Whistle Down the Wind

Plot synopsis:
The plot follows the lives of three Lancashire farm children who discover a fugitive hiding in their barn. The bearded man, referred to as "Blakey" by the police, is mistaken for Jesus Christ by the children, who are heavily influenced in this belief by stories they have heard told at Sunday school and by an initial exclamation of "Jesus Christ!" the eldest child hears shouted in shock by the fugitive at nightfall when she accidentally discovers him taking refuge in the family barn. The fugitive—initially confused as to the determination of the three Bostock children to protect him from any adult discovery—makes no attempt to correct their mistake, especially when he discovers the eldest child, Kathy, is determined to protect him at any means from discovery by the local police, despite the fact posters circulated within the town reveal that he is in fact wanted for murder.
Most of the children in the nearby small town eventually become aware that "Jesus" is living in the barn, complicating Kathy's attempt at keeping it a secret. When the news finally reaches an adult, Kathy's father, the police are called in to apprehend the criminal.
The children of the village, perhaps 100 of them by now in on the secret, converge on the barn. Convinced that she has let Jesus down, Kathy sneaks behind the structure and apologizes to Blakey that she can no longer protect him. He forgives the girl and, after much prompting from Kathy, promises she will see him again. Resigned to his fate, Blakey tosses his revolver out of the barn door and surrenders to the police.
Once Blakey is taken away and the crowd disperses, Kathy is approached by two very young children who ask to see Jesus. She tells them that they missed him this time, but he will be back one day.

Tags: allegory, murder

Review:
It seems to touch on deep themes which films rarely dare to nowadays - themes of belief, faith, and the meaning of love.The photography of the bleak Lancashire countryside is superbly crisp, the facial expressions of the actors (especially Mr Bates) let us know exactly what is going on in their minds but subtly, in a way that is never seen nowadays in films where everything must be made explicit.The children interact entirely naturally and they are not merely credulous, but curious and questioning ('he's not Jesus, he's just some fella').
Some scenes are deeply moving, in particular when the children dance under a tree to the music of 'We Three Kings' in joy and praise at seeing what they believe to be their Saviour - seeming to sum up the deep, almost pagan connection between religion and the English countryside.The film deftly deals with the changing England of the time.
I particularly liked the look of awkwardness on the Sunday school teacher's face when she is asked a question about Jesus which she knows she cannot answer with any honesty, and which she clumsily sidesteps.In many ways the film is an elegy for a lost England - an England where children roam the countryside freely, where the nearest telephone is half a mile away, and where children live in relative material poverty but with strong familial love, where the simple pleasures of life are enjoyed - playing in the open air, having a birthday party at home, or reading late into the night.
While Whistle Down the Wind benefits from the breath of fresh air currently blowing through the British industry - the location shoot and naturalistic performances are especially characteristic and effective - the sympathetic portrayals in the film serve to emphasise the fact that its concerns are less sociological than theological, even if its slightly self-conscious air shows a continuing concern to gain a 'significance' from the community, at least of some sort.
Not only do the principals mostly spring from the Bostock family or their close acquaintances, but the film itself is based on a novel by Mary Hayley Bell, the wife of actor John Mills and mother of Hayley - who plays the lead Kathy.
The film's final sense is of religious reinforcement rather than disappointment ("You missed him this time but he'll be coming again," Kathy tells some latecomers to the barn) while the details of the murder in question is left sufficiently vague so as not to entirely deprive Bates' character of sympathy, even as he is handed over to the authorities.
The performances by all the children in the film are charming and Alan Bates excels as the criminal who is mistaken for Jesus.
"Whistle Down the Wind" is a hard-shelled movie that says we lose hope and faith as we mature--which isn't an original idea for a film, but the cynical way this is presented catches you off-guard.
Kathy (Mills) is a girl who finds a man in her barn who she believes is Jesus Christ (Alan Bates,) but he's really a murderer on the run.
Hayley Mills excels in this understated, underrated movie juxtaposing the sordid criminal world (Alan Bates as a murderer on the run) with the innocence of children.
