastbourne
  • 8mm Location Footage (1963, 1 min): excerpts from John Mills’ home movies shot at Beachy Head during production
  • Loved and Envied (2021, 11 mins): Josephine Botting on the life and career of Enid Bagnold
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
  • New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
  • Limited edition exclusive 32-page booklet with a new essay by Melanie Williams, extracts from interviews and autobiographies, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
  • UK premiere on Blu-ray
  • Limited edition of 3,000 copies