2nd Season of the INTERMISSION FILM SERIES November 14, 2018: “THE MIRACLE WORKER” with Patty Duke Astin and Anne Bancroft

Unable to see or hear after a severe illness at 19 months old, Helen Keller, with the help of Annie Sullivan, learned so much more than basic communication.  She became a writer, activist, and lecturer, inspiring many people over the almost 88 years of her life. She described “her most productive pleasures” as curiosity and imagination.

The Miracle Worker filmed in 1962 is regarded as a classic, Patty Duke Astin and Anne Bancroft both won Academy Awards as Helen and Anne, and of course, Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 100% approval rating.  It was adapted from the play of the same name by Arthur Penn who also directed the film. A line from a review by Wesley Levell describes it well: Two well-deserved Oscars grace this unflinching portrait of selfishness in direct resistance to selflessness.

Sounds like something that could come in handy in our world today.