Cleverly designed, perfectly acted (by all the children as well as the adults), pithily appropriate screenplay, believable accents (the setting is the Yorkshire moors in England), and a well-balanced, carefully planned production all combine to produce a mesmerising gem of a film.
The period of the early sixties is neatly conveyed, and Hayley Mills as Cathy creates a metaphor for the deeper layer of the film's message of the increasing social awareness and diminishing religious belief (despite the traditional Sunday School attitudes and practices) which was gradually bringing about the social change of Britain in the sixties.
I first discovered it in 1991, and I was captured and held spellbound by this unpretentious and realistic tale of a group of English children who discover a fugitive murderer hiding in their barn, and believe him to be Jesus Christ.
I should like to live in this world.In the meantime, I'll watch the film again, and cry and laugh and believe and hope with these children again..
The original story, before Andrew Lloyd-Webber americanised it (and ruined it, IMO), was written by Hayley Mills' mother, Mary Hayley Bell, and starred Hayley as a Northern girl who thinks she finds Jesus Christ returned to Earth and living in her father's barn.
The girl and her sister and little brother (Alan Barnes, a superb performance) cosset the man and plot to keep him secret from the adults, because of what happened to him 'last time'.
The man in turn is bewildered by the increasing adultation and attention of the neighbouring kids.One of the strongest points of the story, aside from the contention that religion really couldn't cope with the return of Christ, is the developing attraction between the pre-teen Mills and Bates.
WDTW is a beautifully crafted study in "belief", faith and innocence.Reminiscent of Ken Loach's 1969 film Kes (although the two are very different films) in so much that it accurately portrays a time & place, by using genuine locals as a supporting cast, thus giving a true sense of authenticity because of the genuine regional accents.Little Alan Barnes's natural lancashire dialect is a pure delight in the opening scene with "The sally army lady", and his loss of "faith" in "Jesus" ("T' aint Jesus, its just some fellah") is a poignant counterpoint to Mills's stoic acceptance of the fugitive hiding in the family barn as her saviour.Highly recommended viewing..
The film changed all the main characters..including the now somewhat born again criminal..through the sweet belief of the children's love and innocence..
Although misguided, the children's belief in JC was heartfelt and sincere, and for an atheist, it touched my soul (assuming I have one) This was juxtaposed to sour, world-weary attitude of the adults in the film, from the greedy farmhand, who's only passion was his traps, to the aunt, embittered by the fact she's forced to help bring up her children of her brother, after his wife has passed away, and of course in a clever swipe at the religious establishment, with the vicar, who doesn't really get it.The innocence and charm of the children reminded me of the original Lord of the Flies, another 60's classic, and you can't helped but be enchanted by the young characters, as they interact, often to great comic effect.There is a moral message behind a fairly straightforward story, and you can take that to heart, and analyse it at length, alternatively you can just enjoy a lovely tale of life seen through children's eyes..
The hope and the faith of children growing up in a rural location is realised when a bearded man in their barn declares himself to be 'Jesus Christ'.
Instead we get a modern day fairy tale with three young, God-fearing Lancashire children improbably confusing an on the run murderer, secreting himself in their barn, for Jesus Christ.That's basically it for the plot, but helped by debut director Bryan Forbes' sure touch, amusing, vernacular dialogue from the celebrated Willis & Waterhouse team, sparkling music from Malcolm Arnold and some engaging acting, particularly from the three young principals, modern day cynicism is suspended into disbelief as you follow the movie through to its conclusion.The depiction of present-day Lancashire is brought home firmly with a combination of convincing exterior and interior sets and Forbes is smart enough to ground the picture firmly in its time with pop references in the background to stars of the day like Cliff Richard and Marilyn Monroe.Young Hayley Mills, Britain's then popular child-star, demonstrates her ease in front of the camera with a wholly natural performance, full of expression.
We want her to believe that the murderer is Jesus, even though it is a lie, because the "real" world she lives in is so soulless.Perhaps the most troubling scene is the one in which the local bully, a boy not much older or bigger than the other children, knocks one little boy down and twists his arm while all the others stand and watch.
