Home › Books made into movies › The Innocents
The Innocents (1961): Film vs Book
Film · 1961 · Directed by Jack Clayton · Starring Deborah Kerr
About the film
A governess in a lonely country house becomes convinced that the two children in her care are haunted.
How close is it to the book?
Close to the bookThe film keeps the novella's central ambiguity, leaving it open whether the ghosts are real or imagined.
Read or watch first?
The novella is short enough to read in an evening, and it is a classic for good reason.
What the book gives you
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
A short, subtle story that leaves you guessing and talking about it.
Who will like it: Readers who like ambiguous, chilling ghost stories.