Also it marks a director debut of Bryan Forbes (SÉANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON 1964).Hayley plays Kathy Bostock, a young schoolgirl living in the farm of Lancashire, with her widowed father (Lee), her younger sister Nan (Holgate) and younger brother Charles (Barnes), as well as their auntie (Wagstaff).
Once Kathy is on board, it is not difficult to convince her two younger and more impressionable siblings to believe her words, then a whole bunch of school-kids, deferentially joins them to worship Jesus-in-the- barn.The story fluidly blends children's naiveté with the religious influence, and stimulates sheer zest and excitement in children's endeavour to save Jesus from the intervention of adults, and the man's true identity, a criminal on the lam, consigns a trenchant contradiction into a dichotomy between children's innocence and grown-ups' worldliness, where credulity and blind faith are put to good use by the man, for his own interest, who even menaces the children-friendly trappings with a gun in hand in the final siege, and from A to Z, the film has been deliberately avoiding to address the elephant-in-the-room, so in the end, in Kathy's eyes, it is Jesus who has been captured, not a wanted offender.The three children are the backbone of this rustically beguiling film, Hayley Mills' dogged devotion towards her belief, Diane Holgate's spur-of-the-moment slip and Alan Barnes' fractious mischief, plus his adorable acting-cum-being-himself antics (and he is the one who is telling the truth, although no one takes him seriously), all enliven the relatively small scale of the narrative with immense delight.
Alan Bates, only in his second film role, underplays his handsomeness (although the requisite is that he should look at least remotely like J.C.) to foreground the moral ambiguity of his character, a cynical chap, very cagey about his criminal background (supposedly to be a wife murderer according to IMDb), he is a blank paper just plays along with the kids to secure a getaway plan, at one point, viewers are tempted to be ready for something rather ugly will happen, which is foiled regarding to the family-friendly grain, but a sense of remorse is accurately added in his last words?
In this film, a group of young children come across an escapee, the children mistake this man for Jesus, and innocently house, and care for the escaped convict.
The screenplay for Bryan Forbes' (1961) film - based on Mary Hayley Bell's novel - was one of the earliest successes for northern writers Keith Waterhouse (Billy Liar) and Willis Hall (The Long and the Short and the Tall).Set in the north of England in the fifties, it's a charming tale of innocence told from a child's point of view.As we enter the Bostock family's rural home, the scene is set for a gentle comedy of harmless intrigue.Kathy Bostock (a very young Hayley Mills) turns in a great performance in the film based on her mother's novel.
I saw this film as a 7-year old child when it was first released and 46 years on, I still remember being enchanted by it.It looks at a world through children's eyes and when a bearded man (who is on the run from the police) is found by them hiding in a barn, the children believe he is Jesus Christ.
That the man is actually a murderer is neither here nor there really - it is the children's innocence and their faith in the Bible that shows through in their actions in hiding and feeding the man, and which to me, is so touching about this film.
Unknown to the rest of the word, this children's film for the whole family badly needs re-discovery by movie treasure hunters throughout the world.Based on Mary Hayley Bell's novel, it is her daughter Hayley who plays the lead role in this delightfully fresh parable about faith, hope and the confrontation of preached word vs.
Seen through the eyes of innocent country children we become witness of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, only that it's a murderer on the run from the law.
Maybe in the face of this cold void, the kids, especially Kathy are looking for some outletsome warmth, some type of Messiah in their lonely world where they have love to give but no adult wants it.Enter the fugitive, "antiestablishment" Alan Bates.
A charming movie made in the 1960s a tale of faith and children.Hayley Mills is very good as the junior lead, given marvellous support from the rest of the cast especially the boy who plays her littler brother.Bernard Lee gives a touching performance as the busy farmer who does the best he can for his kids, but is a very busy man.Alan Bates is very good as the man who is mistaken for Jesus, and there is some touching scenes where he realises that there's no escape and the hangman awaits, it seems to symbolise Gethsemane.The Norman Bird character brings a few laughs to the film as a bone idle farm hand.The theme music is very catchy and lingers in the mind, overall a very good little movie and I personally would like to see more of this type of movie made today..
Hayley Mills plays a Lancashire farm girl who mistakes an escaped murderer (Alan Bates) hiding out in her barn for Jesus Christ.
The man, Arthur Blakey, is in fact a murderer on the run from the police, but owing to a misunderstanding the children believe that he is Jesus Christ returned to Earth.
The other children are also all very natural, especially Alan Barnes as Kathy's little brother Charles.Among the adults the two performances that stand out are those of Norman Bird as the farmhand Eddie and Alan Bates as Blakey.
His character seems to be softened by his contact with the innocence of the children; there is perhaps a moment of moral redemption when he throws his gun out of the barn instead of using it to resist arrest as he had originally planned.Perhaps the most important line in the film is the very last one, spoken by Kathy to two children who have arrived too late to see the supposed "Jesus", "You missed him this time but he'll be coming again", which can be taken as a reference either to the Resurrection or the Second Coming, a line which emphasises that this is a film about faith.
When the little boy is devastated at the death of his pet kitten, and can't understand why Jesus didn't look after it, as the Salvation Army lady had told him, Hayley Mills as his older sister shows real concern for his grief, and tries to get the disinterested local vicar to explain it to them.
The child actors are the heart and soul of this movie, with excellent support from Bernard Lee as the kindly, harried father, and Alan Bates as the hunted murderer the children believe to be Jesus.
"Whistle Down the Wind" is a lovely, moving film about the simple faith of children.A murderer on the run (Alan Bates) is found in a barn by some children, who come to believe the fugitive is Jesus Christ.
Her unwavering belief in her Jesus drives the story.The end of the film finds the Bates' character hauled away by the police.
The children listen intently, but they wanted to hear biblical stories all the same.The film honestly answers the question: "What would happen if Jesus came back?" He'd be jailed, possibly crucified all over again.The boy playing Hayley Mill's younger brother is the only one who's faith is shaken at the end.
Alan Bates is a wounded, pursued, exhausted, tattered criminal who winds up in a barn in Lancashire, where he is suddenly discovered by the three children of the Bostock family -- Hayley Mills (the oldest), Diane Holgate, and Alan Barnes.
When Hayley Mills and her siblings (all of them yet to reach their teens) discover a man hiding in their family's barn, they jump to the wrong conclusion and think they have stumbled upon Jesus' second coming.
Based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Mary Hayley Bell, this is an excellent film concerning faith and childhood innocence.
In his directorial debut, Bryan Forbes handles the material very effectively and makes great use of the locations.The film stars the author's daughter Hayley Mills in a terrific performance as Kathy Bostock, the eldest child in a Lancastrian farming family who discovers the escaped murderer Arthur Alan Blakey in her family's barn.
Kathy seemingly becomes more world weary as a result but she remains as convinced as ever that Jesus will return.In his first major role, Alan Bates is very good as Blakey, who is astonished when he learns who the children think he is but, understandably under the circumstances, does nothing to disabuse them of that notion.
Alan Barnes steals the show with his hilarious performance as Kathy's younger brother Charlie, who is the first of the children to realise that Blakey is not the real deal.
Hayley Mills, as the girl, and Alan Bates, the wanted man, excel.
Nonetheless, they are still an essentially pointless artifice that subtracts meaning from the movie, rather than adding it.This film seems to encourage people to sound off about the simple faith of children and the cynical worldliness of adults, but this sort of analysis doesn't bear scrutiny and, in truth, this picture is always saying less than it thinks it is.The best I can say of Whistle Down the Wind is that it is a bad idea well executed.PS: I have never read the book, but I suspect Kathy is somewhat younger than she appears here.
John Mills' daughter, Hayley, leads a sterling British cast of adults and children in this touching story about seriously confused identity.Alan Bates is a dangerous escaped criminal.